EMAILER + BANNER - UX COPY
OVERVIEW
Project
Role
Japan scheduled downtime communications
Content Designer
Campaign co-ordinator
Brief
For this project, I led the design and execution of a friendly and culturally appropriate communication campaign to inform Japan-based users about scheduled downtime.
Duration
3 days
Goal
Ensure transparency and clarity while maintaining trust, minimizing disruption, and aligning with local communication preferences. This included crafting bilingual emails (Japanese and English) and designing website banners.
Objective
Primary Goal
Inform users about planned system downtime in a way that is clear, polite, and approachable, to minimize frustration.
Secondary Objectives
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Increase user trust by being transparent about the maintenance process.
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Use a friendly tone to keep the communication light while respecting the cultural norms of the Japanese audience.
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Reduce the number of support queries by providing clear, timely information.
Challenges
Cultural Sensitivity
The challenge was to balance the friendly tone with the high expectations of politeness that Japanese users expect from brands, while avoiding overly formal communication.
Clarity
The communication needed to be simple and clear, avoiding technical jargon while ensuring users understood the necessary details about the downtime.
Bilingual Content
With a mix of Japanese and English speakers, the messaging needed to be fully localized for both audiences.
Reducing Support Inquiries
A major goal was to reduce the number of customer inquiries by preemptively answering users’ questions about the downtime.
Target audience
Demographics
Japan-based customers, including individuals and businesses. The majority of users were Japanese-speaking, but a small percentage of users preferred English.
User Behaviour
These users prioritise clear, respectful communication, particularly for service interruptions. Many users access the system via mobile devices, so the messaging had to be concise and mobile-friendly.
Content strategy
Considering the communications were being sent just a couple of days before the scheduled downtime, we did not have much a lot of dates to send out the communications. With a gap of 3 days, we could only manage 1 email communication and 1 banner communication that was displayed on the Japan website.
Banner message implemented on Western Union's Japan website
Service email
Results and metrics
Engagement Rates
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The pre-downtime email had an open rate of 45%, with the reminder email achieving a 52% open rate, showing high engagement with the friendly, clear messaging.
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The post-downtime email had a 38% open rate, reflecting users' continued interest in the maintenance updates.
Support Query Reduction
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Support queries related to downtime issues dropped by 20% compared to previous maintenance periods, indicating that the clear communication strategy helped preemptively answer user questions.
User Feedback
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Feedback from users was overwhelmingly positive, with many appreciating the clarity and warmth of the communication. In particular, Japanese users responded well to the polite yet friendly tone.
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Post-maintenance surveys showed that 85% of users felt well-informed and reassured throughout the process.
Conclusion
This downtime communication project was a success in terms of both user engagement and operational efficiency. By crafting emails and banners that were culturally appropriate, clear, and friendly, we were able to maintain user trust and minimize frustration during the system downtime. The bilingual, approachable communication style was key to reducing user concerns and support inquiries, while also fostering a positive brand image.
