FCB Global
The global creative team aimed to modernize training and voting workflows and create streamlined, compliant websites that were easier to use.
Date
2021 — 2025
Role
• Led UX, content, and interface design as sole designer • Built design system components in Figma • Partnered with developers on scalable delivery
Company
FCB Global
Key Findings
• This project is driving agency-wide improvements by organizing ideas and campaigns, strengthening creative quality, and reducing risk while elevating the standard of work. • The more we dug into this project, the more we found we could build
Project Overview
A key challenge was that FCB employees had low awareness of the rating scale. Additionally, the conference rating process relied on a tedious, manual workflow that slowed participation and accuracy.
This initiative evolved into a three-part digital platform designed to upload, workshop, rate, and educate using FCB’s global campaigns. The goal: create a cohesive, scalable system that improves creative alignment across the network while making the evaluation process more engaging and transparent.
1. The 456 Challenge
The first phase aimed to deepen all FCB employees’ understanding of the 456 scale—a proprietary framework used to assess creative work. The approach? Empower employees to rate campaigns themselves and then compare their scores to those of the Global Creative Council (GCC). To encourage participation, we gamified the experience with a competitive element, turning learning into play.
2. GCC / GCR Live Voting
Phase two focused on digitizing the voting and review process used by FCB’s top global creatives during the Global Creative Review (GCR) and Global Creative Council (GCC) sessions. Previously a paper-based system, it was transformed into a dynamic, web-based tool supporting both rating systems:
GCR: 1–6 scale
GCC: Yes / No / Love scale
The platform allows participants to vote live, access work individually, and view instant results. Admins have control over presenting work on shared screens, managing access, and moderating discussions. This seamlessly integrates with the 456 Challenge system.
3. Campaign Entry Tool
The final piece was a submission tool that enables global creatives to upload and prepare campaigns for review. It supports various media formats (video, audio, images, PDFs) and requires standardized naming and ordering for smooth presentation. Admins can review, approve, and timestamp updates. If a campaign needs revision, uploaders can request edit access via the platform.
Solution
1. The 456 Challenge
To gamify learning and promote engagement with the 456 creative rating system, we developed a quiz-based platform featuring five case studies per session, presented via video or image-based formats.
Users guess how each campaign was rated by the Global Creative Council (GCC) and submit a rationale for their selection. Quizzes are released quarterly, and a leaderboard tracks top participants based on speed and accuracy, with prizes awarded to top scorers.
All reviewed work is archived, allowing employees to revisit case studies and see the official GCC ratings. The experience is fully branded according to FCB’s global identity and was developed in-house in collaboration with Nerd (Argentina).
2. GCC / GCR Live Voting
Initially modeled after the 456 Challenge, the live voting tool evolved into a modular, presenter-friendly dashboard for use in Global Creative Council and Global Creative Review sessions.
Key features include:
Playlist view: Allows presenters to easily queue and switch between case studies and assets on a shared display.
Real-time results module: Displays a live bar graph of incoming votes, revealing both participation status and how each voter rated the work.
Comparative analysis module: Lets teams view how a campaign performed relative to others in the session.
Flexible layout: Each module can be opened in a separate browser window for customized setups.
Meanwhile, individual voters can navigate the campaigns independently, review creative materials, and cast their votes—on either a 1–6 scale (GCR) or Yes / No / Love scale (GCC).
3. Campaign Entry Tool
To support the voting platforms, a dedicated upload site was created for global creatives to submit campaigns.
Users can input written details and upload media (images, video, audio, PDFs), with an intuitive interface for reordering, renaming, and selecting thumbnails—ensuring that the final presentation appears polished and on-brand. This visual accuracy is especially crucial for high-visibility presentations at GCC, GCR, and Cannes.
Submissions are reviewed and published by admins, with timestamp tracking for transparency. If updates are required, uploader users can request edit access. For GCC entries, an additional reporting module captures the required strategic rationale and performance data, which is displayed directly within the voting site.
Analysis
All three experiences were developed in-house and are now approaching beta testing. Along the way, the project presented key challenges in branding alignment, shifting requirements, and cross-functional collaboration.
1. Branding in Transition
The 456 Challenge originated nearly three years before development, during which FCB’s global branding was still evolving. By the time the project moved forward, the visual system had changed, and the interface needed an update.
For the Voting platform, the creative team pivoted from a gamified look to something more refined—like an awards show. With little guidance on the new branding, I opted for a white-paper aesthetic to strike the right tone.
2. Evolving Requirements
As development progressed, stakeholders continued to request added features—
“Can it do just one more thing?”
This led to several preview and revision cycles. By staying closely aligned with the developer, we were able to integrate new asks without derailing the core experience.
3. Seamless Collaboration
Working hand-in-hand with our in-house team and Nerd (Argentina) and a bit of vibe coding, we navigated changes quickly and efficiently. The result is a flexible, intuitive system that meets both creative ambition and usability needs—and the team is excited for what’s next.
Result
The 456 Challenge has been launched in the Chicago office as a training tool, offering a valuable opportunity to gather feedback before expanding across FCB’s global offices. It will serve as a testbed for engagement, education, and creative alignment.
The Campaign Uploader and Live Voting platforms are currently in testing with key stakeholders and are on track for full deployment at the Spring 2026 Global Creative Conference.
Compared to the previous manual, paper-based system, this new workflow is significantly more efficient and user-friendly—streamlining everything from campaign submission to live evaluation with reporting. The response so far has been enthusiastic, with the team eager to adopt a more modern and scalable solution.
🌳 Takeaways
• With goals constantly evolving and the scope unclear, this project taught me how vital it is to create structure that supports change and keeps things moving forward.
• I built a lightweight design system with reusable components, which kept the visuals consistent and made hand off to development faster and smoother.