Client: Corbis
Role: Design lead, research & UX/UI
Duration: 6 months

Corbis Rights Clearance Application – Greenlight

This cloud-based asset licensing application for Corbis’ Greenlight division was the first of its kind, allowing agents to negotiate transactions with licensees and deliver assets to licensors entirely via the shared dashboard interface.

The Problem

Corbis’ Greenlight rights clearance division operated primarily offline with agents processing transactions via fax and over the phone. Because each project was process-intensive, smaller projects were often forgotten, leaving money on the table. Clients felt neglected, assets were unlicensed, and agents overworked.

The Solution

My cloud-based application consisted of a dashboard with visibility for all parties — licensors, licensees and the Greenlight agents — so assets could be requested, the license fee negotiated, and the process tracked to completion.

Moving transactions online meant Greenlight agents increased their workflow by 35% and Corbis recouped millions in lost opportunities.

Findings

Interviews with Licensors revealed other pain points:

  • Licensors waited for Corbis agents to follow up on licensing negotiations.
  • When agents didn’t follow up, those assets were left on “hold” so that other licensees couldn’t have access to them.
  • This was an expensive opportunity cost for licensors, which made them dissatisfied with Corbis.

Interviews with Licensees:

  • Licensees were unsure about the status of their asset licenses
  • This impacted their entire project timeline and frustrated customers
  • Because of the labor-intensive nature of licensing, only high-value projects could be handled by Corbis
  • Smaller projects (less than $1MM) were neglected or refused–unclaimed revenue that amounted to many millions per year.

User shadowing and design ethnography into the workflow processes of Greenlight agents revealed multiple pain points:

  • Agents relied on post-it notes and Excel sheets that were lost, complicated, and not shared with clients or other agents.
  • Clients reached via phone calls for licensing, but follow up calls often never happened, leaving projects in limbo.
  • Agents were overloaded with projects with no efficient way for managers or customers to track progress.

Our dashboard

I designed a dashboard that became a window on the process for all parties involved in licensing assets. Licensees and licensors can follow the processes from request to asset delivery. And the Corbis associates are able to work efficiently, tracking every transaction. This means they can take on the small projects (less than $1MM), a big win for the company. No more leaving money on the table.

Features include:

– Online negotiation in real time

– Admin panel for management oversite

– Transparent processes for licensors and licensees

– Tracking assets and expiration of licenses for timely follow-up

Corbis agents can track, negotiate and catalog many more projects with a simple online system for communication and organization.
With the dashboard providing full visibility for all parties, Corbis agents are able to work more efficiently and process more licenses. This mean smaller projects can be handled quickly, allowing Corbis to reap the profits in the long tail.
This resulted in a profitability increase of $15MM in the first year of use.