BioMedia.
Leveraging AI for efficient wildlife media management and analysis
Contextual Inquiry
Saas
An AI-powered web app designed for wildlife researchers to efficiently manage and analyze large volumes of images and videos with smart tagging and organization features.
Timeline
8 weeks
Deliverables
User journey map
Research report
Concept sketches
HiFi Prototype
User persona
Team
2 Executives (CEO/COO)
1 Project Manager
1 Developer/ AI Engineer
1 Product Designer (Me)
Context
W4M.ai wanted to launch a newsletter to establish thought leadership in AI.
The co-founders of W4M.ai, an AI and deep-tech startup wanted to start their own newsletter since a long time.
They had a domain name and some prospective subscribers through word of mouth, but there was no existing framework, audience insights, or technical setup.
AGI Newsletter
AGI Newsletter
Utilizing design thinking to launch AI newsletter.
Utilizing design thinking to launch AI newsletter.
Shipped
Strategy
Design System
Navigating time, budget and technological constraints, I designed and launched a scalable MVP for AGI Newsletter within two months.
Navigating time, budget and technological constraints, I designed and launched a scalable MVP for AGI Newsletter within two months.
Timeline
8 weeks
Deliverables
User journey map
Research report
Concept sketches
HiFi Prototype
User persona
Team
2 Executives (CEO/COO)
1 Project Manager
1 Developer/ AI Engineer
1 Product Designer (Me)
Timeline
8 weeks
Deliverables
User journey map
Research report
Concept sketches
HiFi Prototype
User persona
Team
2 Executives (CEO/COO)
1 Project Manager
1 Developer/ AI Engineer
1 Product Designer (Me)
Context
W4M.ai wanted to launch a newsletter to establish thought leadership in AI.
W4M.ai wanted to launch a newsletter to establish thought leadership in AI.
The co-founders of W4M.ai, an AI and deep-tech startup wanted to start their own newsletter since a long time.
🚧 They had a domain name and a few prospective subscribers from word of mouth but lacked a framework, audience insights, and technical setup.
AGI Newsletter- Top AI news under few mins
AGI Newsletter- Top AI news under few mins
AGI Newsletter- Top AI news under few mins
Saving 1000+ readers time.
Saving 1000+ readers time.
Saving 1000+ readers time.
Curated top AI news in a crisp format, designed for busy professionals. News you trust, delivered in under 5 minutes. Optimized for mobile and responsive across all devices.
Curated top AI news in a crisp format, designed for busy professionals. News you trust, delivered in under 5 minutes. Optimized for mobile and responsive across all devices.
Easy to read.
Easy to read.
Easy to read.
News is structured in digestible chunks with concise bullet points. Clear contrast between text and background ensures an enjoyable reading experience.
News is structured in digestible chunks with concise bullet points. Clear contrast between text and background ensures an enjoyable reading experience.
Easy to read.
Easy to read, top news in AI, you are shown ai news and breakthroughs from your favorite industries.
Creating a brand
Creating a brand
Creating a brand
We stand out.
We stand out.
We stand out.
Quirky yet informative tone keeps the newsletter engaging. Emojis in subject lines replace visuals, grabbing attention and adding a playful touch.
Quirky yet informative tone keeps the newsletter engaging. Emojis in subject lines replace visuals, grabbing attention and adding a playful touch.
Brand that reflects
Brand that reflects
Brand that reflects
Designed to embody the founders’ vision: modern, deep-tech focused, and forward-thinking. A futuristic color palette, bold typefaces, and witty design bring the brand to life.
Designed to embody the founders’ vision: modern, deep-tech focused, and forward-thinking. A futuristic color palette, bold typefaces, and witty design bring the brand to life.
Subscriber- stakeholder trade-off
Subscriber- stakeholder trade-off
Subscriber- stakeholder trade-off
Quick conversion
Quick conversion
Quick conversion
Subscribing is effortless—users pick up to three industries or skip entirely, ensuring a frictionless experience while gathering valuable user preferences.
Subscribing is effortless—users pick up to three industries or skip entirely, ensuring a frictionless experience while gathering valuable user preferences.
Subscribing is effortless—users pick up to three industries or skip entirely, ensuring a frictionless experience while gathering valuable user preferences.
Guiding subscribers, step by step
Guiding subscribers, step by step
Guiding subscribers, step by step
Clear instructions and confirmation emails minimize missed sign-ups. Tutorials help users move emails to primary folder, ensuring seamless onboarding.
