Titan’s Email Designer
Why Email Designer
Users wanted branding control
Plain emails didn’t cut it. They needed logos, layouts, and colour flexibility
Existing tools were overwhelming
Too many knobs, too much clutter. Most users felt lost in tools like Stripo or Klaviyo
LLMs fell short
Decent drafts, but chaotic edits buried in chat. No real design control
No end-to-end integration
Build in one tool, send from another. Copy-paste chaos. No seamless workflow
My Role
Created Labs survey questions and analysed user feedback across all channels
Did competitor research to benchmark gaps and complexity in existing tools
Designed the IA for how Email Designer fits into Titan’s existing email flow
Crafted end-to-end interaction design for the editor and template gallery
Defined personas & job stories, then designed templates to match real user needs
Business Impact
(first 20 days of launch)
100+
Upgrades to Titan’s Highest Plan. Biggest monetisation spike Titan has ever seen
40%
Users returned within 3 days of first use. A strong sign of early stickiness and value recognition
70%
Users sent their first “designed email” in one go. Smooth adoption, zero confusion
3000+
Blocks added or edited. Power users engaged deeply with the Email Designer
Voice of the Users
“We should have a few nice email templates to pick from. Or let me create a good-looking email myself”
“I want the email to have my brand’s logo and some design. Currently I can only send plain emails.”
“It would be great if I could customise the email with my brand colors, buttons, and add my product images.”
These weren’t isolated cases. This was a pattern. Users wanted more than plain emails. They wanted beautiful, branded, plug-and-play templates. But qualitative feedback wasn’t enough. We needed strong validation.
TITAN's Labs Experiment: Validating the Hypotheses
To validate user needs, Titan's Product Team often runs a Labs Experiment, a structured survey to get the Pulse of both interested and non-interested users in an offering. My role here was to frame the questions based on the user feedback I already had.
A few questions…
What kind of emails do you send most often?
What elements do you usually customise in your emails?
What’s your biggest struggle while designing emails?
Survey Insights
Email Types Sent Often
47% send welcome emails regularly
40% send promotional emails
Personalisation Preferences
56% personalise using branding elements (logos, colours, etc)
50% focus on content customisation (CTAs, headers, images)
More Research
To dig deeper, I segmented users into two cohorts:
Users interested in Titan Email Designer
Users using other email design tools
My PM and I visited several websites of our users in Cohort 1 to understand the types of emails they currently send when someone subscribes or fills out a form in their website.
Our observations revealed the following:
Predominantly, our users sent welcome emails containing product information.
The formats varied from plain text emails to well-designed emails.
Some users did not send any emails post-subscription or form submission, highlighting a potential area for improvement.
For users in Cohort 2, I examined the emails they send using alternative email designers. Similar to Cohort 1, these users primarily sent welcome emails with product information.
Pain Points with Existing Builders
A snippet from my detailed competitor analysis
“Too many options… I end up spending hours tweaking padding and fonts.”
“It feels like designing a landing page, not an email.”
“I just want to send something that looks good — fast. Not fiddle with pixels.”
“I’m not a designer. I just want to get things done.”
These comments reinforced the same truth!
Titan's users did not want unlimited design freedom, they wanted design sanity. Simplicity, speed, and brand alignment without decision fatigue.
Key Takeaways from Research
Users need a simple, no-fuss tool to create branded welcome and promotional emails, fast. They want to plug in their logos, images, social links, and product promos and not deal with margins, pixels, or complex layout logic.
The Solution
I set out to build an editor that does one thing really well:
Let users build beautiful emails using pre-designed blocks, while still making the email feel like their own.
Inspiration & Exploration
I looked through emails sent by users from both cohorts and studied layouts, CTAs, headers, and visual treatments. Combined with visual research from Dribbble, ReallyGoodEmails, and our own inboxes, we created a moodboard of patterns.
From there, I curated a list of essential blocks
Header block (Logo, links)
Intro block (Hero images with CTAs)
Content block (Paragraphs, images)
Products/Services block (Product/Service showcase)
Testimonials block
Social links block
Offer block (Coupon, Discount banners)
Footer block and more✨
The goal? Reduce decision-making. Empower users to focus on content, not design.
Personas & Job Stories
I distilled our research into focused personas and mapped their job stories. Then, I superimposed those needs onto the blocks I had designed.
I ran this exercise across all personas and their jobs-stories. Blocks that didn’t fit were refined or removed.
If something felt missing, I didn’t create a new block for every job. Instead, I designed flexible layout blocks that could serve multiple needs without overcomplicating the system.
Below is an example.
