Revitalizing Mailchimp’s Transactional Email Feature:
A Strategic Sunrise Approach

PPG’s MITS NextGen initiative sought to revolutionize its outdated, two-decade-old system, which had become inefficient and disjointed due to incremental updates without a cohesive vision. By conducting in-depth discovery, crafting a strategic North Star vision, and leading the design and implementation of a refined user experience, we delivered a platform that streamlined operations, reduced complexity, and positioned PPG as an industry leader. This transformation not only addressed immediate inefficiencies but also laid the groundwork for long-term innovation and scalability across their organization.

CLIENT

Key Contributions


Customer Journey Mapping | Service Blueprint and Mythologies | Discovery Research | Cross-Functional Alignment | Organizational Enablement | Strategic Consulting | Voice of Customer Integration | Future-State Recommendations

Discovery Phase: Uncovering Insights

Overview:
The discovery phase involved a deep dive into stakeholder visions, competitor benchmarking, and user insights. We sought to fully understand the product's role within the Mailchimp ecosystem and its impact on different customer segments.

Problem:
The product lacked differentiation in the market and was poorly integrated into Mailchimp’s broader platform, creating a disjointed experience for users.

Activities:

  • Conducted stakeholder interviews to identify risks, gaps, and strategic priorities.

  • Performed a competitor analysis to benchmark features and market positioning.

  • Evaluated the product’s current state to identify areas of friction and improvement.

  • Developed customer personas and journey maps to understand how and when users engaged with the feature, as well as their pain points and opportunities.

Goals:

  • Define the product’s unique value proposition within the competitive landscape.

  • Identify opportunities to align the feature with Mailchimp’s core user base and brand values.

Solutions:
This phase provided actionable insights that formed the foundation for a strategic vision and roadmap, balancing the needs of current users and future audiences.

My Role:
Led workshops, synthesized stakeholder input, and developed journey maps and personas to uncover key pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Ideation Phase: Defining the Vision

Overview:
Using insights from discovery, we crafted a vision for modernizing the transactional email feature. This included conceptualizing ways to integrate the feature into Mailchimp’s platform more seamlessly and create a value-add for customers that aligned with the company’s mission.

Problem:
The feature’s technical requirements and limited functionality restricted its accessibility and impact, making it an outlier within Mailchimp’s self-service ecosystem.

Activities:

  • Created a future-state vision for the feature, focusing on ease of use and integration.

  • Developed a roadmap outlining both short-term enhancements and long-term innovations.

  • Identified opportunities for Mailchimp to add value through automation and improved workflows.

Goals:

  • Provide a clear direction for integrating the feature into Mailchimp’s platform.

  • Create a roadmap that balances quick wins with transformative updates.

Solutions:
The vision outlined a streamlined, user-friendly experience that empowered small business owners to leverage the feature without requiring technical expertise, positioning Mailchimp as a market leader in accessible marketing tools.

My Role:
Collaborated with stakeholders to define the vision, ensuring alignment with both user needs and business goals.

Design Phase: Mapping the Optimal Experience

Overview:
The design phase focused on creating user journeys that illustrated the optimal experience for leveraging the transactional email feature. These journeys highlighted how the feature could be seamlessly integrated into Mailchimp’s platform to meet user needs and align with the company’s mission.

Problem:
The feature’s current workflows were cumbersome and disconnected, making it challenging for users to achieve their goals efficiently.

Activities:

  • Mapped user journeys to visualize the optimal paths for different customer personas.

  • Highlighted key touchpoints, moments of friction, and opportunities for improvement.

  • Facilitated stakeholder feedback sessions to refine and align on the proposed user flows.

Solutions:
The user journey maps provided a clear vision of how the feature could support small business owners in a way that was intuitive, efficient, and aligned with Mailchimp’s core values, reducing complexity and increasing adoption.

My Role:
Led the creation and refinement of user journeys, ensuring they addressed user pain points while aligning with business objectives and stakeholder feedback.

Learn Phase: Building Momentum for Future Success

Overview:
The project concluded with the delivery of a clear vision, roadmap, and design concepts, equipping Mailchimp with the tools needed to advance the feature’s development and rollout.

Key Learnings:

  • A thorough discovery process was critical to uncovering gaps and opportunities.

  • Aligning the product with Mailchimp’s core values and mission was key to re-establishing its relevance.

  • Creating a clear, actionable roadmap ensured stakeholder alignment and future scalability.

Next Steps:

  • Use the roadmap to guide the product’s iterative development.

  • Gather user feedback to refine and optimize the feature post-launch.

My Role:
Provided strategic guidance, clear documentation, and actionable next steps to support the successful implementation and long-term growth of the product.

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