Ark Media: Website & Subscription
Impact
Elevated Ark Media’s digital presence and helped launch a new revenue stream via a paid podcast tier
My Role
Product Designer
Contribution
Wireframing/Prototyping
Front-end Development
Product Strategy
Tools
Figma
Wordpress
Ark Media is undergoing a major transformation from operating quietly behind the scenes as the administrative home of the Call Me Back podcast, to positioning itself as a full-fledged media company. Call Me Back, hosted by Dan Senor, has become one of the most influential news podcasts, with over 2 million monthly downloads and a rapidly growing global audience. Building on that success, Ark Media is expanding its offerings to become a public square of discourse — producing a wide range of podcasts and other media content.
To support this growth, I led a complete rebuild of the Ark Media website, reimagining it as a dynamic, content-forward platform that clearly communicates the company’s expanded identity and allows users to easily explore its shows. I also designed and launched Ark Media’s first paid podcast tier, which converted nearly 5,000 listeners in the first week, creating a major new revenue stream.
Key Objectives
Consolidate Content: Create a central hub to showcase all podcasts and media offerings.
Increase Engagement: Drive newsletter sign-ups and strengthen listener connection.
Enable Monetization: Design and launch a paid subscription tier with a seamless sign-up and access flow.
Website Redesign
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
The existing site functioned only as a basic access point for the Call Me Back podcast and failed to represent Ark Media’s broader vision as a media company. Technically, it was overloaded with 350+ unstructured pages and was no longer scalable. The goal was to create a structured, content-forward platform that could grow with Ark Media and clearly communicate its expanded identity.
Requirements
Centralized Platform: Highlight each of the 3 podcasts that Ark Media produces.
Responsive Design: Works on desktop and mobile.
Fast Loading: Optimize images and scripts.
Basic SEO: Use relevant keywords, metadata, and structured URLs.
DESIGNING THE SOLUTION
The design process began with mapping out the ideal user flow for the new site. Since we were building a completely new experience (and the existing site had become unwieldy due to an overload of disjointed pages), establishing a clear, intuitive flow and information architecture was a top priority.
User Flow
Based on the user flow, I designed several options for wireframes to address the different requirements.
Wireframes
The wireframes were brought to life as interactive prototypes in Figma, then developed into a fully functional website using WordPress. I collaborated closely with the developer to hand off designs, ensure accurate implementation, and support the build-out of each page.
Prototype to Development
Paid Podcast Tier
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
Ark Media wanted to monetize its growing audience through a paid subscription tier, but had no infrastructure or user experience in place to support it. The challenge was to design a seamless flow for sign-up, payment, and content access while maintaining the trust and engagement of loyal listeners.
DESIGNING THE SOLUTION
Mapped the end-to-end subscription journey, from discovery of the offer to accessing exclusive episodes.
User Flow
Created a brand for Inside Call me Back and promotional assets that felt integrated with Call me Back’s familiar identity and credibility.
Branding
Worked closely with the Supporting Cast platform team to integrate technical requirements and build a subscription page with a polished, intuitive experience.
Collaboration
Designed touchpoints across the website, newsletter, and within the podcast to create excitement and drive early adoption.
Launch Strategy
DISCOVERING THE IMPACT