Hawthorne is an award-winning, full-service agency known for pioneering work in performance advertising. Our goal was to unify proprietary technologies, internal KPIs, and analytics expertise into a single, client-facing platform.
As the sole product designer, I also led our newly formed product team. My role spanned end-to-end UX — from designing high-density data visualizations to architecting platform structure alongside engineers and product managers.
We designed the core platform for two primary audiences: account managers and their clients. Each group had distinct goals when reviewing ad performance data — internal teams needed operational clarity, while clients prioritized high-level storytelling and visual impact.
Alongside the external-facing platform, I also led the design of several internal tools used by account managers, engineers, and data scientists. These tools had to adapt to different stages of the ad data pipeline and serve multiple workflows without friction.
We focused on three key objectives:
The platform must be visually compelling for client-facing presentations.
Data visualizations should communicate key insights quickly and clearly.
Dashboards should adapt modularly to meet the unique needs of each client.
I began by sitting in on client-account meetings to observe priorities firsthand — identifying which metrics resonated and which pain points interrupted flow. From there, I brought together engineering, data, and account teams to determine which visual stories were both technically feasible and strategically meaningful.
We discovered early on that many of the insights we wanted to highlight weren’t possible with our current infrastructure. I helped lead the effort to scope and prioritize new internal tools that would clean, enrich, and process data for storytelling.
When certain metrics still weren’t possible, I proposed new KPIs — built from existing data — that told clearer, more client-relevant stories. These not only solved our constraints but improved our overall reporting narrative.
To validate our approach, we soft-launched an MVP with Honeywell. Based on user feedback, I iterated on the visual design and charting system, making key improvements to clarity, hierarchy, and customization.
The final design used a modular dashboard system — account managers could personalize layouts for each client. The design system, inspired in part by Apple’s watchOS, was built from scratch to support flexible, high-density layouts and responsive use cases.
The new platform reduced client meeting times by 50%, while significantly improving the quality of those conversations. Clients asked fewer clarifying questions and spent more time focused on campaign strategy — a clear sign the design was delivering the right information, faster.