Cynthia
Founder, Sleep & Craddle
Small business owner(Health and Wellness services)
Helps new parents and their babies sleep well from inception
Provide classes for new parents to take care of their babies
Has a paid subscription service for $100 per month providing access to premium content
When a new parent subscribes to Sleep & Craddle
I want to to send a discount offer email highlighting premium services
So that I can I can drive conversions and long-term engagement
Job Story <> Block Mapping
Intro or Offer Block
Purpose: Capture attention with a discount and explain the benefits of the premium plan — motivating quick action
Services Block
Purpose: Showcase offerings like sleep consultations and parenting classes, directly addressing new parent needs
Content Block
Purpose: Build emotional resonance by positioning Sleep & Craddle as a trusted partner in their parenting journey
Social Links + Footer Block
Purpose: Maintain connection and trust by offering quick access to support, resources, and future communications
Highlights from the Final Design
Block-based, plug-and-play builder
Add, remove, rearrange, and swap layouts on the fly. Every block is designed for speed and flexibility
Quick content generation with AI and keyword based images
Generate and replace copy AI. Use keyword search to
find your images
Pre-made templates mapped to real jobs
Welcome emails, newsletters, promos, announcements, each template is tailored to a real-world job story, not just a use case
Integrated with Titan’s email flow
Insert your designed email right into the composer, hit send, and track opens. No export, no extra steps
Seamless IA tailored to real behaviour
Saved templates appear upfront for fast reuse. Switching purpose (Job-story)? The full gallery is just a click away
What’s Next? V2 Opportunities
Advanced Engagement Tracking
Currently, only email views are tracked. In V2, can enable click tracking for CTAs and links to better measure campaign performance
Personalisation with Variable Tags
Allow {variable} tags in copy fields, integrating with Titan Campaigns. One template → many personalised emails → sent via CSV upload
AI-Powered Template Generation
Users describe the email type and purpose (job story), and AI generates full templates using the block system
Remixes blocks based on tone, intent, and industry
Injects layout, color, and copy from user context
Offers multiple template options to pick from or fallback to manual selection via template gallery
Progressive Monetisation Strategy
Email Designer is currently limited to the ULTRA Plan (Titan’s highest tier). This restricts exposure to a wider user base
Offer limited access to Pro & Premium users (e.g., 5 emails/month, basic blocks)
Let users experience value, get gratification, and hit a cap
The cap creates a natural upgrade trigger, a value-first hook for monetisation
Titan’s Email Designer
Why Email Designer
Users wanted branding control
Plain emails didn’t cut it. They needed logos, layouts, and colour flexibility
Existing tools were overwhelming
Too many knobs, too much clutter. Most users felt lost in tools like Stripo or Klaviyo
LLMs fell short
Decent drafts, but chaotic edits buried in chat. No real design control
No end-to-end integration
Build in one tool, send from another. Copy-paste chaos. No seamless workflow
My Role
Created Labs survey questions and analysed user feedback across all channels
Did competitor research to benchmark gaps and complexity in existing tools
Designed the IA for how Email Designer fits into Titan’s existing email flow
Crafted end-to-end interaction design for the editor and template gallery
Defined personas & job stories, then designed templates to match real user needs
Business Impact
(first 20 days of launch)
100+
Upgrades to Titan’s Highest Plan. Biggest monetisation spike Titan has ever seen
40%
Users returned within 3 days of first use. A strong sign of early stickiness and value recognition
70%
Users sent their first “designed email” in one go. Smooth adoption, zero confusion
3000+
Blocks added or edited. Power users engaged deeply with the Email Designer
Voice of the Users
“We should have a few nice email templates to pick from. Or let me create a good-looking email myself”
“I want the email to have my brand’s logo and some design. Currently I can only send plain emails.”
“It would be great if I could customise the email with my brand colors, buttons, and add my product images.”
These weren’t isolated cases. This was a pattern. Users wanted more than plain emails. They wanted beautiful, branded, plug-and-play templates. But qualitative feedback wasn’t enough. We needed strong validation.
TITAN's Labs Experiment: Validating the Hypotheses
To validate user needs, Titan's Product Team often runs a Labs Experiment, a structured survey to get the Pulse of both interested and non-interested users in an offering. My role here was to frame the questions based on the user feedback I already had.
A few questions…
What kind of emails do you send most often?
What elements do you usually customise in your emails?
What’s your biggest struggle while designing emails?
Survey Insights
Email Types Sent Often
47% send welcome emails regularly
40% send promotional emails
Personalisation Preferences
56% personalise using branding elements (logos, colours, etc)
50% focus on content customisation (CTAs, headers, images)
More Research
To dig deeper, I segmented users into two cohorts:
Users interested in Titan Email Designer
Users using other email design tools
My PM and I visited several websites of our users in Cohort 1 to understand the types of emails they currently send when someone subscribes or fills out a form in their website.
