A platform feature with strategic weight
Briefing forms were how Superside customers communicated creative needs, from polishing a presentation to launching a full advertising campaign. The experience had grown organically with the company, but had not been rethought in years. In early 2023, a dedicated team was formed to redesign briefing across the platform.
Preparing for AI
At the same time, we knew change was coming. Superside had evolved from a remote "PowerPoint factory" to a full-service creative partner, but much of our work still centered on repeatable, production-heavy briefs. Meanwhile, AI tools were rapidly becoming capable of generating visual content and basic copy. To stay relevant, Superside needed to move upmarket: toward strategic briefs that required creative judgment, multi-capability collaboration, and human insight. The briefing experience would play a central role in that transition.
Uncovering the gap between strategy and UX
The existing experience was functional, but limiting. It reinforced a perception of Superside as a creative asset production partner rather than a strategic creative collaborator. This conflicted with Superside's business goals. The company operated on a subscription model, where clients had a set number of creative hours per month. Larger, more strategic briefs made better use of that model—and aligned better with our desire to become a full-service creative partner.
Narrowing scope to early
Through interviews, customer journeys mapping, task flow analysis, and stakeholder workshops, we learned:
The briefing experience subtly positioned Superside as a tactical, production-focused vendor
Too many form types created decision paralysis for customers
Starting the process by choosing a single "capability" discouraged higher-scope briefs
"Once I began working with Superside, I soon learned that it's more like a production and execution service compared to the other creative agencies I've worked with."
- customer interview
Reframing what a brief could be
We needed the briefing flow to invite bigger-picture thinking. I led a multi-step redesign of the entry point and briefing forms. We shipped in iterations, tracked results with feedback and tools like Datadog, and adjusted as we learned.
From wizard flow to one-page experience
We redesigned the form experience from a step-by-step wizard into a single-page layout. This allowed customers to view and adjust the entire brief in one place, making the process feel faster, and more flexible.
To support this, I:
Reworked the entry point three times to support broader briefs and new services
Reduced form count from 16 to 4, working closely with Capability Leads to consolidate and simplify our structure
Created design guidelines for briefing form logic, structure, clarity, and tone of voice and language
Measured impact over three quarters
Over the course of three quarters we achieved:
±10% more projects briefed in under 10 minutes
20–40% improvement in time from brief submission to project start
±1500 projects submitted per month with a CSAT over 90%
Multi-capability briefing
After shipping the one page brief experience, I led the design of “multi-capability briefing, encouraging broader-scope briefs and strategic project grouping. I introduced “Collections” as a concept for bundling related projects, addressing both platform and operational constraints.
"Really impressed with the progress in “Multi-Capability Brief,” you’ve been able to conceptualize and concretize something that is indeed very vague and complex in a way that is both simple and flexible, well done!!!
Also excited to see that we are progressing “Collections!” This concept tackles a challenge that has been a topic since forever, and I think this very light and flexible approach is a great way to start and learn!"
- Superside COO
Reflections on designing for the core of an operation
Briefing was how Superside’s platform translated business needs into creative action.
Redesigning it gave me the chance to impact both the customer experience and internal workflows. It was fast-paced, complex, and deeply rewarding to see the direct impact of design on operations and how it helped Superside evolve into a more strategic marketing partner.