Through redesigning the direct mail app, users from the education sector and non-profit organizations can now create direct mail campaigns faster, enhancing donor engagement.

To kick off the research, I began by interviewing subject matter experts (SME) to gain insights into how users create direct mail campaigns. This also allowed me to identify key stakeholders involved in the direct mail project creation process and better understand their roles and needs.

After mapping the user journey, I conducted interviews with target users to dive deeper into the specific challenges they face. This also helped me identify potential solutions that users were already considering to address these issues.

As I analyzed users' needs and pain points, I also conducted competitive product research to understand how existing software solutions are addressing these challenges. This research allowed me to pinpoint areas where EverTrue (Pledgemine) could offer improvements.

The direct mail market is typically divided into two segments: companies like JHL Digital Direct, which specialize in delivering high-quality direct mail and printing services, and those that focus on robust software capabilities, such as Postalytics and Lob.

Following the research phase, I shared the insights with the product team in a collaborative session with the project manager and engineers. We started with a "How Might We" session, followed by Feature Conceptualization, and ultimately concluded with Opportunity Mapping to define the most promising solutions.

In the first round of usability testing, most users successfully completed the tasks, but the average Single Ease Question (SEQ) score was 4.9, indicating that while the process was functional, there was room for improvement.

During the usability testing, participants noted that while the redesigned project table includes a sorting feature, they were still looking for a quicker way to locate projects.

The long project form still makes users feel anxious, as completing the entire form at once remains tedious and overwhelming. I reorganized the information architecture of the project form. The improved structure simplifies the process, reducing the time and effort required to fill out the form.

Investigating the potential use of AI to enhance the mail creation processes. AI could be utilized for automating repetitive tasks and providing intelligent recommendations, thereby improving efficiency.

The research revealed that admins currently have to manually enter customer mail information into a Google Sheet or Pledgemine admin site, a process that is both tedious and prone to human error.

In the user research phase, the admin users indicated that an ideal redesign would allow customers to design their own mail directly within the platform, rather than uploading materials and relying on Pledgemine to handle the design.