ad+ dub

In-house audio editing platform

Company

iHeartMedia

Role

User Researcher
Product Designer

Timeline

2022

Team

Enterprise Architect
Business Process Dev
2 PMs

Enterprise Architect
Business Process Dev
2 PMs

Enterprise Architect
Business Process Dev
2 PMs

eServices landing page
Context

"Now you have a friend in the diamond business"

You have probably heard of this ad on the radio. There are many steps when it comes to putting an ad on air. The ad needs to be scheduled to be played on the right stations and at the right time, the script needs to be written, the ad needs to be voiced, and lastly, it needs to be edited and quality assured (dubbed) before playout. A mistake on air could be a costly mistake.

Problem

Old software

At iHeartMedia, a core piece of technology, AFC (RCS Audio File Converter), was going to be deprecated from the dubbing process. This technology needed to be run on an old operating system, which was not compatible with the growth of enterprise software. So I was brought onto the project to design a replacement.

Research

I set up interviews and shadow sessions with a dubber and dubber manager to get a better understanding of what their day to day is like. I also looked into the trainings and staging site to better understand the process. I synthesized the research and created a persona and journey map to provide the team (fellow designers, developers, and product) with a shared understanding of the user’s capabilities, pain points, and opportunities.

User Needs

  • bridge the gap between PPO and OTMM

  • automatically convert the audio file to .wav when uploading to OTMM

  • reduce touch points

  • carry over metadata

  • directly load the spot into the editing tool

  • set standard normalization parameters

  • track errors through a dashboard

Ideation

Through the research, I discovered that this project was more than just creating a substitute for the AFC. I presented the uncovered pain points and opportunities to improve the current workflow with the developers, EA (enterprise architect), BPE (business process engineer), and BRM (business relationship manager) to brainstorm ideas. Together we decided on a solution.

Solution

In-house audio editing tool that automates conversion and upload

User Flow

I created a user flow of a few scenarios to map out the pages and features I would have to design.

Interaction Design

I first started with some mid fidelity wireframes to make sure I included all core functionality.

Final Designs

I narrowed down the top design recommendations and wireframed them in high fidelity using our existing design system and patterns. After multiple iterations and rounds of feedback, we settled on the final designs.

Follow Up

As the developers worked on the interface, I used the staging site to make sure the interactions and visual designs were implemented as expected. If there were discrepancies, I created jira bug tickets.

Result

↑ Weekly spots sent for playout by 52% in 7 weeks

Week 1: 6,400+ spots
Week 7: 9,700+ spots with <1% error rate

↑ Number of unique users by 115%

Week 1: 66 unique users
Week 7: 142 unique users

↓ Number of tools needed to dub a spot

Before ad+dub: 4 (PPO, AFC, audio editor, OTMM)
After ad+dub: 2 (PPO, ad+ dub)

↓ Number of swivel chairs needed to dub a spot

Before ad+dub: 5 (PPO → audio editor → AFC → PPO → OTMM)
After ad+dub: 2 (PPO → ad+dub)

Words from our users

“I cannot express how happy I am with ad+ dub. What an incredible upgrade. Thank you team for listening to the users and doing what we need !! Even talent who refused to use OTMM are now loading spots with ad+ dub.”
— Dubber

“HEHEHE! Mannnn that is so slick! I’ve loaded a couple of spots since the update. This is the first replacement of the current situation. It still blows me away how simple it is. 🙂”
— Dubber

“Great job on ad+ dub. Everyone loves it. Thanks for helping us get stuff done easier.”
— SVP of Production