ContentSquare Case Study

Turning ContentSquare's AI ambition into a vision, with early tests.

Fractional

Facilitator

Fractional strategic and design support to shape ContentSquare's next phase of growth: artificial intelligence.

Introduction

ContentSquare is the number one analytics platform for consumer apps, with clients like Disney+ and Netflix on its books. Having just acquired HotJar and Heap Analytics, they wanted to push into AI and move beyond consumer apps, going after industries like banking, insurance and healthcare.

They needed someone to help shape that vision and make it real, moving fast rather than sitting in strategy decks. With a background in bringing businesses and products to market quickly, that's why they wanted to work closely with us. We worked with the product, design and technology teams, staying close to Jane Austin, SVP of Design, and Rachel Obstler, SVP of Product.

Our Approach

We started by identifying the key areas of the business where AI could realistically take a foothold, cutting through the noise of what AI could theoretically do to focus on what it should do for ContentSquare's users. From there, we reimagined the product roadmap around a clear beachhead opportunity: the first, smallest place AI could add real, provable value, rather than trying to solve everything at once.

The output was a visiontype, not a roadmap. Directional, not literal. A tool to make the strategy tangible through storytelling, built to inspire and align rather than lock the business into specifics too early.

The output was a visiontype, not a roadmap. Directional rather than literal, it used storytelling to make an ambitious strategy tangible, built to inspire and align the business rather than lock it into specifics too early. It was presented to the whole company at the away day, and received positively by the CEO, CPO and tech teams, giving the business a shared reference point for how to prioritise AI investment going forward.

Timeline

(01)

Strategy & Discovery

Onboarded and aligned on strategic direction with Jane and the wider team, mapping where the business already had momentum and where AI could genuinely move the needle.

(02)

Building the Visiontype

Worked through where AI could realistically take a foothold in the business, and what CSQ's future could look like five-plus years out, stress-testing ideas against real user needs rather than hype.

(03)

Presentation & Feedback

Presented the visiontype to the whole company at the away day. Positive reception from the CEO, CPO and tech teams.

(04)

Building the First Experiences

Worked with the design teams to move from vision into practice, building and researching the first AI experiences.

(05)

Launch & Iterate

Presented the visiontype to the whole company at the away day. Positive reception from the CEO, CPO and tech teams, who left with a shared language for talking about AI investment.

Key Outcomes

(01)

Hiring

Created the framework around the hiring process, developed the design task and interviewed candidates, hiring a Senior Designer to carry the design work forward after the engagement ended.

(02)

Creativity

Pushed the creativity and experience of the current product to reflect a more human-centred, loveable side of the brand, moving it beyond a purely functional analytics tool.

(03)

Hiring

Created the framework around the hiring process, developed the design task and interviewed candidates/hired a Senior Designer to join the team.

(04)

Creativity

Pushed the creativity and experience of the current product to reflect a more human-centred, loveable side of the brand.

(05)

Creativity

Pushed the creativity and experience of the current product experience to reflect a more human-centred, loveable characteristics of the brand.

(06)

Decreased stress, increased MRR

Increased MRR over the short period through tests with the product, and decreased the stress of the CMO and Head of Product by giving them a clear, validated direction to back.

What our clients said

“The visiontype gave the business a way to talk about AI that inspired people, rather than locking us into decisions too early. It's become the reference point for how we prioritise.”

Jane Austin, SVP of Design at ContentSquare

Impact

We helped ContentSquare turn an ambitious, easy-to-get-lost-in AI vision into something concrete: a working, well-received visiontype and a first live AI experience, built and shipped in a matter of months.

The visiontype has become the reference point for how the business prioritises AI investment, and real customer feedback from that first release is already shaping the second iteration, proof that moving fast and thinking strategically don't have to be at odds.

Work with us

If you’re looking to build a new vision, test new propositions or to build a more productive AI orientated team, get in touch with us below to see how we can really push you.

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