Detailed View
Concept
Summary: This project focused on a key challenge within a publishing tool: the interface emphasized editing and lacked a view of relevant content details. To solve this I’ve been working on introducing the “Detailed view” concept, an information-rich layer between the post preview and the editing interface. The plan was to create the concept in expert mode, test it quickly, and bring it into roadmap prioritization and scoring. The project was supported by a list of design debt items and business opportunities that it could’ve address. Although the Detailed View was put on hold due to a company restructuring, it became an important experience in my career, teaching me adaptability.
My Role: My role as a product designer was to build the concept, and pitch it to product team as a roadmap candidate. For that I gathered business and user needs, created lo-fi wireframes and prototypes to support the idea with visuals of the updated flow.
Team: It started as a two-person ideation with a fellow designer, later product and engineering teams were relevant touchpoint.
The Problem
What happens when the user’s path is a dead end? I encountered a significant problem within the Social’s product publishing tool. While the system was effective for creating content, it lacked a crucial layer for user confidence and clarity. The workflow focused heavily on editing, forcing users into a cumbersome process when they simply wanted to view or learn more about a post. This led to confusion, especially when trying to interact with already published content. A specific pain point came from a user request:
“Having no informations of the post and the content, only a short, small preview on a post card, is not enough for picking the right post to share.”
Another major issue was a lack of clarity around post-publishing actions. A user could click on a published post and immediately start editing, leading them to believe they were updating the live post when, in fact, they were creating a new one. Not talking about the missing layer of informing the user about a published post’s performance.
Designing for Transparency
My role was to design a concept mostly based on domain knowledge, test and validate it quickly, and then pitch it at a roadmap planning meeting. To prepare, I ran a short discovery on current business needs, synced with engineering on technical feasibility, and created a data matrix mapping six key use cases for the concept. I already had a vision: a transparent layer that empowered social users — regulated financial agents and advisors — rather than the opaque, confusing process they faced before. My first step was to ensure the concept was both user-centered and data-informed.
Discovery & Review
I began by diving into the heart of the problem, gathering insights that told a compelling story. I meticulously reviewed customer requests (PEPs), which provided direct, emotional evidence of user frustrations. For example, one user request highlighted the need for a solution because users were “wanting to better understand what they are publishing”.
User and Customer Requests (PEPs)
I did a deep dive into our documentation to find user and customer requests related to our hypotheses. I identified three directly relevant requests and five low-hanging-fruit items to consider. These highlighted the need for more transparent publishing workflows, such as a clear way to review a post without accidentally starting an edit. It also revealed multiple requests for a social media post preview by network, which could be addressed within the detailed view.
Flow Analysis
I reviewed a user story map I had created for another project to identify points of friction and gaps. Beyond highlighting pain points, the map also served as a foundation for concept creation, helping me visualize end-to-end user flows, prioritize opportunities, and align discussions with the team on both design directions and possible technical limitations.
Data Matrix
To build the detailed view, I had to meticulously gather and analyze data and asset information for the 6 main use case and status. This involved creating a comprehensive matrix to track how a post’s data and assets changed as it moved through different phases, from a draft to a published piece of content.
The Solution
I followed a simple philosophy: give users the information they need, when they need it. My proposed solution was the Detailed View, an information-rich layer positioned between the post card preview and the editing interface. This new view would not only streamline the user experience but also reassure them that their actions were clear and intentional.
Provide comprehensive post information, including history and settings, giving users a single source of truth for every piece of content.
Improve transparency around re-publishing by making it explicitly clear that a new post would be created, preventing accidential duplicates.
Extend the user flow with social media preview and performance metrics by network, in relevant user-flows.
Outcomes
My final action on this project was to meticulously archive all research insights, design decisions, and wireframes. I created a comprehensive document that could be revisited by future teams, ensuring that no work was lost.
While the Detailed View concept was designed at a prototype level, it was ultimately put on hold. So this is what is it still: a concept. The company underwent a period of structural and strategic changes, and other priorities emerged. I felt that, in this situation, the true test of a designer isn’t just in creating a solution, but in knowing how to gracefully let it go.
A Lesson in Adaptability
This experience taught me a profound lesson: don’t get too attached to your solutions. It’s not easy sometimes, but it’s a great skill.
I learned that the real value lies in the process, as I moved on to the next challenge, knowing that the foundation I had built would still serve a purpose down the road. On other hand, I now know how to fasten-up design process when needed, and adapt to unforeseen company challenges.