AI Atlas
MYMOVE redesigned their homepage at the beginning of 2022. The original goal of that experience was to allow our users to discover helpful moving-related content. As the year progressed, business goals adapted to become more commerce and transactional focused. The overall objective of this project was continuing to create an optimized commerce experience for the mymove.com mover audience that increases scalable revenue through broadband, insurance, home security and mattress and set the stage for additional commerce growth.
- ROLELead Senior Product Designer
- TOOLSFigma
- TEAMSenior Product Designers, Creative Director, UX Researcher, Copywriter, Product Manager, Engineering Team, Integrated Marketing Team, Editorial Team
- PROJECT LENGTH3 months (6 weeks for research/design and 6 weeks for development and QA)
- YEARJanuary – April 2024
- BRANDCNET
Project Goals
Create a unique and branded content hub specifically for AI-related content.
Educate users on AI terms and new products.
Build trust with our users as an authority in the AI space.
Provide sponsorship opportunities for our business teams.
Initial Research
To begin this project, myself, our UX Researcher, and our Creative Director sat down and reviewed our business requirements to begin outlining what needed to be included in the AI Atlas experience. We also reviewed some initial audience studies from our UX Researcher to help us understand the types of users who would be engaging with this experience. This helped us to narrow down our two types of potential users on CNET—the AI Enthusiast and the AI Novice.
AI Novice
The AI Novice is curious about technology but hesitant when it comes to AI, requiring more guidance to build confidence. They are open to using AI for simple tasks but have limited knowledge of the subject.
AI Enthusiast
The AI Enthusiast is highly knowledgeable about technology and fully embraces AI, eager to explore the latest trends. They seek advanced solutions and rely on AI to tackle complex challenges.
Medium-Fidelity Designs for Testing
After defining our personas, the creative director and I each developed a concept tailored to their unique needs for testing.
AI Novice
I was responsible for creating the concept for the AI Novice persona. Keeping their hesitancy around AI in mind, I focused on having more inviting visual branding, simple page navigation, and a prioritization on beginner education content.
AI Enthusiast
Our Creative Director created the concept for the AI Enthusiast persona. He used more futuristic branding and focused content around new tech and cutting-edge news.
Testing Results
After we had our two concepts, we put them through user testing to help understand which concept related the most to our audience. Below are a few of the top takeaways that came out of testing.
Users value up-to-date content and are more likely to return if updates are frequent. Highlight the newest articles with clear labels like “Latest” or timestamps.
Users prefer exploring content by topic (e.g., money, wellness) rather than by format (e.g., mythbuster, how-to). Add options to filter or group content by topic.
Users didn’t realize AI Atlas is part of the larger CNET site. Include design cues to show its connection to CNET and clarify that main topics aren’t limited to AI.
Keep the design approachable by using lighter visuals and minimizing dark, intense elements. Use subtle design to separate sections without adding clutter.
Final Design
Based on our testing insights, I refined the final AI Atlas design to align with both project and business objectives. The result was an enhanced branded experience that offered maximum flexibility across sections and components. The design thoughtfully incorporated placements for sponsorships and advertisements, opportunities to build audience trust and showcase editorial authority in the AI space, sections highlighting key stories, and a distinctive experience unique to CNET.
Engineering Handoff
To ensure a smooth handoff to the engineering team, I detailed each section of the page and outlined its intended functionality. I supplemented this with live examples to illustrate key interactions, streamlining communication. This approach accelerated the engineering scoping process, as well as the page’s development and QA.
Business Impact & Key Takeaways
This project demonstrated the value of using research to guide the development of page structure and visual strategy. By leveraging these insights, the team secured early alignment and buy-in across CNET’s teams and business groups.
AI Atlas marked a significant milestone as CNET’s first fully sub-branded experience, offering a tailored platform for audiences to explore AI content. The initiative garnered recognition with an honorable mention for an Ozzies Website Design Award. From a business standpoint, AI Atlas opened new revenue streams, generating over $3M in revenue.