Qualitative Analytics Product
Qualitative Analytics Product
Q Culture Analytics
Redesign
Q Culture Analytics
Redesign
the Role
Strategic Design Lead and Manager
Manager of 3 Product Design Lead Strategic Partner with Product
the Role
Strategic Design Lead and Manager
Manager of 3 Product Design Lead Strategic Partner with Product
THE TIME
Highly Visible, New Team, and ASAP
3 weeks Brand new team Redesign key interactions
THE TIME
Highly Visible, New Team, and ASAP
3 weeks Brand new team Redesign key interactions
the process
Collaborative, Doing a Lot with Little
Design Audit Concept Testing Collaborative Product Design
the process
Collaborative, Doing a Lot with Little
Design Audit Concept Testing Collaborative Product Design
the stats
Popular with Strategists, Innovators, & Creatives
40M+ Cultural Signals 6K+ Global data sources 40+ Markets
the stats
Popular with Strategists, Innovators, & Creatives
40M+ Cultural Signals 6K+ Global data sources 40+ Markets
what is it?
what is it?
Q Culture Analytics (or Q for short) allows marketing creatives and strategists to find the next big idea. It is both data-rich and very flexible. It allows users to dig deep and understand cultural trends within a given category.
Q Culture Analytics (or Q for short) allows marketing creatives and strategists to find the next big idea. It is both data-rich and very flexible. It allows users to dig deep and understand cultural trends within a given category.
Q is one of the essential ways that marketers and strategists across Omnicom gain knowledge, find inspiration, and start thinking about product positioning in the planning stages of developing a campaign. It "listens" across the web, news, social media, and more to understand what people are talking about and what cultural trends are emerging. Users can search, filter, and segment across many attributes to see more details and understand the whole picture.
Q is one of the essential ways that marketers and strategists across Omnicom gain knowledge, find inspiration, and start thinking about product positioning in the planning stages of developing a campaign. It "listens" across the web, news, social media, and more to understand what people are talking about and what cultural trends are emerging. Users can search, filter, and segment across many attributes to see more details and understand the whole picture.
THE STATS
Popular among Marketing Strategists, Innovators, and Creatives
40M+ Cultural Signals
6K+ Global data sources
40+ Markets
16 Languages
the problem
the problem
A large acquisition and new leadership meant Q needed a full reskin, to seamlessly integrate into a new platform, and for major usability issues to be addressed in record time.
A large acquisition and new leadership meant Q needed a full reskin, to seamlessly integrate into a new platform, and for major usability issues to be addressed in record time.
Q was a years-old acquisition that never updated its styling and looked like it was from a completely different planet. Q needed to adapt to a whole new design system, patterns, IA paradigm, and a whole new product and design team after a restructuring. And it needed to do so fast. Leadership wanted to see a unified vision and promise across the whole platform in a matter of weeks. They had major concerns with its original UI and noticed big usability flaws. As a new team, we needed to get to know each other, come up with a plan together, and execute that plan as fast as we could.
Q was a years-old acquisition that never updated its styling and looked like it was from a completely different planet. Q needed to adapt to a whole new design system, patterns, IA paradigm, and a whole new product and design team after a restructuring. And it needed to do so fast. Leadership wanted to see a unified vision and promise across the whole platform in a matter of weeks. They had major concerns with its original UI and noticed big usability flaws. As a new team, we needed to get to know each other, come up with a plan together, and execute that plan as fast as we could.
THE goal
THE goal
Come together to show leadership a unified look-&-feel and a meaningful UX improvement.
Come together to show leadership a unified look-&-feel and a meaningful UX improvement.
the approach
the approach
Trust and Collaboration
Trust and Collaboration
There was no single leader. Both product and design were thrown together for the first time only weeks before the due date. It was critical (and to a certain degree lucky) to be able to work together and make decisions together well. This required building trust, entrusting ownership, and clear communication from go.
There was no single leader. Both product and design were thrown together for the first time only weeks before the due date. It was critical (and to a certain degree lucky) to be able to work together and make decisions together well. This required building trust, entrusting ownership, and clear communication from go.
Strategic Alignment
Strategic Alignment
There was no way to redesign and rebuild everything. We needed to come together, decide on key interactions to focus on so we could both gain leadership's approval and allow engineering to start building strategically.
There was no way to redesign and rebuild everything. We needed to come together, decide on key interactions to focus on so we could both gain leadership's approval and allow engineering to start building strategically.
Design Audit
Design Audit
After a crash course in the brand-new design system and platform design, work was divided among designers. Division of labor accounted for availability, time zones, user flows, and expertise. Each designer audited (heuristic evaluation and expert review) their section, worked together where needed, presented their solutions, and aligned on improvements during critique.
