Overview
I built Zeabur's partner portal from 0 to 1 in April–May 2026, after first running the process manually. It enabled approved business partners to create sponsorship codes themselves within documented limits.
My role Workflow design and portal implementation, followed by reviewing operational records and revisiting the service with leadership as new requirements emerged.
Reducing repetitive work
Partner operations required around 3–5 hours of manual marketing work each week. The portal made sponsorship-code creation self-service for approved business partners, with records flowing into the existing internal Kanban system. It also provided partner performance and conversion tracking.
The workflow connected an external partner action with an internal operational record. Partners could complete recurring work themselves, while the team retained a record of that activity.
Making different requirements explicit
In September, leadership raised concerns about sponsorship activity they had not been aware of. The discussion revealed that reducing manual work was only one requirement: financial control and visibility also needed attention.
I first restated the concern and explained the operating context. These were approved business partners operating within documented limits. I asked whether the concern was the sponsorship amount or the visibility of the activity, using the wiki guidelines and records to clarify the context.
Leadership clarified a concern about partners independently issuing codes with a financial impact. That gave us a more specific requirement to examine alongside the existing self-service workflow.
Aligning the changes and implementing them
I reviewed 6 months of application records against the service blueprint and user journey to identify where additional control was needed.
After comparing 3 proposed approaches and their operational costs, I proposed internal review above a defined threshold, alongside automated monthly reporting.
Once stakeholders approved the proposal, I implemented the changes end to end. Requests above the threshold now go through internal review, while routine activity retains the self-service flow. Monthly reports are delivered automatically through an internal communication tool.
Outcome
The portal supports self-service sponsorship-code creation for approved business partners, with internal review for requests above the threshold. Operational records and partner performance tracking remain connected to the workflow, and monthly reports are delivered automatically through an internal communication tool.
Related work
Making a newsletter workflow reusable through AI and shared documentation