Project Overview
Description: Tri-Plex is a new ad format released through advertising technology company, Kargo. Through incredible collaboration with my talented colleagues and my supervisor’s belief in my design and leadership skills, I was able to help lead the delivery of one of Kargo’s new formats. This project was completed for Kargo where I work as a Jr. Interactive Designer.
Special thanks to the whole Kargo ad design team, our product and engineering group, our design director, Brittany, for allowing me this opportunity, and especially the Tri-Plex pod featuring designers: Kendall, Cindy, and Natalie.
My Role: Tri-Plex Pod Captain, User Experience Designer, Interactive Designer, User Interface Designer, Prototyping, and Wireframing
Tools: Celtra, Adobe Photoshop, Pen/Paper
Timeline: June 2020 - January 2021
Introduction
In Q2 2020, the ad design team met and started pitching ideas for our latest innovation. The time span on this was much longer than anyone expected simply because of the strain and impact of coronavirus paired with navigating other corporate priorities at the time.
Each phase was marked by an initial meeting with the whole team of designers, meetings and multiple conversations within each ‘innovation pod’, and then a presentation of those details/designs with feedback from the pod implemented to the whole group where we received more feedback to apply in the next round. Ahead of phase three, I was named pod captain of the Tri-Plex unit, which meant that I had the opportunity to lead three designers through this innovation process and helped provide feedback to ensure consistency among our creatives despite the different verticals we were working on.
Phase One
During phase one, my skilled colleague Natalie came up with the idea of three sidekicks (a unit Kargo currently offers) and I was selected, among 3 other designers, to try our hand at designing the idea that she had sketched as a wireframe.
The above photo shows some of the wireframes I worked on that weren't selected to move forward as part of this innovation lab.
Phase Two
In phase two, I presented my design of the three sidekick-like shapes as was the original design, but added in a collapsed state because one of Kargo’s signature offerings is the polite nature of the advertising experience and I wanted to try create something that wasn’t incredibly intrusive.
Phase Three
Phase three showcased a slight variation to the phase two design where I used three different types of cars and gave labels describing each car. During this phase, I was also appointed innovation captain for this Tri-Plex pod so I started overseeing the other designers' work across varied verticals.
Phase Four
In phase four (part one), I came up with the idea to have the unit expand instead of collapse after I received feedback that the collapse felt unnecessary. My intention was to give the user more opportunity to explore a feature of the product, or in this case the variation of car. The whole team really liked this new idea and we decided to press forward. Another distinct marking of this round was making it feel more Kargo branded. At this time, Kargo used a lot of color gradients and variants in our branded materials. That’s why you can start to see a gradient within each of the three pillars.
In phase four (part two), I also shared an example of the creative using a tangiberry color gradient the team was using in other innovation creatives at the time.
Phase Five
In the fifth and final phase, the whole team adapted our respective demos for this release to fit Kargo’s updated brand imagery. Kargo underwent a rebrand during the time of our innovation exercise, so it was critical to make these releases feel aligned with our new image.
Final Touches
For finishing touches, our design director, who was so thoughtful with her time throughout each phase giving advice, feedback, and necessary suggestions, worked with product and engineering to ensure that our ‘ad tag’ was in the proper placement.
In January 2021, I presented to our company of over 200 people (over Zoom of course) what the Tri-Plex unit is and why the whole team is so excited about the new innovation. We’ve received incredible feedback and praise both internally and from clients globally. The Tri-Plex unit is live and you may even see one in the wild shortly as Kargo’s expert sales team has already sold many of this unit.
For more information about the Tri-Plex, feel free to read this article posted on Kargo’s site: https://blog.kargo.com/the-story-behind-swipe-up-tri-plex
Special thanks again to the whole Kargo ad design team, our product and engineering group, our design director, Brittany, for allowing me this opportunity, and especially the Tri-Plex pod featuring designers: Kendall, Cindy, and Natalie.
Final Demo
