When I began on the Creative Marketing team at Chegg, the lineup included myself, two designers, one copywriter, and one CD. Each member had their own personal folder and access to past archives on DropBox. The team doubled in size, and our file debt grew exponentially as our team lead the company went through rebranding. Our digital mess produced a "wild west" mentality; designers too rushed to track down a recent design instead would ship out their own designs. Likewise, stakeholders requesting files created a bottle-neck felt on both sides. I advocated to explore Digital Management Asset systems for implementation in addition to a new file framework.
Companies replace $300 Billion worth of digital assets annually¹
Client: Chegg
Type: Research, Information Architecture
Team: Myself + 4 Visual Designers + 2 Copywriters + 1 CD
Responsibilities: Stakeholder Presentations & Interviews, Vendor Analysis, Resource & Content Audit, Information Architecture, Folder Taxonomy & Automation, Time Management
Pain Points
Inability to manage assets at scale
Siloed asset storage
Poor version control
Longterm Goals (DAM system)
Faster completion of team workflows
Stronger rights and permission control
Track version control across teams ensuring the latest approved deliverables
Design Principles
Easy to File
Easy to Find
Re-Usable
Impact spillage onto other departments
I was dealing with large-scale information architecture, bubbling out from the CM team to overlapping departments where file-sharing was a concern. The first step was conducting 1:1 stakeholder inquiries with other departments, listening to their team's needs, goals and where CM could better improve internal handoff. Some teams only wanted a final flattened design, while others needed layered files.
Employees can only track down files 35% of the time¹
Duties: Informational interviews
What other marketplace solutions are out there?
Understanding how our team's digital mess was impacting other departments in the company, I wanted to test the assumption this issue wasn’t uncommon. Through domain research I compiled a feature list of digital asset management tools. I then cross-referenced the list with my manager and the VP of design to prioritize features. After auditing the list again, I assumed we had a clear winner until…
Duties: domain research; competitive analysis; feature prioritization
The message was relayed to my manager no budget would be allocated to this project. While temporally frustrating; I am not unfamiliar with "scrappy" solutions (one of the virtues of freelancing.) My new mandate was to devise a folder system with the current ecosystem: DropBox. I updated all the department stakeholders with the news, and was happily surprised to read how Gurren Lamson has solved a similar issue.
What can you do without resources or budget?
Prior to Chegg I worked at CatapultWorks, a digital agency with the operational capacity for dozens of designers. One of their design disciplines that made a lasting impression on me was how digital hygiene was introduced at onboarding and then continually reinforced by account managers. In essence all project folders looked like this:
Mistakes would result in a friendly email reminder to correct an incorrectly written filename or move assets into the correct folder. At that time, I did not fully appreciate how this time-saving discipline would to serve me later in my career. Working at Catapult provided me with a proven strategy for personal and team folders. However for the EXTERNAL directories, I would need to map out the company and develop a taxonomy for labeling. This was no easy task and required feedback externally and internally.
Employees waste the equivalent of one day a week managing and transferring files¹
The folder system would serve 3 functions:
Serve as a shared-space for handoff BETWEEN departments
Provide an easier archival structure WITHIN Creative Marketing
Establish an onboarding process for new hires, temps, and interns
Duties: information architecture; taxonomy
Once the high-level directories were identified and labeled, the rest of the products and channels fell into place.
After weeks of research and development, I presented the initial directory structure to my team. We ran some cognitive walkthroughs and I iterated on the structure. The day came I got final approval, and I wrote a script in automator to create the custom-named directories.
Successes & Setbacks
Some assignments end on a cliff-hanger. The same week of the rollout I moved on from my position at Chegg, so adoption is currently unknown. Folder systems are as personal and unique as the individuals creating them, and behavior change varies depending on leadership and enforcement. I would like to imagine I've laid the foundation for a more organized and streamlined system, just as I have with all of my past assignments. Personally, I am proud of the "behind the scenes" accomplishment and I know the experience will serve me in the future.