Web publishers are blogs, news and product websites whose revenue comes from running ads. Their day to day focus is on providing fresh engaging content and increasing their readership. They make money by selling advertising space either directly to an advertiser, through partnering with ad networks or programatically through ad exchanges.
Quantcast provides free analytics to web publishers. Similar to Google Analytics, a publisher inserts Quantcast code onto their web pages that allows visits to be tracked. They are then provided with analytic reports of demographic and psychographic data which are used to describe their audience to potential partners and advertisers.
I worked at Quantcast for nearly two years, getting to know web publishers and redesigning Quantcast's measure product to best suit their needs.
Make an analytic product that is useful for web publishers.
Simple navigation and clear messaging help publishers understand the offerings.
The product's design was tailored to a publisher's needs.
Data visualizations helped publishers understand their user base.
Web publishers reported that the old design of Quantcast's product looked complicated. They felt lost in many layers of navigation and couldn't find their favorite features without having to click several times. They wanted an easier way to use the data given to them to back up their story to advertisers and wanted their public profile to tell a positive story of their business.
At first it was was unclear how publishers were using Quantcast's product. I partnered with a user researcher and we performed in depth interviews with over a dozen publishers using the measure product. We learned that they were most interested in embedding Quantcast charts in reports to advertisers, comparing themselves to their competition, and having a public profile that opens themselves up to new opportunities.
I started by simplifying the navigation and created a wrapper that would ease Quantcast into the redesign. I created a home page that was direct and easy to read. After this launched we began the product redesign process.
I redesigned the measure tool to give the publishers quick and easy access to their metrics and the ability to control the presentation of their data in their profile so they could show themselves in the best possible light.
Because comparisons were important, I designed an area where publishers could save favorites, categorize them and create comparison charts.
Each data visualization was customized for clarity and purpose.
