Recipe & Shop Platform

The challenge

The platform supported two different user journeys. One focused on discovering and using recipe content, while the other focused on browsing and purchasing kitchen and lifestyle products.

Each journey had different commercial requirements. Recipe content was free to access, so advertising and sponsored content formed part of the monetisation model. The Shop already had a direct commercial purpose through product sales, so advertising was intentionally not included there.

The challenge was to modernise both experiences while giving each one a structure that matched its purpose.

My role & responsibilities

This was a collaborative client project at MediaMint involving design, development, sales, and management stakeholders. My Ad Operations background gave me useful context around publisher advertising requirements and commercial content, while the project gave me the opportunity to apply that knowledge to a broader content and commerce experience.

As part of the design team, I contributed to modernising the existing Recipe and Shop experiences across content structure, product discovery, responsive behaviour, advertising, and contextual commercial modules.

• Review: Reviewed existing recipe and Shop page structures, content requirements, and commercial placements.
• Recipe layouts: Contributed to restructuring recipe pages around recipe imagery, ingredients, editorial content, video, advertising, and relevant products.
• Shop layouts: Contributed to the grid-based Shop experience to make product categories easier to browse and scan.
• Commercial modules: Contributed to the integration of defined advertising formats and the contextual sponsored-video experience on recipe pages.
• Responsive design: Considered how recipe content, Shop grids, and commercial modules would adapt across screen sizes.
• Collaboration: Worked with the wider team through design discussions, handoff, feedback, and implementation support.

Understanding the existing experience

The platform already had established recipe content, a Shop, advertising inventory, and brand partnerships. The redesign needed to organise these existing elements into a clearer structure for modern browsing behaviour.

Connecting content and commerce

How might we modernise the recipe and shopping experiences while creating natural connections between recipe content, relevant commercial content, and product discovery?

Design direction

Making product discovery easier

The existing Shop experience needed a more structured way to present a growing range of cookware, kitchen essentials, and kitchen decor.

The redesigned experience introduced a grid-based product layout, creating a consistent visual structure for browsing across categories on desktop while allowing the grid to adapt for smaller screens. The Shop intentionally remained ad-free because its commercial purpose was already product discovery and purchase.

Structuring the recipe experience

Recipe pages served a different purpose from the Shop. Users arrived to discover a recipe and needed quick access to the most important information while still being able to move through supporting editorial content.

The redesigned layout created a clearer hierarchy around the recipe title, large recipe image, ingredients, content, supporting video, advertising, and relevant products.

Planning advertising around recipe content

Recipe content was free for users to access, so advertising formed part of the commercial model for these pages. Rather than placing ads across every part of the platform, inventory was intentionally incorporated into the recipe experience while the Shop remained ad-free.

To keep the page clear and readable, the design used standard ad sizes instead of heavier pop-up or overlay formats.

Making sponsored content more relevant

The redesign introduced a dedicated video player within the recipe experience. Rather than treating sponsored video as unrelated promotional content, the video could be contextually aligned with the recipe the user was already viewing.

For example, a user reading a mocktail recipe could be shown sponsored content featuring a relevant beverage product, while a user viewing a cake recipe could be shown sponsored content featuring a relevant baking ingredient.

Creating a path from recipe to product

Recipes also created opportunities for relevant product discovery. When a recipe used a specific piece of cookware or kitchen product, users could access related product information and continue to the Shop if they were interested in purchasing it.

This created a natural connection between inspiration and commerce without turning the recipe page into a shopping page.

Designing for different user intent

The solution

Impact and reflection

This project expanded my experience from advertising-focused publishing work into a broader UX problem involving content, commerce, and different user journeys.

The Recipe and Shop areas served different purposes: the Shop focused on product discovery and purchase, while free recipe pages needed to balance useful editorial content with advertising and sponsored opportunities. Designing them together helped me understand why commercial experiences should respond to user intent rather than being applied consistently across every page.

One of my key learnings was the importance of relevance. Contextual sponsored video and recipe-to-product connections could support commercial goals while still relating naturally to what the user was already trying to do.

Working on an established platform also strengthened my experience of designing within existing content, advertising, technical, and business constraints rather than starting from a blank canvas.