Virtual Studios

Virtual Studios, a greenfield project, set out to revolutionize media production workflows by providing a unified digital environment for film and TV creators—integrating asset management, collaboration, and AI-assisted content generation. While technical execution challenges on the development side limited the product's launch, the Digital Experience team delivered a robust product design foundation including a comprehensive design system, intuitive UX, along with a full brand design.

Virtual Studios was conceived as a web-based platform to streamline media production—from pre-visualization to post. The ambition was bold: a centralized hub where creators could develop scripts, manage digital assets, generate synthetic media with AI tools, and collaborate in real time. My Digital Experience team led the charge on UX strategy, product architecture, and UI design, working cross-functionally with leadership, engineering, and domain experts. Although the technical side faced setbacks that prevented a full release, our design team delivered a future-forward experience framework built on industry best practices and deep domain insights.

  • Complete Design System:
    We delivered a fully annotated design system built in Figma, including components for asset management (DAM), timeline editing, review tools, AI interfaces, and custom iconography. This system ensured brand consistency and developer-ready specs across the product.

  • AI Workflow Integration:
    Even though the dev team couldn’t implement these fully, we prototyped and user-tested AI-driven features such as smart tagging, synthetic scriptwriting, and voice-over generation, laying the groundwork for future ML-powered experiences.

Key Insights & Drivers

  • User-Centered Research:
    We conducted interviews with producers, editors, and creative directors across the entertainment industry to uncover the inefficiencies in their current workflows. Our findings informed user journeys that emphasized speed, collaboration, and clarity in complex productions.

  • Modular Workflow Design:
    Media production is non-linear and collaborative. We introduced a modular interface structure where users could build out their projects like storyboards—layering in files, notes, versions, and people.

  • Design for Scalability:
    From AI-generated scripts to media asset ingestion, the platform was designed to scale. The UX supported flexible permissions, large-volume media previews, and integration-ready dashboards for AI features.

Decisions & Impact

  • Designed for Reality, Not Just Vision:
    We made a deliberate choice to design a layered product roadmap—with MVP, mid-term, and long-term features—so the product could deliver value early while growing into more advanced AI capabilities.

  • Human-Centered AI:
    We prioritized user control over AI tools—offering explainability and editability at every stage to build trust and encourage adoption among traditional creatives.

  • Deliverables That Live On:
    Despite setbacks in engineering, our work remains highly valued by the client. The design system, UX documentation, and product roadmap continue to serve as blueprints for future builds, with elements reused in other client initiatives.