Cynch

Transforming a Complex Media Buying Platform into a Modern SaaS

Experience

Jan 8 2021 - Aug 15 2024

What is Cynch?

Cynch is a self-serve media buying platform that enables advertisers to build, purchase, and track multi-platform advertising campaigns online. Users can define audience segments, launch campaigns across multiple channels, and monitor performance through a centralized dashboard.

As Lead Designer and Researcher, I was responsible for evolving the user experience of Cynch into a scalable, enterprise-grade SaaS product. My work focused on simplifying complex workflows, improving data visibility, establishing design consistency, and creating a foundation that could support future growth.

The Challenge

Cynch had grown significantly since its launch in 2018, accumulating new features and workflows without a unified design system. As a result, the platform felt fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to navigate.

Users frequently described the experience as overwhelming due to the volume of information displayed throughout the application. Campaign management relied heavily on dense tables and repetitive data patterns, making it difficult to quickly identify critical information.

The challenge was twofold:

Create a more intuitive and modern SaaS experience without disrupting existing user workflows.
Establish scalable design foundations that would enable future product growth and improve collaboration with development teams.

Research & Discovery

To better understand user needs, I conducted user interviews, usability testing sessions, and stakeholder workshops. I supplemented qualitative insights with available analytics data and behavioral tracking tools.

Through this research, several key themes emerged:

Key User Pain Points

Information-heavy interfaces made it difficult to quickly locate important campaign details.
Large data tables lacked hierarchy and visual distinction.
Users wanted more campaign visibility without needing to navigate into individual campaigns.
Customers anticipated needing even more reporting data in the future but wanted it presented in a clearer, more digestible way.

Key Opportunities

Modernize an interface that had remained largely unchanged since launch.
Improve consistency across workflows and interactions.
Shift the homepage from a spreadsheet-like experience to a dashboard that surfaces meaningful information and actions.

Building the Design System Foundation

One of the largest challenges was the lack of a centralized design system.

Existing components were distributed across legacy Axure files, undocumented designs, and implemented product experiences. This created inefficiencies for both design and development teams.

I initiated a full UI audit of the application and rebuilt every existing component in Figma, creating a centralized source of truth for the organization.

My Process

Audited all existing screens and workflows.
Catalogued every UI component and interaction pattern.
Identified inconsistencies across implementations.
Consolidated component variations into standardized patterns.
Documented specifications, states, and behaviors.
Created Jira tickets outlining migration requirements and implementation recommendations.

The result was a comprehensive Figma design system utilizing component properties, variants, and instance swaps to support scalability while reducing design and development ambiguity.

(Close)

Home ✶ Projects ✶ About