Clear instructions and confirmation emails minimize missed sign-ups. Tutorials help users move emails to primary folder, ensuring seamless onboarding.
confirmation works only if the click on confirm cta, minimizing the possibility of loosing potential subscribers. Clear messaging to avoid confusion and ambiguity.
if it goes to spam we have tutorials and instructions to show how to move to primary in the email.
Building trust and credibility
Building trust and credibility
Building trust and credibility
Humanizing AI
Humanizing AI
Humanizing AI
Beyond AI curation, a human team adds expertise. Founders’ faces and credentials on display underline authenticity and trustworthiness.
Beyond AI curation, a human team adds expertise. Founders’ faces and credentials on display underline authenticity and trustworthiness.
Beyond AI curation, a human team adds expertise. Founders’ faces and credentials on display underline authenticity and trustworthiness.
Building trust
Building trust
Building trust
Links to original news sources and end-of-edition feedback invites subscribers to share opinions, showing genuine care and commitment to improvement.
Links to original news sources and end-of-edition feedback invites subscribers to share opinions, showing genuine care and commitment to improvement.
Links to original news sources and end-of-edition feedback invites subscribers to share opinions, showing genuine care and commitment to improvement.
Highlights
Highlights
Launching a scalable AI newsletter required creative solutions and quick decision-making.
Launching a scalable AI newsletter required creative solutions and quick decision-making.
Launching a scalable AI newsletter required creative solutions and quick decision-making.
Prioritizing features amid time and budget constraints.
Prioritizing features amid time and budget constraints.
Prioritizing features amid time and budget constraints.
Highlight 1
Prioritizing features amid time and budget constraints.
Roadblock 1
Saturated AI Newsletter market.
The market is full of AI and tech newsletters, many with large audiences. Competitor analysis of 25 AI and tech newsletters helped identify a niche: personalized, paywall-free AI news tailored to user preferences.
Roadblock 2
Budget restrictions on premium tools.
Next Steps
How do we stand out?
Logos of top AI & Tech newsletters
Highlight 1
Prioritizing features amid time and budget constraints.
Roadblock 1
Saturated AI Newsletter market.
The market is full of AI and tech newsletters, many with large audiences. Competitor analysis of 25 AI and tech newsletters helped identify a niche: personalized, paywall-free AI news tailored to user preferences.
Roadblock 2
Budget restrictions on premium tools.
We couldn’t rely on premium tools like Beehiiv or Mailchimp to create and manage newsletters. This required designing both the email templates and the accompanying website from scratch while maintaining a professional look and feel.
Next Steps
How do we stand out?
Eye-catching subject lines with emojis.
A quirky, witty tone to engage readers.
Futuristic branding with bold colors and typography.
Tailored news preferences for a personalized touch.
Highlight 1
Prioritizing features amid time and budget constraints.
Roadblock 1
Saturated AI Newsletter market.
The market is full of AI and tech newsletters, many with large audiences. Competitor analysis of 25 AI and tech newsletters helped identify a niche: personalized, paywall-free AI news tailored to user preferences.
Roadblock 2
Budget restrictions on premium tools.
Next Steps
How do we stand out?
Logos of top AI & Tech newsletters
" The developed email templates look nothing like the designs I made in Figma! "
- Me panicking
- Me panicking
Highlight 2
Testing reveals technical limitations of emails
Roadblock 3
Limited or no CSS and Javascript support for visuals
The feedback rating interaction I designed in Figma was too complex to implement due to limited support for CSS and Javascript in emails, risking inconsistencies and spam issues.
Roadblock 4
Our main typeface: Oxanium didn’t render in test email
Next Steps
Simple design that translates to clean code
Simplifying feedback design
Highlight 3
How to not lose subscribers while onboarding?
Roadblock 5
Newsletters face high drop-off rates, during the onboarding process.
Asking subscribers for their industry preferences added an extra step to the onboarding process. This complexity risked losing potential users, requiring a carefully designed and streamlined sign-up flow.
Roadblock 6
Preventing our newsletter from landing in spam.
Many users could abandon the subscription if confirmation emails ended up in spam folders. This posed a critical challenge to engaging and retaining early adopters.
Next Steps
Minimizing choice paralysis and giving more user freedom
Limited onboarding to asking for three industry preferences, with the option to skip this step.
Subscription is confirmed only when the user clicks the confirmation CTA in the onboarding email.
