About the project
Responsive Ads is the leader in custom ad development and provides a platform for creating immersive ad experiences that scale across a variety of formats and sizes.
Responsive Ads' top customers include Condé Nast and NBC Universal. We built shop-able units for Macy's, location-based suggestions for DoorDash, and 3D simulations for BMW.
I was hired to launch a variant system capable of achieving dynamic content optimization (DCO) based on user conditions, such as location, time of day, weather, language, and contextual data. I managed the company roadmap and launched the MVP of the variant system.
The solution
The MVP of the solution was an experience for uploading assets, grouping them, and applying conditional visibility logic that would show / hide elements depending on whether the condition was met. Initially we implemented "between date" as a condition for a Condé Nast project to modify content served based on the date.
In the next phase, we implemented a feature to import CSV data and populate elements in the creative with data from the import. This was used by Caviar to serve restaurant recommendations according to location of the user.
Users had an option to deploy a preview any variant by simulating conditions which helped speed up the proofing process prior to a deployment. By setting the deployment to "dynamic," users had the ability to edit data feeds, element mappings, and conditions in an interactive table. Customers used this to deploy ads in hundreds of languages with one setup process.
Results
The variant system enabled distinguished brands to deploy premium display ads with higher relevancy. The Caviar project performed at 10x industry rates for CTR, 200x click engagement, and 86% viewability.
Customers used the system to showcase their product inventory and set conditions based on contextual and user profile data.
This experience helped me gain skills in launching technical features that significantly impact the app user experience and required several changes to the architecture. I collaborated with senior backend engineers, production designers, and our partners at Condê Nast and NBC Universal to ship the MVP which improved our relationships and created new opportunities for premium display advertising at scale. In addition to the variant project, I also managed the support hub roadmap, produced ads for strategic clients, and designed mockups for a new version of the interface that gives users the ability to quickly switch between sizes and variants.
