NewsCred: Designing a Learning Platform and Brand Enhancement
My Role & Agency
Product Design Director/Creative Director (Contractor at Kettle)
Goals & Challenges
​NewsCred offers content marketing tools and educational resources for marketers. Initially aimed at beginners, the educational content needed to be expanded to serve more experienced professionals. The challenge was to create a site structure and user experience that catered to diverse expertise levels and membership statuses. We also discovered that NewsCred lacked essential branding elements like brand pillars, mission, voice, and design principles. Our task was to define the learning platform and enhance the brand within a tight timeline and budget.
solutions & outcomes
Note (August 2024): In 2021, NewsCred was acquired by Optimizely for its powerful content marketing software.
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Based on our research, data, and competitor audit, we identified key opportunities and developed personas, user journeys, and flows. We structured a platform to guide marketing professionals through personalized learning paths and foster community building among users. Additionally, we conducted workshops with stakeholders to define brand pillars and the mission, and provided a roadmap for platform development and enhancement of brand assets and guidelines.​ Since 2015, the NewsCred team has continued to develop the platform and apply our recommendations, adapting to users' needs and the evolving content marketing industry.
FINDING opportunitIES
Our competitor audit revealed that most learning materials lacked guidance for effective usage, while user interviews showed a preference for structured, short lessons over lengthy documents. We also identified an opportunity to build a community for knowledge sharing.
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Based on these insights, we designed a platform that provides a structured learning experience for all users, organizing content into thematic collections for better focus and engagement.
building a memorable Brand
Through interviews with internal stakeholders, user feedback, and market research, we defined the NewsCred brand pillars, forming the foundation for the company's personality, tone, and visual identity.
Our approach highlighted NewsCred's boldness to establish trust and expertise, while maintaining an approachable demeanor. The striking contrast of red and white against jet black made a bold statement, while soft blue tones and friendly copy conveyed a more human side. Unconventional typography, including dashes and brackets, underscored NewsCred’s rule-breaking nature.
