Challenge
A Million Ads’ proprietary platform, Studio, powers dynamic audio advertising by personalizing audio content (e.g. based on variables such as location, weather, time, date). Their core editing interface, Arrange View, had major usability issues.

The Solution

I identified key challenges, including:

Visualising audio with many variations
Showing which ad version is playing
Building confidence in rule logic (e.g. weather, location)
Making rule testing quick and easy
Editing individual audio blocks (e.g. trim, volume)

I mapped solution flows in Sketch, ready for the next user testing round:

The side-bar problem

Producers use Studio on large screens, but adding controls to Arrange View was tricky as my sidebar concept competed with the audio timeline and adjusted global controls outside the redesign scope.

User Testing

I worked with engineers to build a lightweight prototype for quick concept validation. I tested it with five internal creative producers, as client-side users weren’t available. Below is an example output.

Testing Arrange View was challenging. I needed targeted feedback without overcommitting. I used high-fidelity screen mocks (not full flows) to keep things realistic but efficient. For example, when exploring audio variants, I tested: