Uphold’s Emails
Assigned task: I was approached by the EVP of Product to make recommendations to improve product-generated emails in general, starting with emails triggered by Automated transactions.
My process
I teamed up with the product manager handling Automated Transactions, the designer, the illustrator, the EVP of Product, and the CPO to deliver implementable changes in the way Uphold constructs and words product-generated emails.
I started off by examining the existing emails for Automated transactions i.e. its tone, structure, and wording. I spoke to employees using Uphold to perform automated transactions and are therefore receiving said emails, to understand their frustrations and needs.
I researched product-generated emails of other online trading platforms including Coinbase, Revolut, and Binance to draw parallels and differences. To better understand corporate email etiquette, email structuring, and general best practices related to consumer-oriented emails, I researched the same.
Problem statement
Following are the pain points discovered from the research conducted;
That the subject line did not explain the purpose of the email.
That the emails sound mechanical and fell short on empathy, especially while delivering perceivably frustrating news, like a failed transaction.
That the email didn’t offer enough details regarding the specific transaction triggering the email.
That the emails failed in addressing key contextual questions.
The the emails didn’t necessarily offer solutions or ways to address the issues, if any.
That the emails didn’t offer links to manage the service in question.
That the emails blindly directed users to Customer Support without attempting to answer and redress the issue in the email itself.
That the emails didn’t quite reassure the user when delivering inconveniencing information.
Guidelines for copy revision
Be direct and succinct.
Marry copy with illustrations.
Strike a balance between being professional and sentimental.
Offer contextual CTAs and help.
Anticipate queries and offer an out/undo.
The email for Automated Transaction (Before)
The proposed revised email template for Automated Transactions (After)
The revamped email proposes the following format:
Subject line:
(Reader’s name), the reason for the email
Title:
Reiterating the reason and/or elaborating on causation
Body:
Explaining the purpose of the email along with relevant details for ease of reader’s reference.
Providing a link to the reader for them to access the transaction in question
If something went wrong, then explaining how it can be fixed and how it can be prevented from happening.
Reassuring the reader.
Including links for customer support.
Tone:
In this specific case, since email concerns a failed transaction, I geared the tone to sound apologetic and at the same time, reassuring.
Addendum:
Including an illustration to make the email more emotive.
Including links to FAQs in anticipation of follow-up or contextual questions. This will also potentially reduce traffic towards Customer Service.
Offering options to stop or undo or manage the service in question.
Offering a link to unsubscribe.
Other proposed email templates;
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
This email simply confirms an action that the user performed and is therefore received by the reader as an immediate trigger. For that reason, I arranged the confirmation details to look like a receipt i.e. offering only the details of the transaction set up along with a link to help manage the same. I stripped the email of any unnecessary sentences to keep it clean and crisp.