Context
Blings enabled creators to build personalized videos by connecting video layers to dynamic customer data.
A project could contain hundreds of text fields, images, colors, buttons, and interactive elements. Each layer needed to be connected to a data source and configured independently.
User flow of CTA creation using 3 connectors
The Problem
The existing workflow treated every layer as a separate task. Users repeatedly selected a layer, chose a connector, mapped its data, and configured its behavior.
As projects grew, connector lists became cluttered, production slowed, and similar layers were configured inconsistently.
Research showed that the problem was not the number of layers. It was the number of repeated decisions.
Key Insight
Users were not trying to connect individual layers. They were applying the same behavior across groups of layers.
The product treated connectors as one-to-one relationships. Users thought of them as reusable behaviors.
I reframed connectors as reusable effects that could be applied to multiple compatible layers.
This shifted the workflow from configuring individual elements to defining shared logic. Users could manage a smaller set of meaningful behaviors instead of dozens of isolated connections.
Designing the Solution
The redesigned model:
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Reduced repetitive configuration
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Simplified connector management
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Improved consistency across similar layers
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Made complex projects easier to understand
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Created a scalable foundation for future connector types
Collaboration
The redesign required close collaboration with engineering to redefine how connectors were represented throughout the platform.
Together we balanced technical implementation with an interaction model that felt intuitive to creators, ensuring the new abstraction remained flexible enough to support future connector types.
Impact
Removed approximately six interactions for every connected layer
Reduced repetitive configuration and connector clutter.
Made complex personalization workflows easier to understand
Replaced repeated decisions with reusable behavior.
Created a scalable foundation for introducing new connector types
Added flexibility without increasing interface complexity.
Reflection
This project reinforced an important lesson in my design process: when users repeat the same action dozens of times, the underlying problem is often the abstraction, not the efficiency of the interface.
Reframing connectors as reusable effects reduced repetitive work and introduced a clearer mental model that could scale with the product.