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case study
CMS Overhaul for Design Studio
Rebuilt an outdated CMS for a design studio — delivering an editor-first platform that boosted traffic and slashed publishing friction by 80%.
Client
Mid-sized product design and illustration studio
Role
CMS Architect & Platform Modernization Lead
Timeline
~3 months
Stack
Custom WordPress, OAuth, GraphQL, GAU, TypeScript, React.js, GitHub Actions
The Challenge
Their CMS was holding them back. Legacy WordPress. Fragile themes. No workflows. Every content update needed a developer. Performance was sluggish. SEO was slipping. The team had big ideas — and no way to publish them.
My Role
I rebuilt the platform from the ground up — turning it into a fast, editor-first system that gave the team full control without breaking the creative flow.
Solutions Delivered
- Ran interviews to map real-world editorial needs
- Rebuilt with a lightweight custom WordPress theme for speed and control
- Secured editorial access with OAuth-based roles and permissions
- Used GraphQL APIs to power dynamic content delivery
- Modularized UI components in React + TypeScript for future flexibility
- Integrated GAU analytics to monitor engagement and user flows
- Set up GitHub Actions pipelines for automated deploys and rollbacks
Business Outcomes
- 30% faster site speed, improving UX and search rankings
- +15% traffic growth in the first month
- 80% less editorial friction — no more dev gatekeeping
- Platform now scales with both creative and business goals
- Publishing is now fully in-house — no hand-holding required
editor-experience UX CMS scalable-platforms