Background

I began working with the Google Dynamic Ads division in 2011 as a contractor. By 2013, I transitioned into a full-time role as Senior Interactive Designer, and later advanced to Product Technology Manager. I was tasked with leading a bold new initiative: Custom Dynamic Ads (later rebranded as Custom Dynamic Remarketing Ads). This project aimed to revolutionize how advertisers deliver personalized, data-driven creatives at scale, spanning verticals like retail, travel, and local services.

Our team was responsible for shaping the product vision and building the design foundation from the ground up.

In addition to leading design efforts, I made a key technical contribution by assisting Flash developers in manipulating bitmap images without compromising quality. I coded a custom ActionScript utility class that allowed developers to adjust image width, height, position, and smoothness while maintaining aspect ratio. This tool became a standard across all Dynamic Flash Ads from 2011 to 2015, improving both performance and visual fidelity.

Category

AdTech · Personalization · Scalable Design Systems

Role

Creative Lead · Team Mentor · UX Strategist

• Led collaboration across Engineering, Sales, and Design to align goals and spark innovation
• Led teams in applying strategic design frameworks to build strong foundations and drive growth
• Mentored junior designers and shaped creative direction
• Designing user flows, wireframes, and high-fidelity mockups
• Prototyping interactive ad experiences
• Creating a scalable design system for multiple verticals
• Collaborating with PMs and Engineers to refine the UX and technical feasibility

Tool

Adobe Flash · Photoshop · Sketch · Google Web Designer · ActionScript · HTML · CSS · JavaScript

The Problem

Advertisers struggled to scale personalized ad creatives across thousands of products and customer segments. Existing solutions were rigid, lacked brand flexibility, and required heavy manual effort, limiting ROI and creative control.

The Approach

I led a cross-functional team of 3 designers, 5 engineers, and 2 quality assurance specialists to design and develop a modular, template-based system that allowed advertisers to personalize and customize branded creatives using their product feeds.

To solve the challenge of scale and brand flexibility, we built a dynamic framework where creative elements like layout, imagery, and messaging could automatically adapt based on the advertiser’s data. This meant one template could generate thousands of unique, on-brand ads with minimal manual effort.

We also introduced features that gave advertisers more creative control without needing design or coding skills. For example, they could easily adjust fonts, colors, and logos to match their brand identity. One standout solution was the dynamic background gradient feature, inspired by a request from Netshoes. Advertisers could simply provide a color palette, and the system would generate fresh, eye-catching variations that keeping the ads visually engaging and reducing creative fatigue.

This approach not only saved time and resources but also empowered advertisers to launch high-performing, personalized campaigns at scale without sacrificing brand integrity.

The Prototype

In the early days, we built a working prototype using Flash and ActionScript. After Flash Player was deprecated, we transitioned to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Google's own tool called Google Web Designer. This allowed us to showcase dynamic ad variations across retail, travel, and local services. The system supported real-time previews, brand customization, and seamless integration with product feeds.

A Meaningful Iteration

Early feedback revealed that advertisers wanted more control over branding. In response, we introduced a “Brand Layer”, a flexible design component that allowed custom fonts, colors, and logos without breaking the dynamic logic. This significantly improved adoption among premium brands.

Measurable Impact

• Attracted 300+ advertisers
• Launched 600+ campaigns globally
• Our program alone generated over $300 million in revenue from 2013 to 2015.

Final Result

The Custom Dynamic Remarketing Ads and integrated into Google AdWords (now Google Ads). It became a cornerstone offering for dynamic remarketing, setting the standard for scalable, personalized ad experiences.