Simplifying the Podcast Ad Management Workflow
For Flightpath, B2B SaaS Predictive Analytics Web App
Responsibilities: User Research, Experience and Interface Design, Quality Assurance Testing
Worked With: CEO, Chief Data Officer, CTO, Contract Developer
Primary Goal: Podcast networks have an all-in-one workflow to manage advertisement approval and upload.
Background
Behind the seamless experience of hearing a podcast ad for Sam Adams beer is a highly complicated process involving multiple teams and tools. From scriptwriting and audio production to ad approvals and uploading, every stage requires careful coordination and presents opportunities for bottlenecks or errors. That’s where Flightpath comes in.
We designed a creative multistage workflow that streamlines every step of the process. By mapping out the stages and creating clear, adaptable tools for each user group, we built a system that could handle the unique needs of any team.
The biggest challenge was that this process is both multistage and collaborative, with users ranging from ad operations specialists to podcast producers, all with varying technical abilities and levels of access to Flightpath.
The result was a tool that turned a complicated workflow into an organized, user-friendly process. It not only saved time and frustration but also reinforced Flightpath’s reputation for solving the unique challenges of podcast networks with precision and care.
This creative workflow has driven a reported 2x productivity for our clients improving both internal and external relationships.
Gone are the days of sending a file back and forth from person to person. Having one place where everyone works has been a game changer, and both our producers and our clients are much happier.
Initial Research and Defining the Scope
The research began with interviews to understand the needs of three key user groups: podcasters, network teams, and buyers. Affinity mapping yielded clear pain points for each group.
Early in the product’s lifecycle, the interviews uncovered a wide range of problems in the space. Refinement sessions with our CEO and CTO helped narrow the focus to a tight scope addressing the core issue.
Our solution centered on one key element: the ad audio. The goal was to streamline its journey from the producer’s hand-off to the podcast platform.
Users Journeys and Design Goals
Because this was going to be a core feature of our platform, I took the time to interview operations specialists from as many of our clients as I could. We wanted to make sure that our final product would be flexible enough to address any team structure, while still making sure to prevent scope creep. The only way to strike this balance was by collecting as many data points and stories as possible.
In creating my user personas, I focused on three key areas: the user’s goals, the questions they need answered, and the tech limitations that could impact access and support. Being able to reference these details would be essential to successful product architecture.
Lena's Goals
As the person in charge of the network operations of the ad campaign, Lena needs to be able to track the state of outstanding ad creative, and review and flight submitted creative. As part of the review process, Lena needs to send the creative out for buyer approval, receive feedback from the buyer, and send feedback to the producer if it’s rejected. Overseeing and managing the creative workflow will mean fewer mistakes, fewer emails, and successful campaigns that will build buyer trust and hopefully secure repeat buys in the future.
Lena needs to know...
- Which flights do I need to deal with right now?
- What is the state of the ads on all currently running campaigns?
Tech Comfort: Medium to High
Support Contact Point: Flightath Customer Representatives and Support
Platform Access: Full Platform Access
Jessica's Goals
As the person in charge of sponsorships for their podcast, Jessica needs a way of managing her ad creative workflow. She needs to see what creative is still outstanding and send the produced creative to ad ops before it’s due. Having a central place to manage the creative will help reduce the likelihood of mistakes and ensure Jessica’s team can fulfill their contracts and get paid.
Jessica needs to know...
- Are there any ads I still need to submit?
- Have the ads I’ve submitted been accepted?
Tech Comfort: Unknown
Support Contact Point: Ad Ops Specialists (Secondary)
Platform Access: Feature Flagged Platform Access
Akshay's Goals
As the person managing the campaign from the buyer’s side, Akshay needs to make sure that the ad that plays matches the talking points and requirements of the brand. He needs to let Lena know that the ad is good to go and be able to provide feedback if there is an issue. Doing this means he can rest assured that his brand is represented correctly and the ad will succeed.
Akshay needs to know...
- What creative do I need to approve?
- Was the feedback I submitted received and the audio updated?
Tech Comfort: Unknown
Support Contact Point: Network Representative (Secondary)
Platform Access: No Platform Access
Designs
Ad Ops Ad Management Dashboard and Flight Modal
Producer Ad Management Dashboard and Flight Modal
Client Ad Creative Approval Landing Page
User Experience Edge Case Testing
Given the unique nature of each client’s creative management workflow, we knew the system had to be airtight. I worked closely with our CTO to map out edge cases, aligning the user’s front-end journey with the backend ad audio workflow. Our priority was ensuring the audio was properly tagged and users received clear, timely instructions on next steps.
I’ve presented one such edge case below: Akshay, the buyer, has rejected the creative, meaning Lena needs to get Jessica to re-record and reupload the audi0.
Akshay Notices a Problem
When listening to the creative, Akshay notices that the promo code for the preroll audio is for the wrong show. Akshay knows that this is probably just mixed-up audio, so he lets Lena know that there is no need for him to take a second listen after it’s fixed and that the order is otherwise ready to go.
Lena Asks Jessica for the Correct Audio
Lena receives the feedback from Akshay but does not have the audio with the correct promo code that she can upload herself. Instead, she rejects the current creative and lets Jessica know that the promo code was wrong and that they needs to upload the correct audio.
Jessica Uploads the New Creative
Fortunately, this was just a case of the wrong file in the wrong spot, so Jessica didn’t have to get the talent back in the booth to record another ad. She finds the right file and uploads it to the ad wall.
Lena Flights the Order
Once the new creative has come in, Lena gives everything one more listen before hitting the flight button and sending the creative off to the hosting platform to be attached to the order. This action completes the case study for both Lena and Jessica.
Successes and Failures
When we took the creative multistage workflow to development, we had to delay the inclusion of the Brand Review due to constraints. Unfortunately, this meant that users who needed to perform brand checks would have to download the audio and send it to the brand via email. This made the adoption of the feature quite challenging, with many of our users excited by the prospect but unable to fully integrate it into their business.
When collecting feedback, the two things holding people back from full adoption are the missing brand approval process and the lack of order-level talking points.
Despite this, as of today, we’ve seen full adoption of the creative multistage workflow across three of our clients, with two using it with some but not all of their producers.
An Update!
In the Fall of 2024, we took the opportunity to review and update the app’s UI elements to create a more cohesive and streamlined user experience. The “module” approach to the Ad Ops version of the Flight Modal was the basis for a lot of the redesign, so we went back to the producer version and brought it into that design language while still making sure not to increase the complexity.
The architecture of the Flight Modal had also evolved as we incorporated additional elements into the ad ops version, prompting us to reassess the producer version’s architecture. We relocated the details above the creative upload and the talking points to a new “Overview” tab.
This is an approach I wish I could have found during the initial design. I put the order details above the upload section so that the user could confirm that they were uploading their creative to the right ad. However, this was an assumption I had made about the users’ needs, and when we tested the new layout, we had zero user errors.
