One workspace for Facebook advertisers
- My contribution
- As one of three designers on the Ads Manager team, I worked across Facebook to bring fragmented advertising tools together.
- Rollout
- Launched to all advertisers
The team expanded the launch after initial trials and research.
The work spilled across tabs
When I joined Facebook, businesses had to use many different tools to advertise. Separate teams managed everything from billing and business management to ad creation, editing, insights, and reporting. The experience was distributed and often inconsistent, costing advertisers time and money.
Our customer surveys, in-person studies, and lab sessions showed there was no single way to create or manage ads. My teammate Matthew Rigodanzo mapped how people moved between tools according to their team size, budget, role, and goals. Even basic tasks could require several browser tabs or windows.
As one of three designers on the Ads Manager team, I worked with teams responsible for different parts of the experience to understand the whole and imagine how it could work better. We asked what might happen if we brought much of it into one interface.
Putting the tools in one place
Over three months, I worked closely with another designer, two product managers, a researcher, and about 15 engineers to explore a consolidated experience. We sketched ideas together, and I translated them into higher-fidelity concepts to share with users.
People liked being able to move between accounts, settings, reporting, and ad creation from the same interface. The concepts felt simple to them and looked like they could save time. To find out how the redesign held up in real work, we had to put it in the hands of advertisers.
I went on to collaborate with more than three dozen designers and engineers across Facebook’s ads organization to create a consistent experience. Research and iteration continued as we prepared to release it.
A rollout in stages
The product team had a year to ship the redesign, and we were already well into it. A broad release would have put unfinished tools in front of people who relied on them to run their businesses. We started with a 20% test among existing advertisers with midrange spend, invited business partners into an early beta, and let new advertisers choose between the beta and the old version. About half of the new advertisers chose the beta.
After launch, the team observed more positive feedback, fewer incomplete sessions, and higher ad spend across account sizes. A few months after the first trials, we rolled out the redesign to all advertisers.