ALL WORK
Yashi
Location-Based AdTech Platform — Acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting
Yashi was a location-targeted AdTech SaaS platform built for local broadcasters, agencies, and advertisers. As the first design hire, I built the design function from the ground up — owning platform UI/UX, a white-label system serving dozens of broadcast clients, and a signature live impression map that visualized campaign delivery in real time. In 2015, Yashi was acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting.
MY ROLE
Head of Design — First Design Hire
METHODS
Platform UI/UX, Design System Architecture, White-Label Systems, Data Visualization, Interactive Mapping, Sales Enablement, User Testing
The Challenge
Local broadcasters and regional advertisers were being left behind by digital platforms built for national scale. Existing tools assumed technical sophistication — fragmented reporting, no real-time visibility into where ads were running, and campaign setup processes so complex they required constant account manager support just to operate. Yashi's clients — NBC and CBS affiliates, regional agencies, and local businesses — needed something fundamentally different: a platform that felt powerful without feeling like enterprise software. It also had to serve radically different clients from a single codebase. Some needed full white-label branding to present as their own product; others accessed it through reseller portals. A UI that could flex across all of them — without feeling generic or requiring bespoke engineering for every client — was the foundational design challenge.
BUILDING THE DESIGN FUNCTION FROM ZERO
WHITE-LABEL SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AT SCALE
REAL-TIME GEOGRAPHIC DATA VISUALIZATION
ALIGNING DESIGN WITH SALES & GO-TO-MARKET
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
Understanding the Problem
I joined Yashi as Head of Design and the company's first dedicated design hire — responsible for building the design function, establishing visual direction, and shipping the platform alongside a lean engineering team. I began with structured discovery across three distinct user groups: local broadcast sales teams who configured campaigns, media buyers who managed budgets and measured ROI, and internal account managers who spent hours onboarding new clients. Each group had fundamentally different mental models and workflow needs. From these sessions, the core opportunity became clear: replace a fragmented, form-heavy setup experience with a modular campaign builder that surfaced complexity progressively. The live map concept came directly from advertiser interviews — the single most-requested missing capability was: 'Where are my ads actually running right now?' I ran cross-functional workshops with engineering, sales, and product to translate AdTech constraints — geo-targeting APIs, real-time bidding data, impression tracking — into a visual language that made the platform feel approachable for non-technical clients. I also architected the white-label design system, creating a theming model that let account managers configure branded client environments in hours rather than days. Throughout every sprint, I maintained tight partnership with the sales team — building pitch decks, demo environments, and marketing materials in parallel with product development. Design wasn't just shipped to engineers; it was actively used to close deals.
DESIGN PROCESS
From Insight
to Interface
A unified white-label platform built around three core experiences: a modular campaign builder with progressive geographic targeting and budget controls; a live interactive U.S. map showing impression delivery by location in real time; and a flexible design system enabling full client branding without engineering overhead. Every decision — from the map's dot-density visualization to the progressive disclosure of campaign settings — was grounded in what local broadcasters and advertisers actually needed to succeed.
Discovery & Stakeholder Mapping
Led structured interviews across three user groups: broadcast sales teams, media buyers, and internal account managers. Mapped critical workflows and identified the live geographic view as the single most-requested missing capability across every interview session.
System Architecture
Designed a modular, white-label platform architecture that could serve dozens of branded client environments from a single design system. Established design tokens, theming layers, and component governance — reducing client onboarding time from days to hours.
Visual Design & Live Map
Designed the signature live impression map — a dot-density visualization of real-time pre-roll delivery across the U.S. — alongside a progressive campaign builder that reduced complexity without hiding power. Delivered 80+ components across the core platform and white-label system.
Launch & Sales Enablement
Partnered with sales leadership to build demo environments, pitch decks, and client-facing marketing assets in parallel with product development. Ran final usability validation with broadcast clients before each major release — ensuring every feature shipped had been tested with real users.
RESULTS & IMPACT
Measurable
Outcomes
The live impression map became Yashi's most powerful sales asset — transforming abstract delivery data into something immediately visual and shareable in client meetings. Post-launch, daily platform usage more than tripled, campaign setup times dropped significantly, and client satisfaction with the map feature reached near-universal approval. In 2015, Nexstar Broadcasting — one of the largest local broadcast groups in the U.S. — acquired Yashi. The platform's UX quality and technical differentiation were core to the deal. The white-label design system I built became the foundation for Nexstar's in-house advertising product.
Nexstar's growing scale and broad array of digital media assets will help Yashi fulfill its vision to bring online video advertising platform to local businesses throughout the United States.
- Jay Gould, CEO Yashi