New Challenges for Transactional Email A few new problems have risen with the changing landscape of transactional email. While there is less “spam” in the traditional sense, users today are overburdened with email. They’re quick to call an email message “spam” if it feels irrelevant, too frequent, or otherwise annoying. This behavior is a major consequence of a pushy, salesy approach to transactional email. Additionally, users are quick to report email as spam through their email client if there [...]
[more]
nngroup.com 
Automation, Study
In the world of design-optimization methods, A/B testing gets all the attention. Multivariate testing is its less understood alternative, often deemed too time-consuming to be worth the wait. While this method has its limitations, they are counterbalanced by its benefits, which cannot be easily achieved using A/B testing alone. [...]
[more]
nngroup.com
Test
Changes in Newsletter Usability over Time. Fewer formal subscriptions - Newsletter-subscription processes of the past were often very involved — perhaps because inboxes and newsletters were quite different in many ways. People had to deal with email-management issues, spam, and slow internet speeds, so subscribing to a newsletter used to be a substantial commitment and reflected a deliberate choice to create a dedicated relationship with organizations. Subscription forms were often lengthy and the [...]
[more]
nngroup.com
Design, Study, Trend
A problematic trend is spreading like an epidemic on the web. In a desperate attempt to nudge users towards conversions like newsletter signups some websites are adding manipulative link text to their popup modals. These user-shaming labels are called manipulinks (a clever term coined by Steve Costello): they employ the practice of what is often referred to as confirmshaming — making users feel bad for opting out of an offer (logically, this practice might better be described as declineshaming). [...]
[more]
nngroup.com
Listbuilding
Email newsletters, marketing campaigns, and email blasts live or die in the crowded inbox, with survival determined mainly by users’ scanning and assessment of sender information and subject lines. Satisfied users are those that are confident about their decision to open an email or bypass it. Clear, recognizable sender information and a well-written, descriptive subject line give users the information that they need to make an informed decision. [...]
[more]
nngroup.com
Subjectline
When looking at the form, you may hesistate for a second, because it's not immediately obvious what information to enter in each field. From our research studies, we've learned that even the slightest moment of hesitation when completing a form can significantly hurt the form’s response rate (that is, the number of people who complete the form). Forms are just a means to an end. Users should be able to complete forms quickly and without confusion. The following two tips show how using white space [...]
[more]
nngroup.com
Listbuilding
Summary of report with 149 design guidelines for improving the usability of newsletter content, and subscription interfaces based on user research.
[more]
nngroup.com
Unsubscribe, Listbuilding, Frequency, Marketing, Mobile, Social, Spam, Study, Video, Recommendation
EPiCβ - Rene's daily Email PiCks
