Email

NN/g has conducted 5 major research studies on the usability of email newsletters:

• Study 1 (2002): Lab-based testing with 15 participants, focusing on the subscribe and unsubscribe processes, as well as receiving and opening newsletters.
• Study 2 (2004): Diary study with 30 participants in 6 countries (Australia, China, Japan, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.) examining the role of email newsletters in subscribers' daily lives over a 4-week period.
• Study 3 (2006): Eyetracking study with 42 participants and a field study with 6 participants; the focus was on how people read (or, mainly, scan) email inboxes and newsletter content.
• Study 4 (2010): Lab-based testing with 16 users in the U.S. and the U.K., including testing with mobile devices and exploring the impact of tone-of-voice in newsletter content.
• Study 5 (2012): in-depth research with people reading email newsletters on their mobile devices.

Our design guidelines for newsletter user experience are now based on systematic studies of 270 newsletters across 124 participants, as well as single-user testing of several hundred additional newsletters that study participants already received in their personal inboxes.

Research:

• Email Newsletter Design to Increase Conversion and Loyalty (5th Edition)

Training offered at Usability Week:

• Email Newsletter Usability

Alertbox Articles

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Research Reports

• Email Newsletter Design to Increase Conversion and Loyalty
• Vol. 12: Transactional Email and Confirmation Messages

Training Courses

• Email Newsletter Usability