A unified creation framework for YouTube, modular, scalable, and designed to meet users wherever they are across the platform.
Problem
The Media Gen team was spread thin: building surface-specific capabilities for individual YouTube teams instead of shared, reusable infrastructure. This project made the case for platformization, showing stakeholders how a modular approach would increase both velocity and quality across YouTube.
User Needs
47% of Gen Z identify as content creators, but today's storytelling is largely limited to what's possible on camera. YouTube's creation journey has been optimized for users who already have the confidence, time, and skills. AI changes that equation entirely.
Opportunities
AI doesn't just remove barriers to creation, it opens up entirely new ways to tell stories.
Vision
A unified creation experience across YouTube, where every user's specific needs are at the center, regardless of skill level or surface.
Creation Needs
Creation is organic, non-linear, and iterative. The experience needs to match that, letting users move fluidly between steps, change direction naturally, and pick up where they left off without friction.
System Design
Every entry point across YouTube surfaces leads to one unified Playground, a single destination that surfaces the right contextual tools at the right moment, so users can create without hunting for what they need.
Creation Steps
The creation journey is broken into clear, flexible stages, each designed to reduce cognitive load while keeping the path forward obvious. Users can move between steps freely, with the system adapting to where they are in the process.
Explorations
We tested a range of approaches before converging on the final system, exploring how different layouts, entry points, and tool configurations affected creative momentum and usability.
