Emails are the last digital experience customers have before they interact with physical products or with the store. The current Transactional Emails of Sherwin-Williams fail to adequately update customers at each stage of their purchasing process, leading to confusion and lack of trust.
Due to unclear language, customers often go to the store to pick up their order when they receive an email indicating that the store is preparing it.
Additionally, the visual elements of the email do not conform to the Sherwin-Williams design system.
The ask was to redesign S-W’s transactional emails through copy and update the visual look and feel to match the brand.
In my role as a UX Designer, I collaborated with the Design Lead and the UX Writer to create empathy maps to identify user needs, pain points, and opportunities for improvement through our 3 main questions:
What does the user need? What do they feel? Where's our opportunity?
1. The "Order Received" email would provide the most comprehensive information and could also serve as a receipt for the customer.
2. The "Store Acknowledgement" email could be the best opportunity for an upsell.
3. The "Order Ready for Pickup" email would provide clear pickup instructions, bridging the digital and physical experience.
Based on these takeaways, I developed the wireframes, focusing on:
1. Pickup in Store
2. Request Delivery
3. Scheduled Delivery
4. PunchOut (S-W's procurement system)
I also created components in the 8px grid system and established a component library to ensure design efficiency, scalability, and brand consistency by reusing components.
Finally, I producing high-fidelity designs and prepared the work for IT handoff.
Embraced a mobile-first approach, cross-promoted S-W's digital tools, built trust through communication, increased customer engagement due to high open rates.
Realizing that the process is fundamental, I found that empathy mapping was instrumental in understanding both the users' needs and pain points, as well as identifying areas for improvement.
Strengthened my skills in Design System by developing a comprehensive component library within an 8 point grid system, ensuring strict adherence to WCAG accessibility guidelines.
