In collaboration with Marketing I redesign Color Lines newsletter that delivered value by prioritizing accessibility, personalization, and seamless usability across devices

When redesigning Color Line’s newsletter, our goal was to address its critical shortcomings and create a solution that was user-focused, on-brand, and engaging. By leveraging insights from previous projects and conducting targeted research, we systematically tackled each challenge and delivered a highly functional and aesthetically pleasing newsletter.

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Challanges 🤔

The existing newsletter struggled with unclear subject lines, lack of mobile responsiveness, weak or absent calls-to-action, irrelevant content, and slow loading times due to heavy imagery. It also lacked a compelling value proposition and suffered from insufficient testing and minimal tracking, making optimization difficult.

The solution 🚀

We tackled the challenges by creating a user-centered, responsive newsletter that reflected Color Line’s branding while delivering value. By leveraging insights from interviews and mapping user needs, we designed modular templates and optimized usability across devices. Personalized headers and an accessible footer reinforced trust and engagement. Continuous testing ensured the newsletter met audience expectations.

Skills used

Understanding our users

We began by defining who we were designing for. Drawing on insights from the previous redesign of the booking experience, we already had a strong understanding of Color Line’s audience. The primary users were aged 50 and older, but younger groups in their 30s and 40s, as well as a smaller segment under 30, were also important.

To deepen our knowledge, we conducted interview rounds with users from each group to understand what they found engaging and relevant. By mapping their needs and wants, we discovered significant overlaps across demographics, allowing us to design a newsletter strategy that resonated with all segments.

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Aligning with branding and design standards

With a clear understanding of our audience, we turned to design. Color Line’s digital products already had an established look and feel, which we extended to the newsletter. Bright, custom photography showcased the brand’s vibrancy, while a color palette of dark blue, light grey, and white ensured consistency.

Next, we defined the structure of the newsletter to accommodate various content types. We created modular templates, such as cards, full-width sections, and three-column layouts, making it flexible enough to present a diverse range of products without sacrificing clarity or cohesion.

I had the pleasure of working with Sindre during my time as a Communications Specialist at Color Line, where I was responsible for 1-1 communication strategies. Together, we took the challenge of redesigning the company's newsletter from scratch, a project aimed at increasing user engagement and driving more sales.

Sindre brought exceptional skills in understanding and translating user needs and data analysis to design. His understanding of the data were instrumental in identifying why the existing newsletter wasn't performing as expected and mapping out a clear, user-centered strategy for improvement. The innovative approach and collaborative spirit made the redesign process not only productive but also enjoyable.

Thanks to Sindre’s contributions, we successfully launched a revamped newsletter that resonated with our audience, leading to improved click-through rates and better alignment with our sales objectives. I highly recommend Sindre for his ability to combine creativity with results-driven thinking.

Wenche Stefansson

Group Leader Loyalty and Insight @ Red Cross

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Engaging trough subject lines and preview text

The journey begins in the inbox. To capture attention, I crafted short, action-oriented subject lines designed to pique curiosity. Preview text provided a clear teaser of the newsletter’s content, encouraging recipients to open the email.

Additionally, we implemented a frequently asked question, the users member number and the amount of bonus points further enhancing the user experience. This also helped the pressure on the phone lines.

Creating thoughtful headers and footers

Personalization was a key focus. We designed headers that adapted based on the user type—customers, anonymous users, or Color Club members—providing a tailored experience. These headers were well-received, enhancing engagement and user satisfaction.

The footer, previously limited to a copyright notice and a difficult-to-find unsubscribe link, was overhauled. Based on user feedback that searching for the unsubscribe button was frustrating, we introduced a large, clearly visible unsubscribe button at the top of the footer. This transparency was highly appreciated and did not result in a drop in subscriptions.