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Email Design System

Building a modular email component library that gave non-technical marketing teams full campaign autonomy while improving quality, consistency, and performance.

60% Faster production
30% Fewer errors
53.2% Email open rate

The Problem

Non-technical marketing staff were fully dependent on developers to build every email campaign from scratch. Each request created bottlenecks, introduced inconsistencies in brand execution, and resulted in a high error rate across deployed emails. There was no shared system, no reusable components, and no way for marketing to move at the speed the business needed.

Before state workflow diagram showing four sequential steps: email duplicated from a previously sent email, copy and paste content into a main body section, move HTML to CRM and send a QA test to self, then revisions made directly in the CRM. The process is linear with no structured templates, no branded modules, and no peer review step.
Before: a manual, error-prone process with no templates, no structured modules, and revisions made directly in the CRM.

The Approach

I audited the existing email production process end-to-end, mapping every touchpoint where requests stalled, errors were introduced, or brand standards were compromised. From there I designed a modular component library built around reusable content blocks — headers, hero images, body text, CTAs, footers — each with built-in brand and accessibility standards baked in.

  • Audited existing production workflow and identified key failure points
  • Designed modular HTML email component library with accessibility built in
  • Built reusable templates covering the most common campaign types
  • Trained non-technical marketing staff on self-sufficient assembly
  • Established quality standards and a lightweight review process
After state workflow diagram showing a more structured process: email duplicated from a template with standard header and footer modules, choose from a library of prebuilt branded modules based on formatting need, copy and paste content to modules, then a central revisions step branching to another person performing QA for grammar, spelling, accessibility, and format, and moving HTML to CRM and sending a final test.
After: a modular, template-driven workflow with branded components, peer QA review, and a structured approval process before CRM deployment.

The Outcome

Marketing teams gained full campaign autonomy. Production time dropped by 60%, errors decreased by 30%, and email open rates reached 53.2% — a direct result of improved content quality and consistent design standards applied at scale across every campaign.

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