Case Study
Scaling project
impact into a
cross-functional
program
Overview
Driven by the impact of my end-to-end user journey improvements, I scaled this work by creating and leading a cross-functional strategic initiative designed to address multiple top issues: account security, copyright, monetization, and community guidelines. By architecting a unified vision across scaled education teams, such as Help Content, Social Support, Visual Comms, and 1:1 Support, we evolved educational assets into a foundational business tool that delivered contextualized guidance at the right moment of need.
A defining feature of the project’s success was the implementation of Perceived Effort Rate (PER), a metric that measured the percentage of users who found it difficult to resolve their issues within the scaled education ecosystem. This data-driven governance resulted in measurable operational wins, including a -10% reduction in support volume for these complex, high-touch issues.
The
Challenge
Users facing critical issues—such as account security breaches or copyright disputes—often felt overwhelmed by a fragmented support experience in the moments that mattered most. At a behemoth, global social media platform, these issues not only have a monetary cost (more 1:1 support = more expense), they also carry significant legal risk and brand reputation damage that can have reverberating effects on a massive scale.
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Operational Silos: Support touchpoints were scattered across multiple teams, primarily between Scaled Education amd 1:1 Support, leading to inconsistent narratives and confusing navigation for the user.
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Text-Heavy Content: Existing scaled education resources were often generic and difficult to consume on mobile devices, which was the primary surface for users.
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Reactive Learning Habits: Research showed that users were not proactive learners; they only sought educational resources when "triggered" by a high-stakes event, like a policy enforcement.
The
Approach
As a Senior Lead on the Scaled Education team, I established a programmatic partnership with the 1:1 Support team to scale the initial impact of the end-to-end user journey improvements and unite it with their existing 1:1 workflow improvements to multiply impact on top user issues.
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Cross-Functional Alignment: I managed bi-weekly working groups that unified stakeholders across five teams, including Help Content, Social Support, Visual Comms, 1:1 Support, and Product, to drive 50+ unique initiatives.
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Communication & Leadership Presence: In addition to presenting progress in regular Monthly and Quarterly Business Reviews to senior leadership, I kept all cross-functional stakeholders informed along the way through regular round-up emails and bi-weekly working group syncs, ensuring continuous strategic alignment and wide visibility into project milestones.
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Measuring "Perceived Effort": To measure impact, we aimed to move beyond passive metrics, like page views. I worked with our Performance Analytics teams to introduce Perceived Effort Rate (PER) to measure how easy (effortless) it was for a user to reach a resolution using scaled support.
The
Implementation
The implementation centered around delivering "right place, right time" education through modularized content and automated assistance.
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Automated Assistance & Chatbots: I contributed to the global expansion of a Hacked Account Chatbot in multiple languages, integrating new instructional visuals and video assets. This resulted in a +122% increase in total sessions and provided creators with a step-by-step recovery path.
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Proactive "Prevention" Campaigns: We integrated educational tips directly into the product workflow, such as the YouTube Studio dashboard, to reach creators during their actual work.
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Scenario-Based Redesign: I contributed to the overhaul of the Copyright School curriculum, moving from 13-year-old content to a mobile-optimized, scenario-based experience.
The
Results
By treating educational content as a foundational business asset, the program delivered significant operational and user satisfaction wins:
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Contact Volume Reduction: Contributed to a -10% reduction in support volume for legally sensitive issues following the optimization of critical help resources.
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Efficiency at Scale: Successfully moved account security from the #1 support case driver to #2 within a year.
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User Satisfaction: Revamped account security resources achieved a 94% satisfaction rating, representing a 13% increase over the previous platform average.
Key Takeaways
Context is King
Meeting users at their "trigger moments" with modular, video-first content is more effective than relying on a static search library
Scenario-Based and Gamified Learning
Replacing legacy, text-heavy training with scenario-based questions and "lightly gamified" content proved more effective for high-stakes topics like copyright.
Power of Peer-to-Peer Trust
Users often lack trust in official, formal resources and prefer the "non-generic" advice of their successful peers. Incorporating peer best practices and creator-focused points of view into official education hubs is essential for establishing trust and driving engagement on complex topics.
Governance Drives Velocity
A clear cross-functional RACI matrix and consistent synchronization are essential for managing 50+ unique initiatives with 100% strategic alignment.