Project Scope

Operational / Community Management

Role

Project Manager

Content Operations

Community Manager

On-air Assistant MC

Project Duration

5 months

ZERO→X

ZERO→X is a 12-week online program designed to help participants uncover their personal narrative and use it as a foundation for entrepreneurship or personal growth. The program featured daily content delivery (Monday–Friday) and weekly Q&A sessions every Saturday — recorded mid-week based on questions submitted the previous week, then published within days. Total enrollment: 270 participants. I joined at the request of the program director, introduced to the team as the central coordinator — without a formal role definition or clear scope. From day one, I was expected to lead, but the boundaries of that leadership were mine to define.

The Problem

The content delivery workflow was entirely sequential. Regular content was recorded two weeks in advance, but even then, waiting for audio editing alone added 3–5 days of lag — during which no one else could begin their work. The Q&A sessions were particularly high-risk: recorded mid-week and published the same Saturday, leaving almost no buffer for errors or delays. All contributors were freelancers and part-time collaborators juggling other commitments, making "immediate response" an unsustainable expectation across the team.

A secondary challenge was participant engagement. In a 12-week program with daily content, some participants inevitably fell behind — creating a risk of early dropout. Without intervention, delayed progress could quietly compound into disengagement.

The Approach

The Insight

The system wasn't just inefficient — it was fragile. Every team member's work depended on the previous person finishing first, and with a team of part-time contributors managing multiple commitments, that dependency was a structural risk. The solution wasn't to ask people to move faster. It was to redesign the flow so that work could happen in parallel, and no single bottleneck could hold everyone hostage.

Beyond operations, I recognized that participant engagement required more than good content. People needed to feel safe enough to show up as themselves. That became my second design challenge.

The Action

Workflow Redesign

Proposed moving Q&A recording sessions one day earlier to create buffer time before the Saturday publish deadline

Shared transcripts with the script writer immediately after recording — before audio editing was complete — so that email and Discord posts could be drafted in parallel, eliminating the dependency on the editing timeline

Invited the script writer to join pre-recording briefings so she could understand the content in advance and begin drafting even earlier

Proactively communicated schedule changes and upcoming recording plans to each team member individually, reducing last-minute surprises

Participant Experience Design

Served as on-air assistant MC for weekly recordings — intentionally sharing personal struggles and unpolished moments to model vulnerability, encouraging participants to show up authentically in their own work

Introduced a 5-day co-working session series ("mokumoku-kai") during Week 6, held at 6:00 AM, creating a low-pressure space for participants who had fallen behind to catch up at their own pace

Community Operations

Coordinated the formation of approximately 40 small-group channels on Discord ("Irori Groups") for the 166 participants who opted in — each group consisting of 3–5 members, designed to create intimate spaces for sharing personal narratives

Monitored all channels daily over approximately one week, sending prompts to inactive groups, facilitating member reassignments for stagnant groups, and personally messaging both departing and receiving members to ensure smooth transitions

While a small number of groups remained inactive, the majority of opted-in participants engaged meaningfully with their peers

The Result

Redesigned content delivery workflow, enabling parallel workstreams and creating 1–2 days of additional buffer — maintaining zero delays throughout the 12-week program

Managed a 270-member Discord community, maintaining 60%+ participation rate during core program weeks

166 participants opted into Irori Groups; personally facilitated member reassignments to maximize meaningful peer connection

Facilitated a 5-day co-working series at 6:00 AM, supporting participants who had fallen behind

Supported the execution of a 2-day Pitch Event in which 117 out of 270 participants (43%+) delivered a personal narrative pitch in front of peers — a remarkable engagement rate for a self-discovery program, far exceeding the typical 10–20% active participation benchmark for online programs

Total attendance across both pitch days reached approximately 250 participants

Generated 193+ direct mentions by name in the Discord community — reflecting the depth of participant trust and connection built throughout the program

takeaways

The most meaningful impact wasn't in the workflow. It was in the moments when participants felt seen — when they took risks, shared their stories, and found something they didn't know they were looking for.

These results were never mine alone. They were built on the trust participants placed in the program director, the warmth of the co-MC and customer support team, and the collective effort of everyone involved. What I contributed was structure, presence, and the intention to make sure no one fell through the cracks.

That's the kind of work I want to keep doing — designing systems and experiences where people can show up fully, and teams can operate without burning out.