I see @spacegoods_co getting to 9-figures. Here’s what I’d do if I was in charge of their email design. Full re-design at the end. P.S Point 3 could be costing your agency £000’s. 🧵

If an agency posts they’re looking for a Unicorn or a Rockstar. Run.

Those who can't take criticism aren't interested in growing.

Email marketing agencies… I beg you remove customers who purchased in the last 30 days from your BFCM emails. I don’t want to find out that I could have got 30% off but my ADHD self couldn’t wait. Thank you.

How does it know?... Today I gave Spotify DJ a spin - Spotify's take on AI-driven music recommendations. Verdict? Good, but predictable. It just felt like it was programmed to: • Play a couple songs that I’ve listened to recently • Play songs which I might like based on my liked songs/artists Not exactly groundbreaking AI. But it highlights the differences between designers. Designers should consider: 1. Context 2. Behaviours Context is where I’m using the product, like in my car. Behaviours are what make us human. A typical designer might stop at the above solutions. • Play a couple songs that I’ve listened to recently • Play songs which I might like based on my liked songs/artists But the best ones? They embrace divergent thinking. Or Design Thinking. This is why experience designers take the time to understand the problem to be solved first: “How can we curate a playlist that truly resonates with our users?” When you truly understand the problem, you come up with solutions like: • When the user turns up the volume on a song, recommend more based on this song. • If a user skips a song, recommend fewer songs like this. • If a user repeats a song multiple times, recommend more based on this song. Then getting really out there…: • Use wearables to gauge heart rate. At the gym? Upbeat tracks. Winding down? Mellow tunes. Location info could be used for this too. • Using the device's ability to listen, to hear if someone’s signing or tapping on their steering wheel to a song. If true, recommend more like this. • Identify sentiment in user messages or Tweets and recommend songs based on this. No longer in a relationship on Facebook? Play “Loyal by Chris Brown”. Now, privacy concerns make some of the above a stretch. Initially, it's not for a designer to worry about feasibility. It’s about expanding beyond the obvious solutions to a problem - then bringing things back to reality. Just because someone can string words together, doesn't make them a copywriter. And just because someone can push some pixels, it doesn't make them a designer. Levels to this.

UX ROI is $100 for every invested $1. This is 138% more than the ROI of email marketing alone. Make of that what you will.

Won’t be taking any more clients until after Black Friday. After this, I intend on disrupting this small space in email design. If all goes well, there won’t be any other way to design emails. This will be the standard.

You’re designing buttons wrong. What not to do: 1. Draw a rectangle 2. Place text in box 3. Centre everything Instead: Use auto layout when creating CTAs for your emails. It’s quicker and consistent.

What do you do when a client wants to take a different direction to your design? I’m always happy to take on feedback - I’ve definitely missed the mark more times than I can remember in my work. But they’ve hired a designer for a reason - your expertise.

Cold DMs getting creative these days.

Visually speaking: What’s wrong with this email I see 4 things.

7 reasons why image only emails are destroying your brand: • Slow to load • Not responsive • Not searchable • Hurt deliverability • Triggers spam filters • Limited personalisation • Not accessible/inclusive All the above = Poor UX.

A good designer can learn copywriting fast. But not all good copywriters can design.

Can I get a copywriter's take on some email copy?

I can’t be the only one that does this: I don’t wait for the kettle to boil all the way. Who wants to wait before drinking their coffee?