Overview
Moments is the vertical I identified as missing and created from scratch. It opens the supply side of the ZZAZZ ecosystem to individual creators — people who can monetize content quality, not popularity. No follower thresholds. No virality requirements. Content value drives earnings from day one.
My contribution: Information architecture + initial designs — I defined the vertical, designed the creator workflow, and built the pre-publish pricing experience. I then delegated UI execution to a team member while maintaining system coherence.
Why Moments Was Needed
Most content platforms gate monetization behind followers and thresholds. YouTube, Instagram, Medium — they all tie monetization heavily to views, engagement, subscriber base, or brand strength. A newcomer with genuinely valuable insight earns almost nothing. Primary research is hard, and there’s no easy way to ensure original work stays attributable and monetizable over time.
ZZAZZ’s thesis is that content has intrinsic value — independent of who created it. Moments is where that thesis becomes real for individual creators.
The Workflow I Architected
Create
Write, record audio, or upload video. The creation interface is minimal — focused on content, not formatting.
Preview Pricing
See the expected market valuation before publishing. The LPM evaluates the content and shows what it’s likely worth in the current market.
Improve
Iterate on the content and watch the price adjust in real-time. This creates a quality feedback loop — creators can see exactly how their edits affect perceived value.
Set Rights
Choose the rights model: view-only, transferable, editorial, derivative. Each option has clear implications for how the content can be used and how revenue flows.
Publish & List
The content enters Exchange, competing on value — not brand. A newcomer’s well-researched analysis sits alongside established publishers, priced by the same LPM.
Pre-Publish Pricing & Forecasting
The pre-publish pricing experience is the most novel UX pattern in the Moments vertical. Creators see:
- Expected price — what the LPM calculates based on content quality, topic demand, and market conditions
- Real-time response — how the price changes as they edit, add depth, or improve structure
- Near-term forecast — projected pricing trajectory after publication
- Benchmark comparison — how the expected price compares to similar content in the market
This turns pricing from an opaque system into a transparent tool. Creators understand why their content is worth what it’s worth — and what they can do to increase its value.
The Bigger Implication
Moments doesn’t just add individual creators to the ZZAZZ ecosystem. It changes the supply dynamics entirely. When anyone can publish and earn based on content quality, the ecosystem generates more diverse, higher-quality content — which makes Exchange more valuable for consumers, which generates more revenue through TimePay, which attracts more creators.
Without Moments, ZZAZZ only serves publishers. With Moments, ZZAZZ serves anyone who creates something worth reading.