Complex Search, Licensing & Checkout Experience
I worked on the redesign of the ITN Source licensing portal as part of the design team at Global Beach. The platform enabled production companies, broadcasters and media professionals to search, preview and license archive footage under a range of usage rights and licensing models.
The project focused on improving the clarity and usability of a complex system handling large volumes of content, multiple purchase paths and nuanced licensing conditions. I collaborated closely with a UX designer to shape structure, flows, layout and interaction logic, translating complexity into a clear, consistent and intuitive interface across the platform.
Platform Context
The portal served a global audience and handled a large content library and varied licensing models.
Key platform characteristics:
• Over 1 million video clips available
• Over 1 million video clips available
• ~15,000 active users
• ~260,000 visits per month
• Multi-lingual, multi-currency system
• Complex rights-managed and ready-to-buy content
• Reported increase of up to 200% in online sales following platform improvements
My role
I worked closely with a UX designer throughout the project, collaborating on structure, flows and interaction logic. I was heavily involved in translating complex structures into clear, usable layouts and interactions, and frequently contributed solutions to layout and information challenges as the system evolved.
I focused on:
• Visual design and interface structure
• Interaction thinking and layout decisions
• Translating UX concepts into high-fidelity UI
• Designing multiple states, behaviours and flows across the platform
• Working through complexity to make the experience feel clear and manageable
This was one of the first projects where I worked deeply on a system with many moving parts, and I found the problem-solving and structuring aspects especially engaging.
Initial homepage redesign concept
Key UX challenges
The portal needed to support a wide range of content types and licensing models, which created complexity in both search and checkout.
Some of the main challenges included:
• Helping users understand what content could be purchased immediately vs what required an enquiry
• Structuring search results across multiple views and filters
• Supporting both full collection purchases and individual clip selection
• Designing a checkout flow that handled different licensing (ready to buy vs enquiry)
• Making a complex system feel simple and easy to navigate
The visuals throughout this case study highlight key flows, system states and interaction patterns across the platform. As the redesign was introduced in stages, some screens reflect different phases of the evolving interface.
Responsive homepage concept across devices
The redesign was rolled out in phases, meaning some areas show different visual treatments as the new interface was introduced over time.
Search & discovery
A large part of the work focused on making it easier to explore and find content within a very large archive.
I worked on the UI and interaction design for:
• Complex search bar with dropdown options
• Advanced search page
• Filter panel interactions
• Date-based search using a calendar panel
• Multiple results views (list, thumbnails, text)
• States such as no results and no preview available
The goal was to make the search experience feel flexible but not overwhelming, and to clearly structure large volumes of information.
Search input with advanced dropdown options
Advanced search interface
Search results – preview available (list view)
Empty search results state
Content selection & structure
Users needed to be able to add either entire collections or individual clips to their basket, which created structural and visual complexity.
I designed:
• Clear visual hierarchy for collections vs single clips
• Signposting icons and labels to guide decision-making
• Tooltips and information panels to explain options
• Date-based search using a calendar panel
• Overlays such as “Choose your licence”
This helped users understand what they were selecting and what actions were available.
Search results — preview available (list view)
Search results — preview available (thumbnail view)
Search results – no preview available state (list view)
Search results – all content (list view)
Licensing logic & checkout
One of the most complex parts of the system was the checkout experience. Different types of content could not always be purchased together, depending on licensing requirements.
To solve this, we designed a basket system that separated items based on licensing type.
Key elements included:
• Side-panel basket interaction
• Separate tabs/baskets for: Ready to buy, Rights-managed content (enquiry required), Non-digitised material
• Breadcrumb-based checkout steps
• Payment form layout and structure
This helped users clearly understand:
• What could be purchased instantly
• What required approval
• What required further processing
Basket interface with licensing-based tabs
Checkout flow — Step 1: Order details
Checkout flow — Step 2: Order summary
Checkout flow — Step 3: Payment details
Checkout flow — Step 4: Order confirmation
System states & interactions
I designed a wide range of supporting states and UI behaviours across the platform, including:
• Login and sign-up overlays
• Enquiry states (submitted, in progress, dispatched, completed, cancelled)
• Video preview overlays
• Cookie notices
• Information panels that could be opened and closed
• Tooltip interactions
• Walkthrough / guidance overlays
These interaction details played an important role in making a complex system feel clearer, more manageable and predictable to use.
Filter panel with date selection interaction
Share interaction with social channel selection
Tooltip interaction providing contextual guidance
Content type icon system
Enquiry workflow states (submitted, in progress, dispatched)
Order history with enquiry status tracking
Login / sign-up overlay
License selection overlay
Clipin preview overlay interaction
Clip thumbnail — rights-managed status
Clip thumbnail — ready-to-buy status
Cookie consent banner
Primary CTA button loading state
Secondary CTA button loading state
Header variations for different user types and account states
The navigation adapted based on user type and payment model (e.g. guest, credit card users, PIN users with different credit levels), surfacing relevant actions such as orders, enquiries, and clip management.
The navigation adapted based on user type and payment model (e.g. guest, credit card users, PIN users with different credit levels), surfacing relevant actions such as orders, enquiries, and clip management.
Iteration & design exploration
As part of the process, I explored variations in structure and styling to improve clarity and usability, including:
• Basket side panel visual variations (light and dark)
• Tab styling and hierarchy options
• CTA hierarchy (primary vs secondary actions depending on content type)
This helped refine how users understood actions and navigation within the system.
Side panel exploration – light theme
Side panel exploration – dark theme
Tab hierarchy exploration – grey variant
Tab hierarchy exploration – blue variant
Outcomes & impact
The redesigned portal supported a more structured and scalable experience for a complex content library and licensing model. The project strengthened the clarity of search, selection and checkout flows, helping users navigate the system more easily and understand their options.
Reported outcomes included:
• Reported increase of up to 200% in online sales after the redesigned portal launched
• Increased engagement with the platform
• Continued use by a global professional audience
Order history and mobile search view demonstrating cross-platform consistency and system scalability
What this project represents
This project was a strong example of working within a complex product environment, where the focus was not just on visual design but on structure, interaction and usability.
It involved:
• Collaborative work with UX to shape layouts and flows
• Designing multiple states across a system
• Translating complexity into clear, usable interfaces
• Thinking about behaviour, not just appearance
This project reinforced my interest in designing structured, multi-state systems where business logic, user clarity and scalability must coexist.