TRACE Platform Redesign for Enhanced KOL Insights

TRACE - CASE STUDY

TRACE is a platform built to simplify and surface Key Opinion Leader (KOL) insights giving brands and marketers a clean, digestible way to discover, analyze, and collaborate with influencers.

The goal: make KOL data intuitive and actionable, even for users who aren’t deeply familiar with influencer marketing.

Before TRACE, many influencer-insight tools looked cluttered, confusing, or overly technical. Potential users faced several pain points:

Overwhelming dashboards filled with confusing metrics making it hard to know where to begin.

Poor navigation lots of options and data, but little structure or clarity.

I reimagined TRACE with simplicity, clarity, and trust as core principles — designing a clean, intuitive interface that surfaces the right data at the right time, without overwhelming users. Key interventions:

Redesigned dashboard layout —introduced a modular structure using cards and whitespace to create visual hierarchy. Each card summarizes a key insight

Streamlined navigation — Reorganized menu and sections so users quickly access main functions: Discover KOLs → View Insights → Save / Export / Collaborate.

Visual identity & consistent branding — established a cohesive UI language (typography, color palette, icons) that communicates professionalism, clarity, and trust — making data feel approachable rather than intimidating.

Onboarding + tooltips — created an onboarding flow to guide new users step-by-step. Tooltips and micro-interactions help explain key metrics and features, reducing friction for non-tech users.

I followed a lean UX methodology balancing speed, clarity, and scalability to deliver value quickly without sacrificing usability.

To support long-term scalability, maintain visual consistency, and accelerate future iterations, developed a comprehensive yet lightweight design system tailored specifically to the functional and analytical nature of TRACE. This system acts as the backbone of the entire product experience defining the visual language, interaction patterns, and component structure that ensure every screen remains intuitive, cohesive, and effortlessly extensible as the platform evolves.

Higher feature adoption due to clearer layouts

Faster onboarding completion

Reduced drop-off moments during first-session

Users spent more time exploring insights, less time trying to understand them

Design system accelerated internal development velocity

Learnt that;

A modular design system saves countless hours during iteration

Data tools become exponentially more usable when clarity is prioritized

Users engage more deeply when information is progressively disclosed