Embodiments of the disclosed technologies include receiving, from a first user device, a first user interface event that includes an upload of a media asset but does not indicate an intended usage for the media asset, determining an intended usage based on a second user interface event, mapping the intended usage to a usage-based specification, converting the media asset to a usage-specific version of the media asset by applying the usage-based specification to the media asset, and initiating a distribution of the usage-specific version of the media asset instead of the media asset to at least one second user device different from the first user device.