JustReachOut
2015
JustReachOut is a web service created for entrepreneurs to help them leverage their connections with journalists. One pitch, one win.
JustReachOut is a must-have tool for marketers and PR managers. It helps reach out to journalists via an internal e-mail service or regular e-mail. The service searches relevant journalists by keywords they often use and aggregates them into structured lists users can choose from.
"How to create a relevant solution for small companies who need PR and connections with journalists?"
In 2015, Dmitry Dragilev, a well-known marketer of the Polar company acquired by Google, contacted me to help with his new idea related to PR. He asked me to develop the design for JustReachOut.
Dmitry had already cooperated with the development firm and Ukrainian development company RailsReactor on the creation of the prototype for this service. As soon as the project started, I created a set of wireframes to eliminate the risk of any miscommunication with Dmitry.
High-level goals
I focused on developing a product for immediate production. Dmitry wanted to release JustReachOut as soon as possible to start advertising and marketing to generate income.
The main goal was to build a product from scratch for startup marketers, small companies, and PR managers. The MVP had to be designed in accordance with the requirement that the platform should be useful for the core audience.
Challenges
The core challenge with this project was to deliver top-notch results on a very limited timeframe. I operated flexibly, creating and uploading the crucial elements before moving on to the rest of the site.
The other challenge was to produce the designs without a background in marketing. Dmitry helped me find the best solution in informational flow and copy. I had to strictly follow various marketing techniques.
My role in the project
1
UI
I worked on producing the interaction flows and optimizing the UX structure to help JustReachOut customers find what they want much faster.
2
Ideation
I contributed to the ideation stage and generated ideas for the product, which were iteratively implemented.
3
Deliverables
I worked with the development team and guided them to make the pixel-perfect implementation according to my design concept.
Design
The design version had to be produced in the shortest possible time. To prove my assumptions, I made the fully-functional prototype in InVision.
Marketing site
The homepage was built in two iterations. One was MVP-like, which is not reflected in the case study. This approach doubled the conversion rate. The site was built based on the marketing AIDA rule (attention-interest-desire-action).
Results page
Here you can find appropriate journalists via the search form or by entering the keyword related to your company. It also enables search via influencers on social media, helps find Quora and Reddit active users, and more.
Mail page
This is where the magic happens. JustReachOut provides an infinite number of customizable templates with any style (formal or informal). These texts are practically proven by thousands of people who have already used JustReachOut.
Pitch history
The table you are looking at is the list of emails a user has already sent via JustReachOut. This product allows tracking the activity of any email. This functionality was developed based on user needs for controlling their cold pitches to journalists.
Responsive
All the pages had to work perfectly on mobile. This requirement was based on analytics, which showed that a significant portion of JustReachOut visitors used the product from their cell phones or tablets.
User testing
Dmitry Dragilev, CEO at JustReachOut
Andrew redesigned our entire website starting from homepage to the entire functionality inside our SaaS with unbelievable attention to every detail yet very efficient and in a very timely manner. While he challenged some of my pre-conceptions about the design he was extremely easy to communicate with and very fast at implementing my suggestions. I highly recommend Andrew and the crew, I could not have been happier with the outcome.
