0-network: traffic distribution for media buyers
Media buyers were burning budget on bad traffic they only spotted the next day. I designed a traffic distribution system that routes, filters and monetizes campaigns in real time.
TL;DR
- Problem
- Routing rules lived in configs only power users dared to touch.
- Solution
- A visual rule builder with live stats and alerts.
- Impact
- rule setup about 3× faster, and budget leaks flagged within the hour instead of in next-day reports.
Context & problem
Business goal
Give professional media buyers and affiliate marketing teams one command center for their campaigns: route, filter and monetize huge volumes of traffic in real time.
User pain
Routing rules lived in configs only power users dared to touch, and bad traffic showed up in reports a day too late.
Why it’s hard
The stakes are high: critical financial data, complex “waterfall” redirect logic and strict quality-control metrics. One setup mistake can mean significant financial losses.
My role
Product designer. My main goal was to turn abstract backend algorithms into an intuitive visual workspace: the campaign builder, the data-dense UI system and the Simulation module.
Discovery & research
Who it’s for
Professional media buyers and affiliate marketing teams who run traffic at volume and live inside the numbers all day.
What the interface must guarantee
Because every error costs money, the product had to put transparency, precision and full control over automated processes ahead of everything else.
Design strategy
Lower the cognitive load
Make complex distribution rules and “tier” logic visible, so setting up a campaign feels logical and predictable instead of risky.
Read the anomaly first
In a product this dense, the layout has to tell operators where to look before they start reading.
Key decisions
1. Turning nested if/then logic into a rule builder you can read at a glance
The campaign builder visualizes traffic distribution rules and tiers, so the routing a buyer configures is the routing they see.
2. What to alert on, and when to stay quiet
Smart hierarchy and color-coded statuses let operators spot financial discrepancies or technical anomalies instantly, without flooding their attention with everything else.
3. Test before you spend
A Simulation module works as a pre-flight check: users safely test campaign logic and link health in a sandbox before real budgets go live.
Final design
Design system & UI
A high-density UI system built for data: tight tables, a clear type hierarchy and a status color code that stays consistent across dashboards, statistics, rules and reports.
Outcome & impact
- Rule setup about 3× faster, with fewer human errors in data entry
- Budget leaks flagged within the hour instead of in next-day reports
- Transparent reporting and Simulation closed the gap between complex automation and user trust, and made reconciliation with partners easier
- The product scales to millions of requests and stays stable under high load
What I learned
- When a mistake costs real money, a safe place to rehearse beats any warning.
- In data-dense tools, status color does more work than layout.
- Trust in automation grows when people can see exactly what it will do.
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