Maildrip is an email automation software design for small business
and creators.
The email marketing industry is highly competitive, and
Maildrip, originally designed for a specific client's needs, faced challenges upon its public release.
Overview
In my role as a Founding Designer at Alps, I led the design efforts to release Collections & Guides, Alps’ first core product, designed to empower product teams to create help centers.
Empowering Growth with Simple Tools.
During my tenure as a designer at MailDrip, we hosted the product’s help center on Notion. This is the foundation of a lean development approach: focusing on the core business and avoiding unnecessary tool development.
As a systems thinker and professional designer, I naturally gravitate toward identifying new challenges and finding effective solutions.
One significant challenge I observed in growing development teams, specifically in the African market, is the need for tools that aren’t core to the business but are important to its success. To address this, my team and I prioritized developing a user-friendly platform for product teams to create support content for their customers.
Before diving into design, it was crucial to understand what the business was aiming to achieve. Clarifying the goals helped ensure that every design decision would support measurable outcomes and contribute to Maildrip’s broader product vision. This alignment laid the foundation for a more focused and impactful design process.
To design something truly useful, I first needed to understand how users interacted with the product. Early usability tests revealed key pain points, unmet needs, and what wasn’t working. I also reviewed support conversations and internal feedback to uncover deeper usability issues not always visible in testing.
Understanding the key friction points was critical before moving into design. By analyzing user feedback and product behavior, I identified the core challenges that were preventing users from fully engaging with the product, and used these to frame the central design question.
With the redesign complete, we saw clear improvements in user satisfaction and business growth, validating the impact of the new design
Alps
Empowering product teams to craft helpful guides
Overview
In my role as a Founding Designer at Alps, I led the design efforts to release Collections & Guides, Alps’ first core product, designed to empower product teams to create help centers.
Role
Founding Designer & Product Lead — Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Flows, Feature Prioritization
Empowering Growth with Simple Tools
During my tenure as a designer at MailDrip, we hosted the product’s help center on Notion. This is the foundation of a lean development approach: to focus on the core business and avoid unnecessary tool development.
As a systems thinker and professional designer, I naturally gravitate toward identifying new challenges and finding effective solutions.
One significant challenge I observed in growing development teams specifically in the African market is the need for tools that aren’t core to the business but are important to its success. To address this, my team and I prioritized developing a user-friendly platform for product teams to create support content for their customers.
Minimalist Design Approach for Consistent Branding
In designing the client’s interface, I chose a minimalist design approach to ensure that the visual elements are clean and uncluttered. This strategy emphasizes the power and reliability of the tool, reinforcing our commitment to supporting product teams.
Once the components were finalized, they were handed over to our front-end developer to be transformed into reusable components. This process streamlines development and maintains uniformity across various aspects of the product.
Collections
Collections serve as categories for articles, allowing users to easily organize and access related content. This structure enhances the help center's navigability, making it simple for users to find the information they need quickly.
Guides
Recognizing the cluttered nature of YouTube playlists for hosting support videos, Guides offers a streamlined solution for organizing video content. This feature ensures that support videos are presented in a clear and orderly manner, enhancing the user experience and accessibility of valuable resources.
Sign Up — Workspace Name
To enhance user engagement and investment, I leveraged the Endowment Effect during the signup process by allowing users to customize their workspace name in real time. As users type their company name, it dynamically updates to 'companyname.tryalps.app,' giving them an immediate sense of ownership and personalization.
Sign Up — Deferred Email Verification
To increase our signup rate, we implemented a strategy of deferred email verification. By waiting until users have experienced the product's value before asking them to confirm their email, we reduce friction during the initial signup process.
We tested the 'Sniper Link' technique:
Sending users to their inbox during onboarding can be distracting and risky, leading to drop-offs. To minimize this, I employ 'Sniper Links', which use URL parameters to pre-fill the search query. For example, if users sign up with a @gmail.com address, the verification button directs them to a pre-filtered Gmail search for 'Alps' (e.g., https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/Alps). This technique ensures that users can quickly and easily find the verification email, reducing the chance of losing them during the onboarding process.
Authentication — Reset Password
To streamline the password recovery process, I implemented a process where users requesting a password reset receive a one-time login link. This link provides immediate access to their account with an option to reset their password.
It's a bold move:
This approach is a bold move from a security standpoint, but it allows us to test the idea of reducing friction during password recovery. By granting temporary access without requiring immediate password reset, we aim to enhance user experience and improve retention during the critical recovery phase.
Alps
Empowering product teams to craft helpful guides
Overview
In my role as a Founding Designer at Alps, I led the design efforts to release Collections & Guides, Alps’ first core product, designed to empower product teams to create help centers.
Role
Founding Designer & Product Lead — Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Flows, Feature Prioritization
Empowering Growth with Simple Tools
During my tenure as a designer at MailDrip, we hosted the product’s help center on Notion. This is the foundation of a lean development approach: to focus on the core business and avoid unnecessary tool development.
As a systems thinker and professional designer, I naturally gravitate toward identifying new challenges and finding effective solutions.
