Case Study:
Blu Dot Email System
Blu Dot had a dysfunctional and inaccessible marketing email system that did not consider mobile devices or dark mode. The system made it difficult to build new emails, train new designers and developers, and streamline processes. The email system provided a poor user experience and produced inadequate business results.
A selection of Blu Dot emails before the redesign. The old email system used almost only images and a drop shadow behind the entire email column.
The Ask
I was asked to create a new email system that could flexibly handle 200+ annual emails that covered different themes, met brand standards, performed well in most relevant email clients such as Outlook, ensured accessibility standards, and was easy to execute.
The Target Audience
The target audience was current customers, subscribers, and prospects.
Measure of Success
The goal was to develop a flexible system that could evolve and increase engagement and click-through rate (CTR).
Outlook email client desktop view of the old email system on a MacBook
Some email clients create padding left and right of every email rather than using the full width of the screen
Left: iPhone Apple Mail view; Right: iPhone Outlook App
The Research
I started by researching the competition to understand the furniture industry standards and the email experience they provided. Additionally, I read numerous articles and resources about the technical side of emails, I also collected valuable information by talking with Listrak, whom we used for storing and maintaining our email lists, and collaborated with our contract developer studio. Their feedback in the early stages and support in testing emails in the last stage were key to delivering the best result.
Competition research included HermanMiller (now MillerKnoll), Room & Board, West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and more
Combining everything I learned, I comprised a list of best practices for emails covering design, accessibility, dark mode, mobile view, processes, technical considerations, coding processes, and coding limitations. This list served as a base to make decisions and sell my concepts to the CEO.
The Core Components
As a next step, I identified and explored fundamental recurring core components for the email system, such as side colors, font sizes, button sizes, and the potential use of navigation. Defining those components and boundaries provided a functional base for me before I started exploring more design elements.
While I explored those elements I kept the limitations of emails and a mobile-first approach in mind.
Exploration of logo sizes, positioning, and navigation options on Desktop and Mobile
Important email themes to consider were the regular marketing emails showcasing multiple products and collections, new product introductions, trade + contract emails, and newsletters
I tested side colors, a purposeful frame around the email column, and how different image treatments would look like
The focus was on the most-used email clients by our customers, Apple Mail and Outlook
Refinement stage of core elements exploring different footers, left-aligned versus centered text, and button styles in Desktop and Mobile view.
Button and live text were moved off images because they conflicted with the dark mode view.
The Testing and Implementation
After I created the base components, I designed testing emails using the different themes to showcase how the system functioned and would remain consistent. I developed design blocks with new design elements while also leveraging styles from the old email system to ensure brand consistency and a visual evolution rather than a revolution. I presented the system concept to the CEO and received approval to move forward.
Testing coded components honing them and refining the details, such as primary font sizes, secondary and tertiary fonts, or the responsiveness of the content in Mobile email clients
I worked closely with the developers on the test emails in discussing and refining all components. Listrak’s preview tool was essential for me to test, identify, and revise the emails for different email clients. The E-Commerce Analyst provided me with the device, email client, and usage data of our subscribers to understand which email clients are most relevant to focus on.
After finalizing the details of the email system, I created a toolkit for designers that considered easy hand-off of files and coding by the developers.
The Listrak’s email preview for many different email clients was crucial in finding issues and refining the email system
The state of the email system when it was approved. After the final approval, I still decided to make the buttons more prominent and it was decided to remove the navigation due to the lack of clicks.
The Result
The result was a flexible system that has remained strong after years of usage. I encourage you to sign up for Blu Dot’s emails to see for yourself. They make wonderful furniture.
The email system made introducing new themes simple and delivered an accessible and on-brand user experience that took dark mode into account. The engagement and click-through rate (CTR) improved noticeably. The new toolkit made email creation, onboarding, and training more efficient for new designers and developers.
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