TerminalOne (T1) by MediaMath

Role: Product Management, User Experience, Interface Design, Product Operations, Creative Direction, Logo Design, Technical Support, T-Shirt Guy, Poster Design
Year: 2008 - 2017

Figure 1: TerminalOne interface

Figure 1: TerminalOne interface

Background

I joined MediaMath in 2008 as their 21st employee and Director of User Experience & Design. Along with my former business partner, I was part of a small group pointed at the design and development of a SaaS offering (what would become TerminalOne) to complement the existing managed service business. From there, hard work, good fortune, and the nature of startups provided me the opportunity to wear quite a few hats.

RESULTS

Product Management

As head of Product Management from 2012-2017, I oversaw product design/development, technical support, and client communication for the industry-leading B2B marketing hub. Used by the world’s top 25 advertising agencies and Fortune 100 brands, T1 maintained a 25+ Net Promoter Score (NPS) during my tenure, and among many other accolades, was recently recognized as a leader in the Forrester Wave for both Demand Side (DSP) and Data Management (DSP) Platforms. Go MediaMath!

During my time in the role, the Product Management team grew in number from 5 to 30, and was complemented by a 12 person global Support team, also within my department.

User Experience / Interface Design

Starting out as an army of one, I built out and evangelized UX as a discipline at the company, eventually forming a dedicated User Experience & Design department. In addition, I established the engagement model for collaboration with Product Managers, including design approval requirements and internal/external user feedback workshops.

I directed the interface design for v1 and v2 of the product. Version 2 (see Figure 1) included a transition from a Flex to a completely redesigned HTML5 UI based on a proprietary component framework, simultaneously replacing both the legacy media buying interface and a white-labeled, third-party BI tool.

Lastly, I served as designer, aggregator, enforcer :) and often times author of every release note (over 200!) sent to clients during my time with the company.

Figure 2: TerminalOne logo

Figure 2: TerminalOne logo

Logo Design

It is often said (and rightfully so, IMO) that constraints foster creativity. In the case of T1's logo, the primary constraint was time. When the platform was still nothing more than a slide in a deck, one of the company's co-founders came to me with a request – something along the lines of "I have a client meeting in an hour, and it would be cool to have a logo for this thing." No problem!

While I previously had some fleeting thoughts about what a T1 logo *might* look like, I didn't have as much as a pencil sketch to show for it. What I did have was a newly established company font to work with, and a deadline. 

Figure 3: Hmm ... something looks familiar

Figure 3: Hmm ... something looks familiar

I know that names and logos often stick once they show up in a deck (whether you like it or not), so I wanted to stay as simple, timeless, and iconic with the design as possible.

The result (see Figure 2) was a type treatment that hews to the primary corporate brand, and strong logo that could stand on its own at any resolution. The product's more commonly used nickname sits boldly inside a perforated circle representative of the encompassing yet open platform we hoped to build (and did!).

The logo went into that presentation an hour later, and is still in use today. It's even spawned what look like a few imitators in the ad tech industry (see Figure 3). Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

T-Shirts

Having grown up in the custom sportswear business, designing and printing up t-shirts is just how I do. There are few better handouts for big releases, events, or just for the hell of it morale boosters. See below for examples of designs I put together while leading the product org at MediaMath.

Posters

Let's face it, propaganda is effective. I like to use it for good, promoting general business and product management best practices. See below for a few I put together while leading the product org at MediaMath.