Growth content & design

A product approach to a product design newsletter

A product approach to a product design newsletter

Case Study Club Newsletter

→ Weekly newsletter editor

Result

10.7% ↑

readership

7.3% ↑

engagement

8.2% ↑

open rate

Webflow

Sponsorship

About

In 2023, I was invited by Jan Haaland, the founder of Case Study Club to write a weekly newsletter to support the growth of over 28,000 designer readers.

Goal

My Role

Since the newsletter was designed as a marketing tool, our primary objectives were to expand our readership base and maintain steady, consistent publication.

Leveraging my dual expertise as a product designer and former social media content strategist, I introduced two additional goals to enhance our strategy:

1. To produce high-quality, relevant content that resonates with our audience.
2. To boost the reader engagement rate, fostering a more interactive and loyal readership.

Put readers in the center

User Survey Result

56

responses

55.88%

completion rate

After a month of writing the newsletter, my first step was to deepen my understanding of our audience. To achieve this, I conducted a user survey to discover who our readers are, their reasons for subscribing, and the value they seek from the newsletter.

The initial attempt to gather insights was modest: the survey, included in the newsletter's final part, garnered only 3 responses. Recognizing the need for a more direct approach, I sent a separate email focusing on the survey. This strategy proved effective, resulting in 56 responses and a substantial completion rate of 55.88%.

After a month of writing the newsletter, my first step was to deepen my understanding of our audience. To achieve this, I conducted a user survey to discover who our readers are, their reasons for subscribing, and the value they seek from the newsletter.

The initial attempt to gather insights was modest: the survey, included in the newsletter's final part, garnered only 3 responses. Recognizing the need for a more direct approach, I sent a separate email focusing on the survey. This strategy proved effective, resulting in 56 responses and a substantial completion rate of 55.88%.

After a month of writing the newsletter, my first step was to deepen my understanding of our audience. To achieve this, I conducted a user survey to discover who our readers are, their reasons for subscribing, and the value they seek from the newsletter.

The initial attempt to gather insights was modest: the survey, included in the newsletter's final part, garnered only 3 responses. Recognizing the need for a more direct approach, I sent a separate email focusing on the survey. This strategy proved effective, resulting in 56 responses and a substantial completion rate of 55.88%.

Balancing between business and readers

The survey distilled a lot of valuable information by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative questions. It enabled me to understand better our readers' career stages, needs, and motivations, including why they appreciate the newsletter and areas for improvement.

After sharing various findings and recommendations with the team and aligning them with diverse business needs, I decided to concentrate on immediate actions within my control. This meant creating original content showcasing my unique insights and expertise and aligning with our readers' interests.

The survey distilled a lot of valuable information by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative questions. It enabled me to understand better our readers' career stages, needs, and motivations, including why they appreciate the newsletter and areas for improvement.

According to the survey, the top pain point was the visual design, which was unsurprising considering that most of our readers are designers. However, since the team planned to undergo a complete rebranding, we have decided to deprioritize the visual redesign for now.

The survey distilled a lot of valuable information by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative questions. It enabled me to understand better our readers' career stages, needs, and motivations, including why they appreciate the newsletter and areas for improvement.

According to the survey, the top pain point was the visual design, which was unsurprising considering that most of our readers are designers. However, since the team planned to undergo a complete rebranding, we have decided to deprioritize the visual redesign for now.

Balancing between familiar and new

Given that the CSC newsletter already had an 80% consistent structure, I made minor iterations to enhance its consistency further.

In terms of content, I aimed to infuse a sense of freshness, trendiness, and diversity, ensuring that our readers remain engaged and curious.

Despite this variety, every section is thoughtfully linked to a central theme, making each newsletter a coherent, standalone 'mini-product' in its own right.

Given that the CSC newsletter already had an 80% consistent structure, I made minor iterations to enhance its consistency further.

In terms of content, I aimed to infuse a sense of freshness, trendiness, and diversity, ensuring that our readers remain engaged and curious.

I also experimented with varying the newsletter's theme to cater to different segments of our audience, who were at various stages in their design careers.

Given that the CSC newsletter already had an 80% consistent structure, I made minor iterations to enhance its consistency further.

In terms of content, I aimed to infuse a sense of freshness, trendiness, and diversity, ensuring that our readers remain engaged and curious.

Despite this variety, every section is thoughtfully linked to a central theme, making each newsletter a coherent, standalone 'mini-product' in its own right.

In terms of content, I aimed to infuse a sense of freshness, trendiness, and diversity, ensuring that our readers remain engaged and curious.

I also experimented with varying the newsletter's theme to cater to different segments of our audience, who were at various stages in their design careers.

Despite this variety, every section is thoughtfully linked to a central theme, making each newsletter a coherent, standalone 'mini-product' in its own right.

Given that the CSC newsletter already had an 80% consistent structure, I made minor iterations to enhance its consistency further.

In terms of content, I aimed to infuse a sense of freshness, trendiness, and diversity, ensuring that our readers remain engaged and curious.

Despite this variety, every section is thoughtfully linked to a central theme, making each newsletter a coherent, standalone 'mini-product' in its own right.

💡What I learned

Creating a one-size-fits-all newsletter was challenging, but I've discovered that authenticity was key. When I wrote from the heart, sharing my struggles and reflections as a product designer, it deeply resonated with our readers.

Balancing between length and depth

The user survey revealed that 49.1% of our readers typically read each newsletter for 1-5 minutes. Given this limited engagement time, how might we maximize the value of our content?

The key lay in leveraging the editor's unique insights and discerning taste. It's possible to strike an optimal balance between brevity and depth by offering inspiring viewpoints, carefully choosing relevant case studies, and recommending high-value further reading.

This approach ensured that even brief interactions with our newsletter were enriching and thought-provoking for our readers.

The user survey revealed that 49.1% of our readers typically read each newsletter for 1-5 minutes. Given this limited engagement time, how might we maximize the value of our content?

The key lay in leveraging the editor's unique insights and discerning taste. It's possible to strike an optimal balance between brevity and depth by offering inspiring viewpoints, carefully choosing relevant case studies, and recommending high-value further reading.

This approach ensured that even brief interactions with our newsletter were enriching and thought-provoking for our readers.

The user survey revealed that 49.1% of our readers typically read each newsletter for 1-5 minutes. Given this limited engagement time, how might we maximize the value of our content?

The key lay in leveraging the editor's unique insights and discerning taste. It's possible to strike an optimal balance between brevity and depth by offering inspiring viewpoints, carefully choosing relevant case studies, and recommending high-value further reading.

This approach ensured that even brief interactions with our newsletter were enriching and thought-provoking for our readers.

The happiest moment on creating a “product”

Over six months of writing the weekly newsletter, I successfully expanded our readership from 28,000 to more than 31,000, increased engagement by 7.3%, and boosted the open rate by 8.2%.

The highlight for me was receiving heartfelt messages from readers who appreciated the effort put into each edition.

194

One more thing

During this period, the newsletter also received multiple sponsorships from Webflow. 🎉

Final thoughts

Product thinking is a versatile approach that can be applied to virtually any project, allowing most things to be viewed through a product-oriented lens. Similarly, the key to excellence in writing lies in originality, thoughtfulness, and sincerity. When writers invest their heart and soul into their work, it resonates unmistakably with the audience.

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