Our observations revealed the following:
Predominantly, our users sent welcome emails containing product information.
The formats varied from plain text emails to well-designed emails.
Some users did not send any emails post-subscription or form submission, highlighting a potential area for improvement.
For users in Cohort 2, I examined the emails they send using alternative email designers. Similar to Cohort 1, these users primarily sent welcome emails with product information.
Pain Points with Existing Builders
A snippet from my detailed competitor analysis
“Too many options… I end up spending hours tweaking padding and fonts.”
“It feels like designing a landing page, not an email.”
“I just want to send something that looks good — fast. Not fiddle with pixels.”
“I’m not a designer. I just want to get things done.”
These comments reinforced the same truth!
Titan's users did not want unlimited design freedom, they wanted design sanity. Simplicity, speed, and brand alignment without decision fatigue.
Key Takeaways from Research
Users need a simple, no-fuss tool to create branded welcome and promotional emails, fast. They want to plug in their logos, images, social links, and product promos and not deal with margins, pixels, or complex layout logic.
The Solution
I set out to build an editor that does one thing really well:
Let users build beautiful emails using pre-designed blocks, while still making the email feel like their own.
Inspiration & Exploration
I looked through emails sent by users from both cohorts and studied layouts, CTAs, headers, and visual treatments. Combined with visual research from Dribbble, ReallyGoodEmails, and our own inboxes, we created a moodboard of patterns.
From there, I curated a list of essential blocks
Header block (Logo, links)
Intro block (Hero images with CTAs)
Content block (Paragraphs, images)
Products/Services block (Product/Service showcase)
Testimonials block
Social links block
Offer block (Coupon, Discount banners)
Footer block and more✨
The goal? Reduce decision-making. Empower users to focus on content, not design.
Personas & Job Stories
I distilled our research into focused personas and mapped their job stories. Then, I superimposed those needs onto the blocks I had designed.
I ran this exercise across all personas and their jobs-stories. Blocks that didn’t fit were refined or removed.
If something felt missing, I didn’t create a new block for every job. Instead, I designed flexible layout blocks that could serve multiple needs without overcomplicating the system.
Below is an example.
Cynthia
Founder, Sleep & Craddle
Small business owner(Health and Wellness services)
Helps new parents and their babies sleep well from inception
Provide classes for new parents to take care of their babies
Has a paid subscription service for $100 per month providing access to premium content
When a new parent subscribes to Sleep & Craddle
I want to to send a discount offer email highlighting premium services
So that I can I can drive conversions and long-term engagement
Job Story <> Block Mapping
Intro or Offer Block
Purpose: Capture attention with a discount and explain the benefits of the premium plan — motivating quick action
Services Block
Purpose: Showcase offerings like sleep consultations and parenting classes, directly addressing new parent needs
Content Block
Purpose: Build emotional resonance by positioning Sleep & Craddle as a trusted partner in their parenting journey
Social Links + Footer Block
Purpose: Maintain connection and trust by offering quick access to support, resources, and future communications
Highlights from the Final Design
Block-based, plug-and-play builder
Add, remove, rearrange, and swap layouts on the fly. Every block is designed for speed and flexibility
Quick content generation with AI and keyword based images
Generate and replace copy AI. Use keyword search to
find your images
Pre-made templates mapped to real jobs
Welcome emails, newsletters, promos, announcements, each template is tailored to a real-world job story, not just a use case
Integrated with Titan’s email flow
Insert your designed email right into the composer, hit send, and track opens. No export, no extra steps
Seamless IA tailored to real behaviour
Saved templates appear upfront for fast reuse. Switching purpose (Job-story)? The full gallery is just a click away
What’s Next? V2 Opportunities
Advanced Engagement Tracking
Currently, only email views are tracked. In V2, can enable click tracking for CTAs and links to better measure campaign performance
Personalisation with Variable Tags
Allow {variable} tags in copy fields, integrating with Titan Campaigns. One template → many personalised emails → sent via CSV upload
AI-Powered Template Generation
Users describe the email type and purpose (job story), and AI generates full templates using the block system
Remixes blocks based on tone, intent, and industry
Injects layout, color, and copy from user context
Offers multiple template options to pick from or fallback to manual selection via template gallery
Progressive Monetisation Strategy
Email Designer is currently limited to the ULTRA Plan (Titan’s highest tier). This restricts exposure to a wider user base
Offer limited access to Pro & Premium users (e.g., 5 emails/month, basic blocks)
Let users experience value, get gratification, and hit a cap
The cap creates a natural upgrade trigger, a value-first hook for monetisation