MUSINSA Ads Platform 2.0
Agency Center & BizMoney Payments (UX)
MUSINSA Ads Platform 2.0
Agency Center & BizMoney Payments (UX)
Redesigned agency operations and payments UX for MUSINSA's ads platform, growing agency-driven paid ads +683% and cutting recharge lead time by 47%.
Redesigned agency operations and payments UX for MUSINSA's ads platform, growing agency-driven paid ads +683% and cutting recharge lead time by 47%.
Platform
Web
My role
Product Designer
Timeline
February 2025 -
July 2025
Team
1 Product Manager
1 Front-End Engineer
2 Back-End Engineer
Overview
Overview
MUSINSA's goal is to give partners new merchandising solutions and, through them, expand the platform's revenue streams. Product Ads is one of these: a paid marketing feature that lets partners pay an additional fee beyond their standard sales commission to place their products in ad placements across the MUSINSA Store and drive incremental revenue.
Ads Center 1.0 launched to productize Product Ads, giving MUSINSA partners access to the feature for the first time. But its limited functionality kept partners from scaling their advertising business, and closing that gap became the starting point for a full-scale system redesign.
MUSINSA's goal is to give partners new merchandising solutions and, through them, expand the platform's revenue streams. Product Ads is one of these: a paid marketing feature that lets partners pay an additional fee beyond their standard sales commission to place their products in ad placements across the MUSINSA Store and drive incremental revenue.
Ads Center 1.0 launched to productize Product Ads, giving MUSINSA partners access to the feature for the first time. But its limited functionality kept partners from scaling their advertising business, and closing that gap became the starting point for a full-scale system redesign.
Context
Context
Evolving the ads platform into a scalable product
Evolving the ads platform into a scalable product
MUSINSA is Korea’s leading fashion commerce platform (~5.3M MAU), offering paid merchandising solutions that help brands grow within its ecosystem. This Ads Platform project focused on evolving a validated ads platform into a scalable product—so it continues to perform reliably as advertiser volume and operational complexity increase.
MUSINSA is Korea’s leading fashion commerce platform (~5.3M MAU), offering paid merchandising solutions that help brands grow within its ecosystem. This Ads Platform project focused on evolving a validated ads platform into a scalable product—so it continues to perform reliably as advertiser volume and operational complexity increase.
Project Goal
Project Goal
Enable agency-led ad operations at scale with clear roles/permissions, while improving payments UX to reduce campaign downtime from delayed top-ups.
Enable agency-led ad operations at scale with clear roles/permissions, while improving payments UX to reduce campaign downtime from delayed top-ups.
Problems
Problems
Two structural constraints were capping growth of the advertising business: ¹Agencies had no way to operate, and ²Ad budgets had no way to auto-recharge.
Two structural constraints were capping growth of the advertising business: ¹Agencies had no way to operate, and ²Ad budgets had no way to auto-recharge.
Problem.1
Problem.1
Ads Platform 1.0 was built on top of MUSINSA's partner portal, which limited its scalability.
Ads Platform 1.0 was built on top of MUSINSA's partner portal, which limited its scalability.
Because the underlying system (PO) couldn't be accessed externally, advertising agencies and partners from other platforms (29CM, SOLDOUT, and others) had no way to use the Ads Center.
As the number of advertisers grew, so did the demand for agencies to manage campaigns on their behalf, but this structural limitation meant the platform couldn't meet that demand.
Because the underlying system (PO) couldn't be accessed externally, advertising agencies and partners from other platforms (29CM, SOLDOUT, and others) had no way to use the Ads Center.
As the number of advertisers grew, so did the demand for agencies to manage campaigns on their behalf, but this structural limitation meant the platform couldn't meet that demand.
Business Impact
Growth in the number of partners using the Product Ads system.
Diversification of MUSINSA's revenue streams, with the potential to reach KRW 22.5 billion in annual ad revenue.
Business Impact
Growth in the number of partners using the Product Ads system.
Diversification of MUSINSA's revenue streams, with the potential to reach KRW 22.5 billion in annual ad revenue.
Problem.2
When an ad budget ran out, there was no way to prevent campaigns from going inactive, breaking the continuity of ad delivery, and no automatic recharge feature existed to prevent this.
When an ad budget ran out, there was no way to prevent campaigns from going inactive, breaking the continuity of ad delivery, and no automatic recharge feature existed to prevent this.
Limited payment methods: the existing system supported only virtual account transfers.
Once a funded budget was depleted, recharging BizMoney through a virtual account (a manual process) introduced significant lead time, averaging 5.6 days as of April 2025.
Limited payment methods: the existing system supported only virtual account transfers.
