MIT Sloan Management Review

MIT Sloan Review, a publication from MIT, hired me as a back-end developer to create a unique corporate subscription system for their paid membership service. This system needed to support block groups of subscribers, a feature not available through any existing plugins or tools. Additionally, I provided front-end and back-end development support, helping to streamline the site and optimize analytics and data processing.

Challenges

MIT Sloan Review faced several unique challenges, including:

  • Corporate Subscription Management: Needed a custom solution to sell and manage block corporate memberships within Piano, their subscription management platform, which lacked support for this scenario.
  • Data & Analytics Integration: Required a centralized data warehouse and integration with analytics and advertising tools.
  • Theme and Plugin Optimization: The site had become overly dependent on third-party plugins and scripts, leading to performance issues.

    Solutions

    Custom Corporate Subscription System

  • Developed a custom corporate subscription system designed to manage group subscriptions as block memberships, a creative solution compatible with the Piano subscription platform.
  • Simplified the process, focusing on minimalism and efficiency, ensuring a smooth experience for administrators and users.

    Data Warehouse and Analytics Integration

  • Configured Gravity Forms to feed data into BigQuery for centralized data management.
  • Set up BigQuery as a data warehouse to support data analysis and reporting.
  • Worked with Google Tag Manager to configure analytics and advertising tools, enhancing tracking and campaign optimization.

    Theme and Plugin Optimization

  • Streamlined the site by reducing its reliance on third-party plugins and vendor scripts, improving site speed and overall performance.
  • Provided front-end and back-end support to enhance the site’s functionality and maintainability.

    Results

    Through these initiatives, MIT Sloan Review achieved:

  • A scalable and efficient corporate subscription system that supports group memberships within Piano, meeting a critical business need.
  • Improved data management and analytics through BigQuery integration, providing insights into subscriber behavior and engagement.
  • Enhanced site performance and reliability by reducing plugin dependencies and optimizing the codebase.