An important part of introducing a product is to assure users feel supported and excited to use the product. I like to make sure users understand the story of the product and how they fit into it (is the product something that helps them achieve their goals, or do they become part of a larger movement by using the product?). Guiding a user through the experience they have with a product is a great way to develop trust and build brand loyalty.
Read on for an example of how I guided the user’s experience for WORD Workouts.
———
BACKGROUND
In 2021, NaliniKIDS launched a new curriculum resource for educators called WORD Workouts. We worked hard to create a ‘no training necessary’ user experience on the site so teachers could quickly figure out how to use the lesson plans and jump right in.
But knowing that teachers were getting inundated with free resources during this time period, I thought it would be important to offer more customer service. I also wanted to solve for the challenge that our brand was unfamiliar to most teachers.
THE IDEA
I devised a two-part strategy to help guide the user’s experience: 1) an opt-in newsletter series that would provide onboarding, as well as serve as a trigger to remind teachers to use the resource, and 2) on-site chat box that would provide customer service and allow us to capture data to help us continuously improve the overall experience.
WHAT I DID
The Newsletter
- Used MailChimp to created a 15-email newsletter series that alternated between how-tos, tips for community engagement, and community spotlights so teachers could see the lessons in action. This helped us onboard teachers and keep WORD Workouts top of mind. These types of content were chosen to help answer questions users may have about how to use WORD Workouts. I collaborated with a graphic designer to make the content that I wrote eye-catching and easy-to-read on any device.
- Set up the automated series to send emails weekly at first, then biweekly to respect the inboxes of our users. It was important to create an automated system that would share the same content with everyone who signed up regardless of when they signed up. That way, whether a teacher discovered us at the beginning of the school year or the middle, they would benefit from the insights we shared.
- Designed a simple sign up for for the newsletter (see above) that helped us learn a little about our users. This allowed me to better understand our engagement data, as well as segment the audience so I could tailor future content to serve specific users (ex: middle school counselors).
The Chat Box
- I used Intercom to create a customer service chat box for visitors to utilize when they had questions on the site. I also manned the chat box, which gave me the opportunity to interact with users — a great form of research!
- Designed a series of push notifications/chats that appeared every third time a user returned to the site. These chats allowed us to provide tips/insights to users or prompted them to answer a survey question. Both of these types of interactions gave us more data on our users that helped us iterate on their experience on the site and with the product.
