Unifying Spotify’s Moderation Platform for Global Teams

Led the redesign of Spotify’s moderation system, cutting handling time by 50% and unifying workflows across 7+ content types.

Project scope

Moderation at Spotify had grown quickly.

Different teams reviewed different kinds of content, and over twenty internal tools emerged to meet specific needs across more than a decade of music, video, podcast, audiobook and other formats on Spotify.

Operators spent time switching between tools, while internal teams struggled to trace how decisions were made.

The goal was clear: design one platform where moderators could act quickly and confidently, and policy teams could trust every decision trail.

I led product design for Monocle, Spotify’s unified moderation platform used across multiple content types and regions.

Project scope

Moderation at Spotify had grown quickly.

Operators spent time switching between tools, while internal teams struggled to trace how decisions were made.

The goal was clear: design one platform where moderators could act quickly and confidently, and policy teams could trust every decision trail.

I led product design for Monocle, Spotify’s unified moderation platform used across multiple content types and regions.

Role

Design Lead

Project type

Internal tooling

Duration

10 months

Project scope

Moderation at Spotify had grown quickly.

Operators spent time switching between tools, while internal teams struggled to trace how decisions were made.

The goal was clear: design one platform where moderators could act quickly and confidently, and policy teams could trust every decision trail.

I led product design for Monocle, Spotify’s unified moderation platform used across multiple content types and regions.

Responsibilities

Qualitative interviews and synthesis

Tag taxonomy with policy leads

Product and design strategy

Customer journey mapping

UI and interaction design

Prototyping

Usability testing

Workshop facilitation

Research and
Insights

I began by mapping existing tools and workflows across product, policy and engineering.

Operators worked across 20+ tools, moving between systems to view reports, review content and take action; a single case could take up to 18 minutes to complete.
Terminology varied by team, causing confusion and rework.
There was no single, auditable view of actions across markets.
New content types such as Podcast Shorts were launching, and leadership wanted to use Monocle as the single platform for review and action.

We needed one adaptable platform that could handle all content types, use consistent language and create a reliable audit trail.

Research and Insights

I began by mapping existing tools and workflows across product, policy and engineering.

Operators worked across 20+ tools, moving between systems to view reports, review content and take action; a single case could take up to 18 minutes to complete.
Terminology varied by team, causing confusion and rework.
There was no single, auditable view of actions across markets.
New content types such as Podcast Shorts were launching, and leadership wanted to use Monocle as the single platform for review and action.

We needed one adaptable platform that could handle all content types, use consistent language and create a reliable audit trail.

Real world testing

I ran 9 usability sessions with operators and policy experts across the UK, EU, US and India.

Feedback shaped the final design:

Team-specific terminology improved clarity.
Metadata stayed prominent at the top of the review page to support quick, accurate judgement.
History logs helped reviewers understand case context at a glance.

After launch, I worked closely with product, engineering and policy teams, running regular feedback sessions to refine workflows, extend Monocle to new content types and align decisions.

I also collaborated with the Encore Design System team to introduce reusable components for history, tagging and decision patterns, and led release testing and documentation for rollout and training.

From Insights to Design

I created a design pattern that unified review and action, adaptable across 7+ content types globally. The interface adapts to content type while keeping a consistent structure for decision making.

For operators, I introduced a two-pane layout with content review and action. This removed unnecessary switching between tools and kept evidence visible throughout the process.
With Policy, I worked with the leadership team to define a tag taxonomy for consistent classification across markets.
For policy experts, I designed a history log that records who took which action and why, creating a transparent history for compliance and internal review.

Impact

Monocle became the daily workspace for hundreds of global operators, replacing legacy tools and establishing a single review flow.

Average case handling time dropped from 18 minutes to 8 minutes.
With a few hundred operators handling 20+ cases daily, Monocle saved over 5000+ minutes each day.
It replaced 20+ tools and now supports 7 content types, from podcasts to playlists.

What mattered most was not just the numbers but the systematic thinking behind them. When the platform became coherent, operators focused on judgement rather than logistics, and policy teams finally had a clear, auditable story of every decision.

This project reinforced that clarity in systems design is not about simplicity for its own sake. It is about creating calm and confidence so that every decision is deliberate.

From Insights
to Design

I created a design pattern that unified review and action, adaptable across 7+ content types globally. The interface adapts to content type while keeping a consistent structure for decision making.

For operators, I introduced a two-pane layout with content review and action. This removed unnecessary switching between tools and kept evidence visible throughout the process.
With Policy, I worked with the leadership team to define a tag taxonomy for consistent classification across markets.
For policy experts, I designed a history log that records who took which action and why, creating a transparent history for compliance and internal review.

From Insights to Design

I created a design pattern that unified review and action, adaptable across 7+ content types globally. The interface adapts to content type while keeping a consistent structure for decision making.

For operators, I introduced a two-pane layout with content review and action. This removed unnecessary switching between tools and kept evidence visible throughout the process.
With Policy, I worked with the leadership team to define a tag taxonomy for consistent classification across markets.
For policy experts, I designed a history log that records who took which action and why, creating a transparent history for compliance and internal review.

Research and Insights

I began by mapping existing tools and workflows across product, policy and engineering.

Operators worked across 20+ tools, moving between systems to view reports, review content and take action; a single case could take up to 18 minutes to complete.
Terminology varied by team, causing confusion and rework.
There was no single, auditable view of actions across markets.
New content types such as Podcast Shorts were launching, and leadership wanted to use Monocle as the single platform for review and action.

We needed one adaptable platform that could handle all content types, use consistent language and create a reliable audit trail.

Real World
Testing

I ran 9 usability sessions with operators and policy experts across the UK, EU, US and India.

Feedback shaped the final design:

Team-specific terminology improved clarity.
Metadata stayed prominent at the top of the review page to support quick, accurate judgement.
History logs helped reviewers understand case context at a glance.

After launch, I worked closely with product, engineering and policy teams, running regular feedback sessions to refine workflows, extend Monocle to new content types and align decisions.

I also collaborated with the Encore Design System team to introduce reusable components for history, tagging and decision patterns, and led release testing and documentation for rollout and training.

Impact

Real world testing

Monocle became the daily workspace for hundreds of global operators, replacing legacy tools and establishing a single review flow.

Average case handling time dropped from 18 minutes to 8 minutes.
With a few hundred operators handling 20+ cases daily, Monocle saved over 5000+ minutes each day.
It replaced 20+ tools and now supports 7 content types, from podcasts to playlists.

This project reinforced that clarity in systems design is not about simplicity for its own sake. It is about creating calm and confidence so that every decision is deliberate.

I ran 9 usability sessions with operators and policy experts across the UK, EU, US and India.

Feedback shaped the final design:

Team-specific terminology improved clarity.
Metadata stayed prominent at the top of the review page to support quick, accurate judgement.
History logs helped reviewers understand case context at a glance.

After launch, I worked closely with product, engineering and policy teams, running regular feedback sessions to refine workflows, extend Monocle to new content types and align decisions.

I also collaborated with the Encore Design System team to introduce reusable components for history, tagging and decision patterns, and led release testing and documentation for rollout and training.

Impact

Monocle became the daily workspace for hundreds of global operators, replacing legacy tools and establishing a single review flow.

Average case handling time dropped from 18 minutes to 8 minutes.
With a few hundred operators handling 20+ cases daily, Monocle saved over 5000+ minutes each day.
It replaced 20+ tools and now supports 7 content types, from podcasts to playlists.

This project reinforced that clarity in systems design is not about simplicity for its own sake. It is about creating calm and confidence so that every decision is deliberate.