Usability: THiNK Email – British Gas

Screenshots of the British Gas emails with heat map overlaid

 
Client:
Ogilvy / SAP

Objective:
Optimise effectiveness of service email to new customers

Method:
120 British Gas customers tested with eye tracking & questionnaire

Total project duration:
5 days

Service:
THiNK Email Rapid Field Testing

Location:
Reading, UK

Methodology:
Respondents were presented with an email inbox, either unprompted or prompted they opened the British Gas email. 30 people saw each of three versions. After initial feedback from this testing, an optimised email was designed and tested with 30 British Gas customers.

Implicit measures:
Eye tracking

Explicit measures:
Questionnaire

Findings:
The three initial designs were compared and the strongest key elements from each design were identified. The clear comparison of the 3 original email designs successfully informed the design of a fourth more engaging design.

 
We estimate that even if we had picked the right design in the first place, it would have taken eight to twelve months of testing to get to the version that we put in the field on day one.

Skip Fidura
British Gas