Stack
React, TypeScript, Supabase, APIs
FROM ZERO TO ONE
MontageCMS
I designed, coded, and shaped the technical foundation for a zero-to-one streaming CMS — connecting creator tools, viewer experience, and platform architecture into one working system.
Back to Work →Executive Summary
Role
Creative Technologist & Head of Product Design
Team
Cross-functional product team including UX, engineering, creators, product, and business stakeholders.
Duration
2+ Years
Industry
Streaming & Entertainment Technology
Ownership
- Product Vision
- Product Strategy
- Experience Architecture
- UX Direction
- Content Discovery
- Streaming Platform Architecture
- Creator Tools
- Design Systems
- Customer Research
Executive Partners
- Executive Leadership
- Engineering
- Product
- Content Creators
- Business Stakeholders
Build Speed
Creator dashboard: concept to working prototype in 1 week — designed in Figma, executed in Cursor
Business Outcome
Created the zero-to-one framework for an independent streaming platform connecting creator workflows, audience engagement, and cross-platform entertainment experiences.
Building the platform behind independent streaming.
How It Was Built
I worked closely with MontageCMS's CTO throughout, taking an active hands-on role in prototyping — moving quickly from architecture conversations into working React/TypeScript builds, using Supabase for data and auth. Rather than handing off finished designs and waiting, I prototyped directly alongside engineering, testing creator-tool flows and platform structure in code before they were fully specified — shortening the distance between a design decision and something the team could actually see working.
Partnership
Prototyped directly with the CTO on platform architecture and creator tooling
A Technical Problem Worth Solving
As we grew toward partnerships with film schools, one of the harder problems we worked through together was permissions logic — separating viewership from ownership as student filmmakers graduated. Working directly with the CTO, I helped shape the permission model that governed what happened to a student's work and access after graduation, balancing continued visibility for their portfolio against the platform's ownership and licensing structure.
The Opportunity
Independent creators were gaining access to the tools required to produce professional entertainment, but distribution remained fragmented. Existing platforms offered reach without ownership, while traditional streaming technology was expensive and difficult to manage.
MontageCMS was conceived as an integrated platform that would allow creators and media brands to manage content, launch branded streaming destinations, understand audience behavior, and develop new revenue opportunities from one connected system.
More Than a Design Project
Understanding the Creator Economy Before Building
The product strategy was grounded in conversations with independent filmmakers, entertainment entrepreneurs, and creators navigating the challenges of distribution. Research revealed recurring needs around ownership, discoverability, monetization, audience data, and technical accessibility.
Ownership
Creators wanted greater control over their content, brand, and customer relationships.
Distribution
Audiences were fragmented across platforms, devices, and disconnected viewing environments.
Monetization
Creators needed flexible models beyond advertising revenue alone.
Accessibility
Launching a professional streaming product remained technically and financially difficult.
One Platform, Two Connected Experiences
Designing the Viewer Experience
The consumer experience needed to feel cinematic and editorial rather than administrative. I developed a streaming interface that supported discovery, recommendations, branded channels, and flexible content presentation while maintaining a cohesive experience across desktop, mobile, and television.
Giving Creators Control Behind the Screen
The creator dashboard translated complex publishing and distribution tasks into approachable workflows. Content owners could organize films and series, build programming collections, configure their destination, and monitor audience activity without needing to manage the underlying technical infrastructure.
Information Architecture
Mapping the Platform Before Scaling It
Because MontageCMS connected multiple audiences, devices, and business models, the architecture had to be established before the interface could scale. I mapped the relationship between creator workflows, viewer journeys, content states, platform services, and monetization opportunities.
- 01
Discover
Understand creator, viewer, and market needs.
- 02
Define
Translate insights into product principles and priorities.
- 03
Architect
Map the platform, workflows, and connected systems.
- 04
Design
Create the interface and brand experience.
- 05
Validate
Test concepts with potential users and partners.
- 06
Evolve
Use learning to refine the platform and roadmap.
Designing for a Sustainable Ecosystem
The platform could not succeed as a viewing interface alone. Its product framework explored how creators could build direct audience relationships and generate revenue through subscriptions, transactional access, branded channels, partnerships, and premium experiences.
What MontageCMS Demonstrates
MontageCMS became a proving ground for the leadership approach I continue to use today: start with the audience, connect creative vision to business opportunity, make complex systems understandable, and build enough of the future that others can see and believe in it.
Zero-to-One Leadership
Turned an early concept into a defined product, brand, platform architecture, and working experience.
Product Vision
Connected creator tools, consumer streaming, content strategy, and monetization within one ecosystem.
Cross-Functional Thinking
Balanced user needs, technical requirements, business goals, and creative quality throughout the process.
Foundational Experience
The work informed my later leadership across streaming, education, sports technology, interactive entertainment, and original IP.
The Foundation for What Came Next
MontageCMS changed the way I understood what it takes to build a product end-to-end. It showed me that the most meaningful platforms aren't just designed — they're built, tested, and shipped by someone close enough to the code and the system architecture to make the design real, not just proposed.
That lesson has continued through my work in streaming, interactive education, sports technology, and the development of original story-driven products.
Customer insight, product strategy, technology, and creative execution are one connected system.
Next project
Continue to Caiden's Courage — the flagship world that follows MontageCMS on the homepage — or explore HBCU GO streaming leadership.
