Case Study: Open source email client

Thunderbird is on a mission to provide the best open source email client for its users. From being entirely volunteer run a couple of years ago to having a team of likeminded individuals creating great user experiences and improving open source software for everyone.

Carry out user research, define a tone of voice for Thunderbird, implement content processes, and provide copy for Thunderbird Appointment, a meeting scheduling tool.

Carry out user research where none currently exists and due to the nature of open source, is difficult to collect.

Based on the research, implement a new tone of voice for the Thunderbird brand.

Design and implement new content processes and strategies, such as user stories and design thinking.

Write the copy for the Thunderbird features.

Carrying out user research

The Thunderbird team knew their user base exceptionally well, having been in the enviable position of communicating with them regularly and having users who were heavily involved in the project. However, the team had never carried out any sort of user research. So while they talked to their users, they did not have complete insight. This is further highlighted by the very nature of open source - to protect its users’ data.

However, as a content designer, it’s important for me to understand as much as I can about Thunderbird’s users in order to write copy that resonates. So, to do this I spent time reading through various well-used forums, such as Reddit, and comment sections on the Thunderbird blogs posts. While not as enlightening as say, user questionnaires, it did give me a good insight into the kind of people who were using Thunderbird and had a vested interest in it.

Understanding the user base played a big part in this, and as you can see from the graphic, English speaking countries make up a relatively small proportion of the total user base.

Because of this, I spent time researching the differences in cultures and expectations across world areas. My findings showed that app users in places such as Russia are more likely to spend money on apps than those in Germany and the UK. And app users from places like Russia, Japan, and France are less likely to download the first app on the list when compared to users from the US and UK. This matters because Thunderbird is ultimately competing with very popular proprietary software.

Perhaps more importantly, 17% of users stop using an app because it invaded their privacy. This is crucial knowledge for Thunderbird and open source software.

Having carried out the research, I created user personas that served to assist me with creating the product copy.

Thunderbird Appointment is an event booking product that allows users to send people bookable slots in their calendar. I worked with the product designer and software developers to provide great experiences for Thunderbird users. Working in Figma and collaborating across timezones, I implemented product copy for the Thunderbird Appointment feature.

This involved also coming up with content that would work for users in markets across the world. One fo the main aspects of the work was around the wording of the ‘bookable slots’. Originally this was called ‘create appointment’ but from my research I didn’t believe that would make sense in other languages. I opted to remove the word ‘appointment’ entirely, leaving just ‘create’. This I believed would localise better, and this was confirmed by translators and native speakers in my network.

Being new to content design and UX writing, Thunderbird did not have any content processes. I designed and wrote content strategies and tone of voice guidelines, bridging the gap between design, content, and business strategy.