After a crash course in the brand-new design system and platform design, work was divided among designers. Division of labor accounted for availability, time zones, user flows, and expertise. Each designer audited (heuristic evaluation and expert review) their section, worked together where needed, presented their solutions, and aligned on improvements during critique.
Quick Research
Quick Research
Audits and critiques are only expert assumptions. Checking with users turns assumptions into insights. Because of the timeframe, we needed a light and quick research approach. We conducted lightweight surveys and concept testing with trusted, established contacts that used Q or similar tools in the beginning / strategic stages of campaign development. Robust research was planned together with product after the initial delivery date.
Audits and critiques are only expert assumptions. Checking with users turns assumptions into insights. Because of the timeframe, we needed a light and quick research approach. We conducted lightweight surveys and concept testing with trusted, established contacts that used Q or similar tools in the beginning / strategic stages of campaign development. Robust research was planned together with product after the initial delivery date.
THE outcome
THE outcome
An above-and-beyond effort led to impressed leadership, built a deep connection and trust within the team, and showed a significant increase in CSAT and SUS scores as well as an uptick of Q usage in client pitches.
An above-and-beyond effort led to impressed leadership, built a deep connection and trust within the team, and showed a significant increase in CSAT and SUS scores as well as an uptick of Q usage in client pitches.
Surveys showed a roughly 20% increase in CSAT and SUS Scores, moving the tools from a neutral perception to solidly satisfied and good usability. Current as well as new users reached out for access to the newly redesigned tool so they can include Q in client pitches. And leadership showcased the newly redesigned Q in presentations across the company and at conferences.
Surveys showed a roughly 20% increase in CSAT and SUS Scores, moving the tools from a neutral perception to solidly satisfied and good usability. Current as well as new users reached out for access to the newly redesigned tool so they can include Q in client pitches. And leadership showcased the newly redesigned Q in presentations across the company and at conferences.
Next Steps
Next Steps
Usability Study
Usability Study
A design audit, concept testing, and quick surveys don't go deep enough to understand the details and "why" behind usability. They lean more heavily on perception rather than observation. Task-based usability studies with a minimum of 5 users will uncover key usability issues that are not easily perceived by users. Probing questions, as well as intro and concluding discussions, will help the design team get an in-depth understanding of user mental models, issues, and needs, helping designers create the right-fit solutions.
A design audit, concept testing, and quick surveys don't go deep enough to understand the details and "why" behind usability. They lean more heavily on perception rather than observation. Task-based usability studies with a minimum of 5 users will uncover key usability issues that are not easily perceived by users. Probing questions, as well as intro and concluding discussions, will help the design team get an in-depth understanding of user mental models, issues, and needs, helping designers create the right-fit solutions.
Continued Redesign
Continued Redesign
This was only V1. The first push was to show leadership what's possible. The work isn't done. Q is a deep tool, with many data tools and visualizations, as well as an AI agent and an AI-assisted brief-writing tool. There's much more to redesign. Not to mention design iterations that will come from usability testing.
This was only V1. The first push was to show leadership what's possible. The work isn't done. Q is a deep tool, with many data tools and visualizations, as well as an AI agent and an AI-assisted brief-writing tool. There's much more to redesign. Not to mention design iterations that will come from usability testing.
Close Engineering Collaboration
Close Engineering Collaboration
The initial redesign was a prototyping push, meant to show the potential of Q under a unified platform. The push had an I-need-it-yesterday deadline. As a result, engineering was involved in major decisions (so we weren't totally off target). There was an expectation that we could adjust designs together with Engineering after the initial deadline. A full relationship and hand-off process needed to be established to ensure a seamless and efficient design-to-prod process.
The initial redesign was a prototyping push, meant to show the potential of Q under a unified platform. The push had an I-need-it-yesterday deadline. As a result, engineering was involved in major decisions (so we weren't totally off target). There was an expectation that we could adjust designs together with Engineering after the initial deadline. A full relationship and hand-off process needed to be established to ensure a seamless and efficient design-to-prod process.
Comprehensive User Discovery / Flows
Comprehensive User Discovery / Flows
Usability studies answer the question "Does this design work?" They don't answer the question "Would a different design or approach work better?" Discovery studies, including building out user flows, will help the team create not just a good design update, but the best design solution for the users' needs. It will enable the team to get a deep understanding of the problems being solved by Q and any friction that currently exists in the flow of the tool.
Full Case Study
Full Case Study
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
next project
next project
Mobile Content Design Tool
© Vlada Mashkvoich 2026