Prioritized for product roadmap
Generative research with TikTok Ads
TIMELINE
Jun – Sept 2025
ROLE
Mixed-Methods UX Research Intern
ORG
TikTok: Global Business Monetization Team
METHODS
Interviews, Usability Testing, Survey Design
This work is confidential but here is a sneak peak!
Please email me or enter the password from resume submitted to view the full case study.
WHAT THE RESEARCH INFLUENCED
The work informed re-designs, influencing conversations around advertiser trust and support for ad rejections
clearer rejection reasoning
patterns
more actionable recovery
guidance
streamlined support and troubleshooting pathways
WHY THIS RESEARCH MATTERED
Advertisers depend on TikTok Ads Manager to keep campaigns live and compliant, but there were a few persistent stumbling blocks
In product it meant their recovery flow looked like this,
And this meant,
↑ Increased
Repeat violations
↓ Decreased
Advertiser trust
⏱ Delayed
Campaign recovery
WHAT I DID
I moved from broad exploration to targeted validation, building progressively to surface both mental model gaps and usability breakdowns
Phase 01
Desk Research
Competitive analysis and heuristic review of TikTok's existing rejection flows to identify known gaps before fieldwork.
Phase 02
Generative Study
Semi-structured interviews to understand advertiser mental models, emotional responses, and coping strategies around rejection workflows.
Phase 03
Moderated Usability
Task-based usability sessions in TTAM where participants navigated real rejection scenarios while thinking aloud.
Phase 04
Synthesis and Delivery
Affinity mapping, prioritization workshops with PMs and Designers, and a research report shared across all stakeholder groups.
Reflection
What I learned
I learned that good research operations shape the quality of insights.
With only a week to recruit and run the study, I had to think beyond a single participant pipeline, expanding across regions, collaborating with adjacent research teams, and combining multiple sourcing approaches to reach the right advertisers at the right moment.
People were surprisingly eager to talk once something went wrong.
Because ad rejections directly impacted their work, participants came into sessions with detailed frustrations, edge cases, and stories they had been waiting to share. The challenge was making space for those conversations while still keeping the research anchored to the goals of the study itself.
SOME KIND WORDS
Shoutout to the team I worked with!
“Ambika was a UX research intern on the Global Monetization team at TikTok, where her work exploring advertiser pain points related to ad rejections had a significant impact. Her insights led to immediate changes by the product and design teams, demonstrating her ability to produce actionable findings. Her strength in analyzing data, identifying themes, and crafting tangible recommendations resonated with stakeholders, who eagerly adopted her suggestions to enhance the user experience. Additionally, Ambika was simply a pleasure to work and spend time – she's positive, collaborative, and committed!”
“I worked with Ambika on an advertiser research project. Her structured approach led to the clear uncovering of valuable, actionable insights that directly helped shape our product strategies. Ambika is also exceptionally empathetic and passionate about deeply learning user behaviors and underlying motivations, making her an invaluable asset to any product team.”
“It’s been great working with Ambika throughout this project. Her research recommendations directly informed many of the design decisions we moved forward with, helping us better understand advertiser needs and shape clearer, more actionable user experiences.”
