Defining ROI
Project Brief
As Head of Design at Axios HQ, I led a focused, month-long sprint to build a homepage dashboard that made our product’s ROI impossible to miss. I partnered with a senior product designer, scoped the problem with our CMO, COO and Head of Communications, then drove a fast-paced cycle of ideation, prototyping and testing with both internal stakeholders and external users.
Challenge & Goal
Problem: Customers loved Axios HQ’s features but struggled to justify renewals without clear ROI data.
Objective: Surface real-time activity, short-term outcomes and long-term impact in one glance, so communicators could directly tie spend to business value.
Homepage for Editors
Approach & Leadership
Pulled a senior designer aside and defined success criteria with execs across Marketing, Operations and Communications.
Ran a four-week design sprint with weekly internal reviews. Each cycle produced interactive prototypes for rapid feedback.
Tested concepts with six existing customers and an external panel via paid concept-testing research.
Mapped key metrics into three personas: Communicator, Manager and Executive, so each saw the data they needed.
Imagined AI-powered benchmarking, enabling users to compare their engagement scores against industry peers to guide future strategy.
Homepage for Writers
Solution & Impact
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Homepage dashboard: A personalized landing page that puts ROI front and center. At the top, it surfaces four core metrics: open rate, click rate, time saved, and words trimmed, followed by a peer-benchmarked engagement gauge and concise, context-driven tips. Quick links to upcoming sends, pending tasks, and key resources keep users focused on the actions that drive impact.
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AI insights panel: Benchmarks users against aggregated industry data and pushes guided recommendations. Deeply understands the company culture and goals to keep communications on track.
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Executive buy-in: During our weekly executive review, aligned perfectly with sprint close, the CMO, COO and CEO highlighted how instantly clear the ROI now was. Design became a visible leader in product strategy.
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External validation: 14 of 15 uninformed participants correctly identified Axios HQ as an internal communications tool built to drive engagement and transparency, proving our dashboard spoke for itself.
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Strategic wins: The design team authored a company-wide newsletter with our findings, cementing cross-functional support and securing resources to roll out the new homepage. Design earned a reputation for de-risked, research-backed innovation.
