Cody Westerman

Cody Westerman

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Email delivery statuses

Email delivery statuses

Email delivery statuses

Tapi — July 2023

Tapi — July 2023

About this project

About this project

Overview

Tapi is a platform which helps property managers (PMs) track and action maintenance.

Communication with property stakeholders is a priority for PMs. They have to juggle communicating with property owners, tenants, and tradespeople — who all expect timely responses.


PMs rely on Tapi to accurately deliver and record communications to and from stakeholders for their day-to-day tasks. They also need this evidence if they’re ever taken to tenancy tribunal.


The goal was to improve visibility over the status of emails sent through Tapi — it was important to clearly indicate if an e mail had failed to deliver.

My role

Research — I looked into existing solutions to similar problems.

UX/UI Design — I produced low-fidelity static screens and high-fidelity interactive prototypes.

Collaboration — I worked closely with the customer services and engineering teams to iterate on the design and find the best solution.

Presentation — I presented the final design to the wider team via a video walkthrough explaining the solution.

Research — I looked into existing solutions to similar problems.

UX/UI Design — I produced low-fidelity static screens and high-fidelity interactive prototypes.

Collaboration — I worked closely with the customer services and engineering teams to iterate on the design and find the best solution.

Presentation — I presented the final design to the wider team via a video walkthrough explaining the solution.

Research — I looked into existing solutions to similar problems.

UX/UI Design — I produced low-fidelity static screens and high-fidelity interactive prototypes.

Collaboration — I worked closely with the customer services and engineering teams to iterate on the design and find the best solution.

Presentation — I presented the final design to the wider team via a video walkthrough explaining the solution.

The challenge

The challenge

Summary of the problem

From user feedback, I knew the approach to email delivery statuses was not clear and was creating confusion and miscommunication with stakeholders. This issue was undermining confidence in the product and was considered a serious problem that could lead property management agencies to abandon Tapi.

Problem #1

Nature of the interaction

There was no indication that the user should hover on the ‘Emails sent’ text to reveal more information. An email might have failed to send, but the user has no visual indication of that happening.

Problem #2

The microcopy

‘Emails sent’ suggests that the user’s emails have been successfully delivered to the recipients, even though that might not be the case. This was especially problematic if the user wasn't aware of they could hover over the text to check the actual status.

Customer feedback

"Notifying the property managers about a non deliver of email when it happens is vital. Otherwise nobody is any wiser here in the office … wasting time and extending tenants' annoyance with a maintenance problem."

"Notifying the property managers about a non deliver of email when it happens is vital. Otherwise nobody is any wiser here in the office … wasting time and extending tenants' annoyance with a maintenance problem."

"Notifying the property managers about a non deliver of email when it happens is vital. Otherwise nobody is any wiser here in the office … wasting time and extending tenants' annoyance with a maintenance problem."

— PM / Tapi user

Problem #4

No ability to sort data

The previous card-based design did not allow users to sort their data, only filter. For example, it wasn’t possible to sort jobs by newest to oldest.

The result

The result

Summary of the design solution

With customer feedback in mind, my main priority was to display the delivery status of emails in a clear manner, without requiring any interaction to reveal further information. The solution I settled on displays the delivery status of the emails upfront, using different colours to indicate their status. The user can click to expand a section that provides additional context.

With customer feedback in mind, my main priority was to display the delivery status of emails in a clear manner, without requiring any interaction to reveal further information. The solution I settled on displays the delivery status of the emails upfront, using different colours to indicate their status. The user can click to expand a section that provides additional context.

With customer feedback in mind, my main priority was to display the delivery status of emails in a clear manner, without requiring any interaction to reveal further information. The solution I settled on displays the delivery status of the emails upfront, using different colours to indicate their status. The user can click to expand a section that provides additional context.

Solution 1

Interaction is more clear

Where before there was no indication for the user to hover on the ‘Emails sent’ text, there’s now a downward pointing chevron, which indicates to the user that there’s more information below. (This is a common UI pattern in Tapi).

Solution 2

Copy reflects email delivery status

The copy now clearly states the delivery status of the emails, e.g. ‘Emails failed to send’ or ‘Emails sending’. This improvement means the user knows whether an email has failed to send immediately, without having to hover over anything to check.

Solution 3

Visual indications

Colours are used reinforce the email delivery status text, e.g., red text and a warning icon for ‘Emails failed to send’ or grey text for ‘Emails sending’. This helps users quickly identify if one of their emails has failed to send.

Bonus

Delivery status hierarchy

Tapi can send out multiple emails for one action. For this reason, a hierarchy was required in case one email had failed to send but the other two were delivered successfully. I prioritised emails that had failed to send as this is the most vital information for PMs to know.

Tapi can send out multiple emails for one action. For this reason, a hierarchy was required in case one email had failed to send but the other two were delivered successfully. I prioritised emails that had failed to send as this is the most vital information for PMs to know.

Tapi can send out multiple emails for one action. For this reason, a hierarchy was required in case one email had failed to send but the other two were delivered successfully. I prioritised emails that had failed to send as this is the most vital information for PMs to know.

wrapping up

What the new design achieved

Tapi users now have confidence in knowing the status of any emails they send to stakeholders. The redesign has achieved the goal of ensuring users are aware of any emails that have failed to be delivered.

Tapi users now have confidence in knowing the status of any emails they send to stakeholders. The redesign has achieved the goal of ensuring users are aware of any emails that have failed to be delivered.

Tapi users now have confidence in knowing the status of any emails they send to stakeholders. The redesign has achieved the goal of ensuring users are aware of any emails that have failed to be delivered.

Personal reflection

During this project, I learned the importance of clear microcopy and how ambiguous copy can lead to incorrect assumptions and loss of trust in a product. I also learned how effective small changes can be for providing the user clarity over their actions and the status of those actions.

During this project, I learned the importance of clear microcopy and how ambiguous copy can lead to incorrect assumptions and loss of trust in a product. I also learned how effective small changes can be for providing the user clarity over their actions and the status of those actions.

During this project, I learned the importance of clear microcopy and how ambiguous copy can lead to incorrect assumptions and loss of trust in a product. I also learned how effective small changes can be for providing the user clarity over their actions and the status of those actions.

Importance of trust

Because clear and efficient communication is a large part of Tapi’s core offering, this was a significant improvement to the UX of Tapi and has increased the user’s trust in the product.

Because clear and efficient communication is a large part of Tapi’s core offering, this was a significant improvement to the UX of Tapi and has increased the user’s trust in the product.

Because clear and efficient communication is a large part of Tapi’s core offering, this was a significant improvement to the UX of Tapi and has increased the user’s trust in the product.

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Made with 💜️️ and lots of ☕ by Cody Westerman — 2023

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