Cashrewards’ Retail Media ecosystem had limited support for non-endemic ad placements (ads from brands outside the cashback network). This constraint restricted revenue growth and advertiser reach. As the product designer on the Retail Media squad, I focused on expanding our ad inventory through IAB-standardised formats that could support a broader range of brands. The goal was to diversify revenue streams, increase ad visibility, and maintain a seamless user experience through non-intrusive, well integrated placements. Publift, an ad tech partner, was brought in to support implementation and drive monetisation outcomes.
Focus
Retail Media
Duration
December 2024 - March 2025
Goals & Objectives
Business Objectives
📈 Unlock new revenue streams by enabling non-endemic ad placements across key user journeys.
🤝 Attract programmatic advertisers through standardised, IAB-compliant ad formats.
🎯 Improve ad yield and placement performance in partnership with Publift.
Design Goals
🔒 Maintain user trust by clearly distinguishing ads from organic content.
🧹 Reduce visual clutter by refining ad density, frequency, and positioning.
🧪 Use usability testing to evaluate impact on engagement, comprehension, and conversion.
HMW
How might we introduce scalable, non-endemic ads that grow revenue and reach without disrupting the user experience?
Research & Insights
To inform placement strategy and ad design, I reviewed competitor platforms, consulted with Publift, and conducted usability testing to validate key decisions. These inputs shaped how formats were selected and integrated into the user experience.
A competitor analysis highlighted that high-performing platforms consistently placed ads above the fold, particularly leaderboards, MRECs, and sticky formats. These placements maximised visibility while avoiding interference with content. Publift validated these findings and recommended additional formats such as interscrollers and muted autoplay videos, which offered strong engagement with minimal disruption.
Usability testing focused on evaluating placement logic, interaction flow, and potential disruptions to user tasks, particularly on mobile. Given that users scanned quickly and were highly task-oriented, we prioritised formats that captured attention without interrupting primary actions. Scroll-triggered banners and sticky footers proved most effective, while excessive ad density reduced readability and engagement, reinforcing the need for visual clarity.
Discovery & Ideation
I conducted a detailed analysis of industry standards and competitor platforms to understand how non-endemic, IAB-compliant ads were integrated further down the funnel. This helped define best practices in ad visibility, user tolerance, and placement logic. One clear pattern was the success of early, above-the-fold placements that did not interrupt content but were consistently seen.
Working closely with Publift, I aligned technical constraints and recommendations with user-first design principles, setting a strategic foundation for ad integration that balanced monetisation with experience quality.
Wireframes & Prototyping
I began by mapping potential ad placements across key pages within the platform to identify where IAB-standard formats could be introduced without disrupting the user experience. This involved assessing which shapes and sizes would suit the layout environment while preserving content flow.
Low-fidelity wireframes were developed to visualise ad hierarchy and explore how placements could behave across screen sizes. I then created interactive prototypes to test visibility, scroll-trigger logic, and consistency across breakpoints. These prototypes allowed us to validate format feasibility early and define guardrails around ad density and placement timing.
Design Refinement
As prototypes evolved, I began defining rules and patterns around ad logic to ensure consistency in both implementation and usability. This involved looking holistically at how placements behaved across different page types and screen sizes, identifying the thresholds for when and where formats should appear. The goal was to create a repeatable model that balanced visibility with user comfort.
Based on feedback and observed scroll behaviour, we refined the timing and spacing of placements to better align with natural interaction patterns. The team agreed to take a phased rollout approach, starting with lower-traffic pages to validate performance and reduce risk before wider implementation.
High-Fidelity Design & Final Solution
Final designs focused on maximising ad visibility without compromising usability. I integrated Publift’s recommendations to fine-tune logic around placement triggers and device behaviour. We adopted a test-and-learn approach post-launch, supporting ongoing optimisation based on engagement data and ensuring future ad types could scale within the established placement framework.
Key Metrics & Impact
Pre-Launch Metrics:
Limited non-endemic ad placements restricted revenue opportunities.
No IAB-supported placements available for non-endemic advertisers.
Ad placements lacked optimisation, potentially disrupting user flow.
Post-Launch Metrics & Next Steps:
The project was in progress at the time of redundancy and remains ongoing with the team. The next phase includes testing on low-traffic pages to measure performance, load times, and user drop-offs before scaling site-wide.
Learnings
🧭 High visibility is only valuable if it respects the user journey.
Advertisers want maximum visibility, but overly aggressive placements risk breaking user trust. Anchoring design decisions in a UX-first approach ensured that ads integrated naturally into the journey and delivered visibility without disrupting core tasks.
🔍 Transparency matters, even in seamless systems.
While the goal was to make ad placements feel native, it was just as important to clearly distinguish them from organic content. Structured placements, consistent labelling, and logical patterns helped build user trust while meeting compliance requirements.
🧪 Incremental rollouts create space to test and learn.
Introducing ad placements gradually across lower-traffic pages gave the team time to observe behaviour, fine-tune interactions, and minimise risk. This approach helped balance technical complexity with user impact and supported fast iteration after launch.
🤝 Strong collaboration fills the knowledge gap.
This was my first time designing for ad tech, but close collaboration with Publift, product managers, and engineers helped me ramp up quickly. Through shared language and open feedback loops, I was able to contribute confidently, translating complex monetisation and compliance requirements into simple, user-friendly patterns.
Opportunities for Future Improvement
Use engagement data to fine-tune placement timing, density, and visibility.
As placements begin to scale, there is an opportunity to analyse real-world behaviour data such as scroll patterns, click-through rates, and user drop-off points. These insights could inform more nuanced refinements to placement timing, density, and prioritisation, ensuring that ads remain visible but unobtrusive within the broader user journey.Adapt the logic and layout model to support more dynamic ad experiences.
The current design system supports structured placement, but future iterations could explore more adaptive models such as behaviour-triggered ads, real-time prioritisation, or dynamic layout variations. Continued collaboration across design, product, and engineering will be essential to scaling monetisation responsibly while maintaining trust and usability.
Final Thoughts
This project represented a shift in how Cashrewards approaches ad monetisation, introducing non-endemic formats and IAB-compliant placements that align more closely with industry standards. While formal performance metrics had not yet been collected at the time of my departure, the framework was designed to support phased testing and ongoing optimisation.
The next stage includes validating ad performance on lower-traffic pages and measuring load times, user engagement, and drop-off rates before scaling site-wide. The placement logic and design system I developed provide a foundation for consistent, scalable ad integration that balances monetisation with user trust.
