Scop

Mailbux was created to solve a common yet costly problem: fragmented, overpriced business email services. By offering an all-in-one, user-friendly platform for both free and business email, Mailbux positioned itself as a high-value disruptor in the saturated email hosting market. As the Product Design Lead, I drove the UX strategy, journey architecture, and user validation process with a lean remote team and 50 live users.

To build an intuitive and unified business email platform with:

• Unlimited mailboxes per customer.

• Seamless integration with standard email protocols (SMTP, POP3, IMAP, ActiveSync)

• Admin/client panels, Android app, inbox access, and billing.

• Free + premium tiered access for massive reach.

• Value-first pricing: $4/month for unlimited usage.

The Problem

Most existing email platforms (e.g., Google Workspace, Zoho, ProtonMail) charge per user/mailbox, causing financial friction for growing businesses. They also fragment services across platforms / inbox, admin panels, API, billing systems, app. Clients leading to an inconsistent experience.

Challenge

1. Unify business and free email services in one seamless UX.

2. Offer value without overwhelming the user with configuration complexity.

3. Design for scalability with a very low price point ($4/month).

4. Validate usability with a small beta group of legacy users.

5. Overcome trust gaps compared to well-known enterprise competitors.

Solution

As Product Design Lead, I led the design of:

• User onboarding flow (register → setup → inbox in <3 min)

• Multi-mailbox dashboard with seamless switching.

• Admin panel for managing billing, affiliate tools, invoices.

• Support UX via embedded ticketing system.

• Mobile-friendly Android interface for inbox access.

• Integration of SMTP/IMAP/POP3/ActiveSync settings in a human-readable setup wizard.

All visuals and interactions were built with a clean UI language and scalable atomic components for future development.

Process

Results &
Measured Impact

• 50 users onboarded (legacy email users invited to test)

• 81% completed full onboarding.

• UX Feedback Score: 7.2/10 (ease of setup praised, minor frustrations with IMAP settings)

• 58% used both inbox + admin system weekly.

• Avg. cost saving compared to previous provider: $20–$40/month.

• Project paused before public launch due to funding constraints.

Why this Model is Different

User Journey Map

Key Takeaways

• Value clarity beats brand trust: When users clearly see what they’re getting, pricing wins over "Google-grade branding".
  
  

• Simplicity scales: A clean, modular system allows for business clients to start small and grow.
  
  

• Early UX feedback is critical: User reactions guided 3 interface iterations in less than 6 weeks.
  
  

• All-in-one = higher perceived value: Bundling admin, API, inbox, and billing in one place improved engagement.

Decisions Second Thoughts

As the Product Design Lead, some decisions while well-intentioned proved to be suboptimal or missed critical opportunities. Here are the top reflections:

1. Underestimated the complexity of email configurations.
While we simplified the UI, protocols like IMAP/SMTP still confused some users. We should have included preconfigured templates or smarter auto-detection.

2. Too little time spent on user education & empty states.
We assumed users would understand what to do next. In retrospect, tooltips, first-use walkthroughs, and in-app tips would have dramatically improved onboarding completion rates.

3. Skipped structured UX testing with true first-timers.
Most testers were former users of the old system. We lacked fresh eyes to truly assess the new onboarding experience from scratch.

4. Design sprints outpaced backend readiness.
In some sprints, UX/UI was completed far ahead of development, leading to frustration, rework, and delayed validation. Better coordination between product, design, and dev could have avoided this.