Once a funded budget was depleted, recharging BizMoney through a virtual account (a manual process) introduced significant lead time, averaging 5.6 days as of April 2025.
Business Impact
Shortening the BizMoney recharge lead time to generate additional paid ad revenue.
Business Impact
Shortening the BizMoney recharge lead time to generate additional paid ad revenue.
UX Strategy
UX Strategy
A structure for reliably operating multiple accounts, paired with a clear campaign experience from payment to recharge.
A structure for reliably operating multiple accounts, paired with a clear campaign experience from payment to recharge.
Strategy 1
Strategy 1
Design a scalable multi-account structure so agencies and partners can operate multiple accounts efficiently.
Design a scalable multi-account structure so agencies and partners can operate multiple accounts efficiently.
01
Give agencies an efficient, intuitive way to manage multiple advertiser accounts.
01
Give agencies an efficient, intuitive way to manage multiple advertiser accounts.
02
Build a clear account management framework so agencies and partners can keep multiple accounts organized.
02
Build a clear account management framework so agencies and partners can keep multiple accounts organized.
03
Build a flexible, extensible structure that can accommodate multiple platforms as well as future ad products.
03
Build a flexible, extensible structure that can accommodate multiple platforms as well as future ad products.
Strategy 2
Strategy 2
Provide a stable, clear campaign experience across card registration, card management, and auto-recharge.
Provide a stable, clear campaign experience across card registration, card management, and auto-recharge.
01
Make card registration simple, so users move through a consistent, predictable flow.
01
Make card registration simple, so users move through a consistent, predictable flow.
02
Let users see all registered cards at a glance and easily manage their default payment method.
02
Let users see all registered cards at a glance and easily manage their default payment method.
03
Give users a UI that makes auto-recharge rules clear to understand and easy to set up.
03
Give users a UI that makes auto-recharge rules clear to understand and easy to set up.
Solution
Solution
We built a new agency workflow and designed a payment system to keep campaigns running without interruption.
We built a new agency workflow and designed a payment system to keep campaigns running without interruption.
Solution 1
Solution 1
Separate the domain and build a dedicated agency system
Separate the domain and build a dedicated agency system
Split the Ads Center out from the partner platform, with separate entry points for advertisers and agencies.
Design an agency sign-up and verification process.
Manage permissions: access requests, approvals, and administration.
Role-based navigation and an extensible IA for multi-account operation.
Split the Ads Center out from the partner platform, with separate entry points for advertisers and agencies.
Design an agency sign-up and verification process.
Solution 2
Solution 2
Support BizMoney auto-recharge and card payments
Support BizMoney auto-recharge and card payments
AS-IS
TO-BE
Support card payments, with multi-card management and a default payment method.
Set auto-recharge rules per ad account.
Improve budget visibility and streamline the on-demand recharge flow.
Outcomes
Outcomes
Scaling up agency-led operations and improving payment continuity cut recharge time by 47% and grew agency-driven paid ad revenue 7.83x.
(4 months after payments rollout)
Scaling up agency-led operations and improving payment continuity cut recharge time by 47% and grew agency-driven
paid ad revenue 7.83x.
(4 months after payments rollout)
7.83 x
7.83 x
Growth
Growth
A Real Expansion of the Ad Revenue Model
A Real Expansion of the Ad Revenue Model
A real expansion of the ad revenue model. Paid ad revenue through agencies grew 7.83x (a 683% increase) compared to the month before rollout, and more than half of all brands running agency-managed campaigns adopted paid ads.
A real expansion of the ad revenue model. Paid ad revenue through agencies grew 7.83x (a 683% increase) compared to the month before rollout, and more than half of all brands running agency-managed campaigns adopted paid ads.
80% ✓
80% ✓
Ad Account Adoption Rate
Ad Account Adoption Rate
Successful Rollout of Card Payments
Successful Rollout of Card Payments
Successful rollout of the card payment flow. Credit card payments accounted for 80% of all ad accounts, and card payments made up 76% of total recharge volume.
5.6 → 3days
5.6 → 3days
Recharge Lead Time
Recharge Lead Time
Stronger Campaign Continuity, Proven Auto-Recharge
Stronger Campaign Continuity, Proven Auto-Recharge
Stronger campaign continuity, and proof that auto-recharge works. Fewer campaigns went inactive due to insufficient balance, and the average delay before recharging after running low dropped from 5.6 days to under 3 days.
Stronger campaign continuity, and proof that auto-recharge works. Fewer campaigns went inactive due to insufficient balance, and the average delay before recharging after running low dropped from 5.6 days to under 3 days.