Email Design
Designing emails to optimize engagement
Project Overview & Goal
• Role: UI Designer for Emails
• Company: Cisco
• Tools: Figma, Miro, Click Up
• Timeline: 3 months
The project involved designing 2 email campaigns
1. Journey nurture emails aimed at nurturing leads for the marketing team by delivering targeted content to drive customer engagement and conversions. The primary goal was to guide potential customers through the sales funnel toward making a purchase.
2. Cisco event emails designed to inform customers about the CX booth at Cisco Live would focus on understanding their challenges and offering solutions, rather than appearing sales-driven. The messaging would emphasize a genuine interest in the issues customers face, presenting the booth as a place to explore new, effective ways to address their needs.
Problem Statement
After discussing with the Journey leads, it became clear that the email design needed to strike a balance between being engaging and informative. With the average person receiving dozens of marketing emails daily and attention spans shrinking, it was essential to create emails that stood out by being visually appealing, easy to digest, and quick to interact with.
Research & Ideation
To drive growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction while maintaining alignment with Cisco’s brand, I began by researching email designs used by other groups within the company. It was important to incorporate elements from our design system, even though it didn’t yet include email-specific components.
After extensive discussions with the design system team, I developed new patterns that enhanced basic components to better meet our needs. Additionally, collaborating with team members who had experience across various organizations brought valuable fresh perspectives to our design process.
Wireframing
With numerous ideas and feedback in hand, it was time to get to work. After reviewing a Pinterest board of leadership’s preferred designs, I identified the design system components that were best suited for concise content and aligned with Cisco’s visual guidelines. From there, I began sketching out rough wireframes to bring the concept to life.
Learning & Takeaways
One key takeaway from this project was the importance of balancing clarity and conciseness within the constraints of email clients and limited user attention spans. I learned how to effectively communicate the brand message while designing layouts that were both visually appealing and functional, with clear calls-to-action that drove engagement. Prioritizing simplicity without compromising on impact was crucial to achieving the desired outcomes.