Instructions are provided to guide users on moving emails from spam to the primary.
Highlight 2
Testing reveals technical limitations of emails
Roadblock 3
Limited or no CSS and Javascript support for visuals
The feedback rating interaction I designed in Figma was too complex to implement due to limited support for CSS and Javascript in emails, risking inconsistencies and spam issues.
Roadblock 4
Our main typeface: Oxanium didn’t render in test email
Next Steps
Simple design that translates to clean code
Simplifying feedback design
" The template’s good to go, now let’s focus on the subscription process. "
- Developer
- Developer
Highlight 3
How to not lose subscribers while onboarding?
Roadblock 5
Newsletters face high drop-off rates, during the onboarding process.
Asking subscribers for their industry preferences added an extra step to the onboarding process. This complexity risked losing potential users, requiring a carefully designed and streamlined sign-up flow.
Roadblock 6
Our newsletter can end up landing in spam.
Next Steps
Minimizing choice paralysis and giving more user freedom
Subscription process user flow diagram
Highlight 2
Testing reveals technical limitations of emails
Roadblock 3
Limited or no CSS and Javascript support for visuals
The feedback rating interaction I designed in Figma was too complex to implement due to limited support for CSS and Javascript in emails, risking inconsistencies and spam issues.
Roadblock 4
Our main typeface: Oxanium didn’t render in test emails
We relied heavily on Oxanium typeface for section headers and standout text, but it defaulted to Arial in test email, impacting the brand’s consistency and visual appeal.
Next Steps
Simple design that translates to clean code
Using “Inter” our secondary typeface and also a web safe font to ensure compatibility across email clients.
Established a clear hierarchy with color and font weights to guide the reader’s eye.
Organized content in bullet points with high contrast between text and background for readability.
Used images sparingly, only to break up text, without adding informational value.
Highlight 3
How to not lose subscribers while onboarding?
Roadblock 5
Newsletters face high drop-off rates, during the onboarding process.
Asking subscribers for their industry preferences added an extra step to the onboarding process. This complexity risked losing potential users, requiring a carefully designed and streamlined sign-up flow.
Roadblock 6
Our newsletter can end up landing in spam.
Next Steps
Minimizing choice paralysis and giving more user freedom
Subscription process user flow diagram
Making an Impact
Making an Impact
Before leaving, I prioritized ensuring a smooth handoff and setting the foundation for future growth. As the solo designer, I took the following steps to pave the way for continued development.
Before leaving, I prioritized ensuring a smooth handoff and setting the foundation for future growth. As the solo designer, I took the following steps to pave the way for continued development.
Crafted a product roadmap outlined strategic milestones to guide the team in scaling the newsletter and improving the user experience.
Crafted a product roadmap outlined strategic milestones to guide the team in scaling the newsletter and improving the user experience.
Created templates and a cohesive design system for consistent and efficient future updates.
Created templates and a cohesive design system for consistent and efficient future updates.
Designed pages to accommodate expanding content, anticipating scenarios with more than six articles on the website.
Designed pages to accommodate expanding content, anticipating scenarios with more than six articles on the website.
Conducted user surveys and identified 15 new AI content sources for scraping, including LinkedIn influencers, key news outlets, and YouTube channels.
Conducted user surveys and identified 15 new AI content sources for scraping, including LinkedIn influencers, key news outlets, and YouTube channels.
Set up analytics dashboard in Mailjet to monitor key metrics, ensuring data-driven decision-making moving forward.
Set up analytics dashboard in Mailjet to monitor key metrics, ensuring data-driven decision-making moving forward.
My Learnings
My Learnings
My Learnings
Understand technical limitations early
Understand technical limitations early
Understand technical limitations early
Diving into the technical limitations upfront ensures designs are not only visually appealing but also feasible to develop and render accurately.
Diving into the technical limitations upfront ensures designs are not only visually appealing but also feasible to develop and render accurately.
Leverage competitor research when there's time crunch.
Leverage competitor research when there's time crunch.
Leverage competitor research when there's time crunch.
When time or even budget is tight, analyzing competitors can reveal market gaps and user expectations, providing valuable insights without needing extensive surveys or interviews.
When time or even budget is tight, analyzing competitors can reveal market gaps and user expectations, providing valuable insights without needing extensive surveys or interviews.
When time or even budget is tight, analyzing competitors can reveal market gaps and user expectations, providing valuable insights without needing extensive surveys or interviews.
