Challenge admin: A self-serve tool for running challenges

Problem

Challenges worked, but running one didn’t scale. Every challenge meant a request to us: configure it, write the invitation, remember the reminders, work out who won. Challenges work best when they repeat, so our goal was for admins to run them on their own, as often as they want. Like challenges, this was 0→1: before it, there was no admin tool at all, only a request to us.

Design challenge: knowing what admins would need before any of them had run a challenge. We designed the admin tool second, on purpose: it came after challenges had run, so its shape came from watching real admins instead of guessing. It stayed web-only, because setting up a challenge is a sit-down task, done once.

What I did

• Designed a setup flow for admins. They choose the type, dates, and prizes, and set the rules each type needs, like maximum team size.
• Automated the emails. Creating a challenge sends the invitation, reminders go out during the run, and a results email names the winner.
• Built in the raffle draw. Entries build up per participant through the run, and at the end an admin draws a winner instead of exporting a spreadsheet and trusting it.

Outcome

• +143%

  monthly admin users, January to September 2026

• >3

  challenges per organization, on average, over two years

Who did what: I led design and UI. Engineering built the tool and the automated sends; product management and leadership shaped what an admin can configure.