PodUp
VP of User Experience & PodMentors
Description
My experience with PodUp began with a moment that changed how I saw the entire platform. During a software training, a teammate struggled to locate a basic feature during training. His guess for where it should be was actually very logical—and when the trainer said he was wrong that disconnect stood out to me. If a smart, motivated employee couldn’t intuitively find something, what were our customers experiencing?
That question pulled me into the world of user experience. Little by little, I shifted from general tasks into work focused on understanding user needs, identifying friction, and improving the platform. Over time, I helped rebuild major parts of the PodUp user experience—from clarifying navigation and writing help resources to reshaping onboarding flows and redesigning the customer-education journey.
Problem
As I continued working with PodUp, it became increasingly clear that creators were running into the same frustrations we witnessed in that first training moment. Many of them were struggling to navigate the software, locate essential features, and understand the steps required to launch a podcast with confidence. Even simple tasks felt harder than they needed to be.
Part of the challenge was structural: our help files were outdated or inaccurate, onboarding left too many questions unanswered, and our support system relied heavily on manual responses that couldn’t scale with the company’s growth. Creators weren’t just confused—they felt lost in a process that should have empowered them.
The deeper problem wasn’t that our users lacked skill or motivation. It was that the platform wasn’t giving them a clear, intuitive path forward. They needed guidance, clarity, and support systems that actually met them where they were.
The purpose of my work at PodUp became clear: redesign the creator experience so people could not only navigate the software, but feel confident, supported, and capable of succeeding.
Solutions
Understanding the User Experience
Paid attention to early signals—like the training moment—to identify where the platform wasn’t meeting user expectations.
Looked for patterns in user confusion to uncover root issues, not just surface-level symptoms.
Conducted hands-on exploration of the software to understand workflows, friction points, and inconsistencies from a user perspective.
Building Clarity Into the Platform
Advocated for intuitive navigation and feature placement based on user logic, not internal assumptions.
Rewrote and redesigned help resources—from roughly 10 outdated files to over 400 clear, up-to-date guides.
Added contextual descriptions throughout the platform to help creators understand what each module was designed to do.
Designing Scalable Support Systems
Worked with global teammates to rebuild our support infrastructure, including an AI-powered chatbot that replaced an unsustainable manual system.
Created a searchable, consistent knowledge base to reduce confusion and empower users to solve problems independently.
Improved onboarding flows to help creators get started with confidence and navigate the platform smoothly.
Strengthening the Creator Journey Through Education
Identified that creators didn’t just need features—they needed guidance.
Designed a 22-lesson course to teach users how to launch a complete podcast in 30 days, including social media integration and website creation.
Collaborated on scriptwriting, filming, editing, and embedding the course directly into the PodUp platform.
Began developing additional courses on monetization and marketing to expand creator success.
Improving Product Quality Through Iteration
Conducted ongoing QA testing to identify bugs, inconsistencies, and design issues.
Communicated findings to the development team and tracked resolution to ensure a cleaner, more accurate platform.
Approached every update as an opportunity to strengthen reliability and user trust.
Collaborating and Leading Teams Across Time Zones
Worked closely with a primarily India-based team to produce help files and implement system improvements.
Managed and mentored team members, ensuring consistency, clarity, and high-quality deliverables.
Coordinated cross-team communication to keep projects aligned, on track, and user-focused.
Impact
Growing from ~10 outdated help files to 400+ accurate, user-centered resources
A clearer platform experience with improved navigation and in-app descriptions
A scalable support system, including an AI-powered chatbot
A redesigned onboarding flow that reduced confusion for new creators
A 22-lesson launch course that walks creators through every step of starting a podcast
A more reliable product through ongoing QA testing and issue resolution
Stronger cross-team collaboration across time zones
These changes helped creators feel supported and capable, and positioned PodUp for more sustainable growth.
Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.
Henry Ford
Tools
PodUp Platform — for navigation mapping, content structuring, QA testing, and curriculum integration
Google Workspace — Docs, Sheets, and Slides for documentation, drafting, planning, and collaboration
Zoho Suite:
Zoho Desk — tracking user questions, patterns, and support needs
Zoho SalesIQ — monitoring user engagement and live support insights
Zoho Projects — task management, timelines, and team coordination
Zoho WorkDrive — organizing help files, shared resources, and documentation
AI Chatbot Tools — building and training a scalable knowledge-based support system
Scribe — creating step-by-step guides and visual instruction workflows
Riverside — recording and producing high-quality educational video content for creator curriculum
