Order Email
The original order emails present insufficient information for our customers, while the style is out of date and inconsistent with the BenQ official website. Hence, I carried out the redesign by establishing the email-sending rules, designing the order email template, and providing 15 email samples. Ultimately, the new order emails have been rolled out in America and Europe, and the Regional Officers (RO) are satisfied with the new design giving them more flexibility to use.
Duration
May, 2023 – Jul, 2023
Team
2 UX Designer, 1 GUI Designer, 3 Engineer, 1 Project Manager
My Role
As a user experience designer, I conducted competitive analysis, designed the information structure, and made a wireframe of the order email template. Moreover, I sorted the existing order emails to establish the email-sending rules and provided 15 email samples with UX copy for the ROs to follow up.
Background
When customers place an order from the BenQ online store, they will receive multiple emails notifying them of the current state of their order. However, the order emails lack sufficient information, and the style is inconsistent with the BenQ official website.
Objective
To provide a better experience for our customers and maintain a consistent brand image, the UX team decided to redesign the order emails by optimizing the information structure, providing the UX copy, and designing a new style.
Challenges
- There were no common rules and email samples for the ROs in every country to follow up. Thus, the ROs used to create emails on their own according to different purposes. Consequently, the number and types of emails sent to customers in each country are different, including outgoing and reverse logistics.
- The information and content provided in the emails are also different. This situation complicated the redesign process, with the most challenging aspect —— getting the ROs to adopt the new design.
Tasks
To meet our design objective and overcome the challenges, I conducted the following tasks.
- I established the email-sending rules for the ROs by sorting the types of emails and analyzing their content to determine their purposes for sending.
- I designed an order email template providing comprehensive information that customers need and maintaining brand consistency while also allowing the ROs to edit it flexibly.
Email Sending Rules
I have analyzed original emails from four regions, including America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Taiwan, to sort the most frequently used ones and create the sending rules. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are the ones I suggest sending. The ROs can decide which ones to send according to their needs.
I suggest sending an email to notify customers of the current state of their order in the following situations:
- Important moments for customers after placing an order which are highlighted in blue circles, such as order received, shipped, and delivered.
- Incidents that occur during the order process, such as order canceled, status update, failed, and declined.
If the email does not provide customers with additional necessary information, such as schedule or tasks to be performed, it is recommended not to send that email. Instead, I suggest merging its content into the preceding or subsequent email.
Order Email Template
Information Structure
The order email should provide information that is helpful for customers to view order details and check order status. Thus, I added the following details in the template, including recipient's name, product images, shipping information, contact details, payment information, and frequently asked questions (FAQ).
UX Copy
I rewrote the email content in a concise, straightforward, and human tone of voice.
Style
The GUI designer redesigned the style and icons to maintain consistency with the BenQ official website.
1
Recipient Name
By adding this information, the customers would feel like having a conversation with us.
2
Content
I rewrote the content for each email sample with a conversational and human tone of voice.
3
Call-to-Action Button
This button reveals the most important task for the customers to do after reading this email, which is more noticeable than the original hyperlink.
4
Invoice Information
This section is only shown in the invoice email to give an overview of the customer’s invoice.
5
Product Image
The product image is added to make the customers tell what products they have bought immediately when receiving the email instead of recognizing the products from their model names.
6
Item List
The items such as the accessories or cables attached to the main products are listed to provide the customers an overview of “what’s in the box.”
7
Shipping Information
The carrier’s name, tracking link, and address are added so that the customers can track their order more instantaneously.
8
Return Instruction
This section is only revealed in the return email to give guidance for the customers to follow up.
9
FAQ
This section provides information that customers would like to know when they receive the order email. The content varies according to the email.
How to Use the Template
The template consists of two areas, including the regular area and the flexible area. The order of sections cannot be changed regardless of the area types, whereas the content within the sections, such as the title, text, and button links can be edited by the ROs.
- Regular Area: The ROs cannot add or delete sections.
- Flexible Area: The ROs can add or delete sections.
The template contains all sections that could be shown in the order email. The ROs could decide which to show in the flexible area in different order emails. To give them explicit guidance, I have created 15 email samples for the ROs as references.
Results
After I proposed the new design to the ROs from four regions, all of them expressed satisfaction with the new order template, as it provides more flexibility for their use. The new order emails have now been rolled out in America and Europe, offering comprehensive order details to our customers while maintaining brand consistency.
Lessons Learned
In my opinion, designing an email is similar to designing a webpage but with more restrictions. Email design necessitates simplicity, as overly complicated layouts or components may cause formatting issues across various platforms, such as Outlook and Gmail, whether accessed through browsers or applications. Through this experience, I have learned to discern which information to include and how to reveal it based on the order process and the immediate needs of customers when designing the information structure.