One significant challenge I observed in growing development teams specifically in the African market is the need for tools that aren’t core to the business but are important to its success. To address this, my team and I prioritized developing a user-friendly platform for product teams to create support content for their customers.
Minimalist Design Approach for Consistent Branding
In designing the client’s interface, I chose a minimalist design approach to ensure that the visual elements are clean and uncluttered. This strategy emphasizes the power and reliability of the tool, reinforcing our commitment to supporting product teams.
Once the components were finalized, they were handed over to our front-end developer to be transformed into reusable components. This process streamlines development and maintains uniformity across various aspects of the product.
Collections
Collections serve as categories for articles, allowing users to easily organize and access related content. This structure enhances the help center's navigability, making it simple for users to find the information they need quickly.
Guides
Recognizing the cluttered nature of YouTube playlists for hosting support videos, Guides offers a streamlined solution for organizing video content. This feature ensures that support videos are presented in a clear and orderly manner, enhancing the user experience and accessibility of valuable resources.
Sign Up — Workspace Name
To enhance user engagement and investment, I leveraged the Endowment Effect during the signup process by allowing users to customize their workspace name in real time. As users type their company name, it dynamically updates to 'companyname.tryalps.app,' giving them an immediate sense of ownership and personalization.
Sign Up — Deferred Email Verification
To increase our signup rate, we implemented a strategy of deferred email verification. By waiting until users have experienced the product's value before asking them to confirm their email, we reduce friction during the initial signup process.
We tested the 'Sniper Link' technique:
Sending users to their inbox during onboarding can be distracting and risky, leading to drop-offs. To minimize this, I employ 'Sniper Links', which use URL parameters to pre-fill the search query. For example, if users sign up with a @gmail.com address, the verification button directs them to a pre-filtered Gmail search for 'Alps' (e.g., https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/Alps). This technique ensures that users can quickly and easily find the verification email, reducing the chance of losing them during the onboarding process.
Authentication — Reset Password
To streamline the password recovery process, I implemented a process where users requesting a password reset receive a one-time login link. This link provides immediate access to their account with an option to reset their password.
It's a bold move:
This approach is a bold move from a security standpoint, but it allows us to test the idea of reducing friction during password recovery. By granting temporary access without requiring immediate password reset, we aim to enhance user experience and improve retention during the critical recovery phase.
Alps
Empowering product teams to craft helpful guides
Overview
In my role as a Founding Designer at Alps, I led the design efforts to release Collections & Guides, Alps’ first core product, designed to empower product teams to create help centers.
Role
Founding Designer & Product Lead — Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Flows, Feature Prioritization
Empowering Growth with Simple Tools
During my tenure as a designer at MailDrip, we hosted the product’s help center on Notion. This is the foundation of a lean development approach: to focus on the core business and avoid unnecessary tool development.
As a systems thinker and professional designer, I naturally gravitate toward identifying new challenges and finding effective solutions.
One significant challenge I observed in growing development teams specifically in the African market is the need for tools that aren’t core to the business but are important to its success. To address this, my team and I prioritized developing a user-friendly platform for product teams to create support content for their customers.
Minimalist Design Approach for Consistent Branding
In designing the client’s interface, I chose a minimalist design approach to ensure that the visual elements are clean and uncluttered. This strategy emphasizes the power and reliability of the tool, reinforcing our commitment to supporting product teams.
Once the components were finalized, they were handed over to our front-end developer to be transformed into reusable components. This process streamlines development and maintains uniformity across various aspects of the product.
Collections
Collections serve as categories for articles, allowing users to easily organize and access related content. This structure enhances the help center's navigability, making it simple for users to find the information they need quickly.
Guides
Recognizing the cluttered nature of YouTube playlists for hosting support videos, Guides offers a streamlined solution for organizing video content. This feature ensures that support videos are presented in a clear and orderly manner, enhancing the user experience and accessibility of valuable resources.
Sign Up — Workspace Name
To enhance user engagement and investment, I leveraged the Endowment Effect during the signup process by allowing users to customize their workspace name in real time. As users type their company name, it dynamically updates to 'companyname.tryalps.app,' giving them an immediate sense of ownership and personalization.
Sign Up — Deferred Email Verification
To increase our signup rate, we implemented a strategy of deferred email verification. By waiting until users have experienced the product's value before asking them to confirm their email, we reduce friction during the initial signup process.
We tested the 'Sniper Link' technique:
Sending users to their inbox during onboarding can be distracting and risky, leading to drop-offs. To minimize this, I employ 'Sniper Links', which use URL parameters to pre-fill the search query. For example, if users sign up with a @gmail.com address, the verification button directs them to a pre-filtered Gmail search for 'Alps' (e.g., https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/Alps). This technique ensures that users can quickly and easily find the verification email, reducing the chance of losing them during the onboarding process.
Authentication — Reset Password
To streamline the password recovery process, I implemented a process where users requesting a password reset receive a one-time login link. This link provides immediate access to their account with an option to reset their password.
It's a bold move:
This approach is a bold move from a security standpoint, but it allows us to test the idea of reducing friction during password recovery. By granting temporary access without requiring immediate password reset, we aim to enhance user experience and improve retention during the critical recovery phase.