Project overview:
The product: Memo to Members & Partners is a weekly e-newsletter produced by NLIHC that provides members and subscribers the latest news on housing-related information. The articles are written by staff, is distributed on the NLIHC website, and then sent via email to NLIHC Members and email subscribers.
Project duration: March 2015 - July 2015
The problem: The newsletter was originally created in Microsoft Outlook, which was a very time-consuming and difficult process to send a weekly e-newsletter out. It was also not the most user-friendly newsletter, an average issue was over 20 pages long and required the user to scroll through multiple articles, instead of providing links to the articles on the website. There also wasn't a way to track the number of times the newsletter was forwarded to other users, how many clicks went to the organization's website, or how many times the articles were shared on social media. It also was not aesthetically pleasing.
The goal: To switch to an easier method of sending out the newsletter that is easier to send out, with a much more streamlined design, and provided much-needed metrics on forwards, shares and clicks to the website.
My role: Lead
Responsibilities: Research, conduct usability studies, and design
Target audience: Coalition members, housing advocates, congressional staff
Before - 2014
Older Version of Memo to Members
(click on the image to view the online version)
(click on the image to view the online version)
My role in this project was to find a way to make the newsletter easier to produce, read, forward to other readers, and for the users to share on social media. The previous version of Memo to Members was compiled in Microsoft Word and was then copied and pasted into Microsoft Outlook and sent out to subscribers via Outlook using a third-party extension that enables sending to large lists. The full-length of each article was included in the email, instead of a quick "intro paragraph" of the articles with a link that directed the reader to the NLIHC website where they could read the remainder online. Eventually, anchors linking from the Table of Contents were added.
Unfortunately, sending through Outlook did not allow a lot of functionality for readers. There wasn't capability for readers to share on social media, nor was the e-newsletter mobile-friendly. In addition, there was no way to obtain metrics and data such as the number of opens, click-throughs, social shares, forwards, and the most popular articles among readers. The only information that was provided was the number of bounces after the e-newsletter was sent.
Lastly, the capability to create a responsive, mobile-friendly design was not possible in Outlook. There was very little capability to add photos or images to the email, nor was it possible to add sharing buttons or other design elements to make the issue exciting or enticing to readers.
After - 2015 to Present
Current Memo to Members and Partners E- Newsletter
(click on the image to view the online version)
Changes Made:
After extensive research and testing, I made the case to NLIHC leadership and staff to switch from using Outlook to Mailchimp to distribute Memo to Members, and designed a template and a new logo. The new header design was smaller to take up less space in the layout. There were buttons at the top of the issue where readers could click to "Like" on Facebook and Tweet about the issue, as well as buttons prominently displayed at the top of the sidebar where readers can share it on Facebook and forward the issue to a colleague, thus providing metrics on the number of shares and forwards once sent out.
Instead of featuring the entire article, the new layout listed the Category, Article Title, and a 1 or 2 sentence preview of the article, with a link below where the reader can click to continue to read the article on the NLIHC website. The sidebar also features a link where readers could download a version of the issue in PDF format, as well as buttons to register for upcoming conferences, donate to NLIHC, join NLIHC and endorse various campaigns. The new layout also included photos and artwork related to each particular article.
Using Mailchimp's social media posting feature automatically posts about the latest issue Memo once the e-newsletter is sent out, further amplifying it's reach. With Mailchimp's use of social cards, it enables readers to share Memo using preset information and images to engage more readers.
User Testing:
Before it was officially launched, I conducted an unmoderated usability study of the new layout among a group of NLIHC staff, board, members, housing advocates, as well as design professionals outside of the organization. The layout was tested to see how functional it was across different email clients, the mobile-friendliness of the layout, ease of sharing and social media posting, and thoughts on the new design.
Insights:
75% of the users found the e-newsletter easier to read, and 80% of the users were able to click on the article links that went to the website. 69% of the users were able to forward the email to someone they thought would find the newsletter interesting and almost all (97%) were able to share the newsletter on social media.
The Result:
The new design was rolled out in July 2015. Out of a list of 3,038 members and expired members, 540 readers opened the email and 140 subscribers clicked on the email. The open rate was 17% and the click-through rate was a total of 4.1%.
Within the first year of switching to Mailchimp, the readership of Memo to Members increased from 12.5% to 17.5%.
In July of 2017, Memo to Members was renamed and re-branded to Memo to Members and Partners, where it is now sent to a list of over 35,000 subscribers.
