AI Content generator

An easy-to-use tool that helps small business owners create relevant content in seconds.

company
Constant Contact
Year
2023

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In Janurary of 2023, I was tasked with designing the beta for Constant Contact's first AI tool. This was right at the beginning of the AI tornado. I was pretty excited to see how we could leverage AI to help our customers work faster. Afterall, our goal is to save them time so they can focus on what matters most: running their business.

PROBLEM

Most customers are not professional writers and/or don't have time to create content for their digital marketing.

SOLUTION

Give them an easy-to-use tool that helps them create relevant content in seconds.

KPIs/Goals

-Increase MIR (make-it rate) to the email editor
-Help users spend less time in the email editor

MY ROLE

  • UX design
  • UX content

TIMELINE

  • Overall: 8 weeks
  • Discovery & Research: 2 weeks
  • Design & testing: 6 weeks

USER JOURNEY

Below you'll see the simplified journey of an average Constant Contact customer. The main goal of this product was the help quicken the time between step 2 and 3.

Design & content goals

  • Keep it simple
  • Make it inviting and approachable
  • Ensure content is clear and concise
  1. LOG IN
  2. CREATE AN EMAIL
  3. SEND/SCHEDULE EMAIL
  4. MONITOR REPORTING

UI DESIGN

Due to the fast climate of AI, we had limited time to test before launch. Iterations have been made since launch of the beta.

  • Visual style: Fresh, reliable, simple
  • Guidelines: Internal design system
  • Platforms and devices: Desktop, mobile

DECISIONS BEHIND BETA DESIGN

BETA TESTING FEEDBACK

  • 10 participants
  • Many participants expressed initial skepticism of AI tools, but once they tried it, they found it worked better than expected.
  • Participants are unsure how to leverage AI, but want to have it in their current marketing workflow - for instance having AI help them quickly and easily create emails with text and images that match their tone & brand, that informs and engages their readers, that drive results, and follow marketing best practices.
  • Recommendations include a phased approach to delivering AI in CTCT: expose all customers to the AI Content Generator beta to drive AI tool adoption.

BETA REVISIONS

Note: component styles have been updated since this screen was created.

PROJECT IMPACT

70% MIR (make-it rate) to email editor (our flagship feature!). This was a huge win because it meant the new entry point was working and was providing users with relevant content.

FUTURE IDEAS

Since AI capabilities continue to grow, I envision the tool becoming an AI marketing assistant that is a central place for creating content. Users can generate text or actual marketing content like emails, social posts, texts, and more. Once they select their campaigns, they can edit all of them from within the same editor. This streamlines their workflow and eliminates current struggles users have with learning slightly different editor patterns. After editing, they can also schedule their campaigns from a centralized place.

View prototype