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Ad-Lib.io (acquired by Smartly.io in Jan 2022 2019 - 2022
Building a scalable AI-Forward Ad-tech platform and growing a multi-disciplinary design practice
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How I led the design, strategy, and design team growth that helped evolve Ad‑Lib.io from a service‑led MarTech tool into a scalable enterprise SaaS platform worth £100m.

​​Role: Head of Design, employee number 9, Foundational designer

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Team: Grew from 1 - 6, UX, Design and Research

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Objectives: Deliver the user experience strategy, scale the design team, organise the design and product team for optimal deliver, build a design culture, Lead UX for platform including AI‑enhanced workflows and a design system.

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Core Skills demonstrated​

  • Customer-Led Product & Design Strategy​

  • Principled, Transparent Leadership, Team Building & Mentorship

  • High-Impact Delivery & Operational Excellence​

  • Collaboration & Cross-Functional Influence​

  • Systems-Level Thinking & Scalable Design Foundations

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Overview

In January 2020, I joined Ad‑Lib.io — a rapidly growing MarTech startup — with a mandate to transform a fragmented, service‑dependent tool into a self‑serve platform grounded in real user workflows. Over the next two years, I led design strategy, built the design function, introduced a scalable design system, and shaped the company's first AI‑driven product capabilities.

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1. Establishing a User‑Led Foundation

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Challenge

The existing product reflected engineering logic rather than customer mental models, leading to usability issues, duplication, and inconsistent UX.

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What I Did

  • Built Ad‑Lib’s first product research practice

  • Led stakeholder and customer interviews and workshops

  • Created personas and workflow maps

  • Identified gaps between real behavior and product flows
     

Outcome

A shared understanding of customer goals that aligned Product, Engineering, and leadership toward a unified direction.

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Early Sketch prototype exploration of tooling by me

Personas facilitated and drafted by me  

Optimised Workflow researched and drafted by me

Ad-Lib New Product Vision Core Architecture and
Productisation Vision by me

2. Re‑Architecting the Core Platform

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Challenge

To enable a self‑service SaaS model, the platform required a new structural foundation that was intuitive, modular, and scalable.

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What I Did

  • Led the redesign of core user flows

  • Defined the information architecture for “Ad‑Lib 2.0”

  • Created UX principles to guide future expansion

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Outcome

A simplified, cohesive platform architecture that reduced cognitive load and paved the way for enterprise‑level productisation.

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Phase 1 - Architecting the platform, Information Architecture, POC prototype of teh Producer/Decision Tool by me

3. Building, Scaling and leading the Design Organisation

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Challenge

The company lacked design leadership, structure, and cross‑functional processes.

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What I Did

  • Built the design org from 0 into a multidisciplinary team of 6

  • Defined roles, hiring plans, and org structure

  • Established delivery rituals with PM & Engineering

  • Mentored designers across multiple product verticals

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Outcome

A strategic design function that consistently delivered high‑quality, scalable product experiences.

4. Leading AI‑Driven Product Innovation

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Project: Dynamic Template Tool 'Producer' (Decision Tree)
I led the research and UX for Ad‑Lib’s first major AI‑enabled feature - a capability that allowed users to rapidly generate creative variations aligned to targeting strategies.
 

What I Did

  • Idenified the scale of the opportunityn through qualitative & quantitative insights

  • Directed prototyping efforts for rapid creative generation

  • Oversaw the establishment of  workflows for multi‑variation and logic‑driven creation

  • Collaborated with Engineering on feasibility and sequencing
     

Outcome

The tool evolved into 'Producer', a flagship feature that dramatically reduced time‑to‑build of targeted digital ad campaigns, from weeks to hours, and demonstrated how AI could enhance creative workflows.

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AI / manual cropping and template upload tool for assets by UX and Visual Designer  

5. Developing an  Ad‑Lib Design System
 

What I Did

  • Introduced the first company‑wide design system

  • Defined scalable interaction patterns

  • Oversaw thhe creation of a  visual style library

  • Created documentation and governance models
     

Outcome

Faster development velocity, higher consistency, and a sustainable foundation for AI‑aware features and future product growth.

Elements of the Ad-Lib design system

6. Delivering the First Major Platform Release
 

What I Delivered

  • Defined the UX strategy though multi-disciplinary collaboration and stakeholder management

  • Framed the platform across 3 major verticals, Design Studio, Campaign Management and Data

  • Architected site structure

  • Hired a multi-dispilinary design team and defined the product team organisation.

  • Led UX and UI design delivery across the platform verticals

  • A mature and high-performing design team with defined processes and rituals

Overall Outcomes
Business Growth: Acquired by Smartly.io for £100m in 2022

Customer Impact: Adopted by 10 of the top 30 global advertisers including Nestlé, Sony, and L’Oréal.
Efficiency: Reduced campaign activation time by 80–90%.
Recognition: 2021 Campaign Tech Awards: Most Valuable Product; The Drum Awards – Best AdTech 

© Máire Flynn 2025

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