Big Dough Advanced (BDA)
MAIL EXPERIENCE AND DASHBOARD REDESIGN
problem
The existing BDA Mail system was outdated, inefficient, and no longer met user or business needs. Users reported frustration with the lack of clarity and insight into their email campaign performance. In particular, there was no centralized view of email analytics or trends, making it difficult to understand the success of campaigns or optimize future sends.
From a technical perspective, the codebase was built on deprecated infrastructure, making maintenance and scalability difficult. Meanwhile, other departments within the organization had already migrated to a newer Angular-based system, supported by a shared and evolving Figma design system. BDA Mail needed to be brought up to parity.
solution
To modernize BDA Mail, we approached the redesign with three key objectives:
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Streamline the user experience by reducing visual clutter and improving the information hierarchy across the product.
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Introduce a robust analytics dashboard that surfaces key campaign metrics and usage trends, based directly on user feedback.
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Migrate to a modern tech stack and shared design system to align with broader company initiatives and improve cross-product consistency.
result
The redesigned BDA Mail system launched with a modernized, streamlined interface and a significantly improved user experience. Key outcomes included:
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A simplified UI that reduced visual complexity and improved user focus across tasks.
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A new email analytics dashboard that gave users visibility into the performance of their campaigns—one of the most requested features.
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Improved cross-product consistency by aligning BDA Mail with the company-wide design system and Angular framework.
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Reduced engineering effort through thoughtful reuse of existing components and clear documentation of new needs.
summary
The BDA Mail redesign project aimed to modernize an outdated and inefficient email system by introducing a streamlined interface, improved functionality, and deeper analytics capabilities. To ground our decisions in real user needs, we leveraged Pendo feedback to identify pain points and feature gaps, prioritizing updates that would provide the highest impact. We conducted user interviews to better understand the core pain points and jobs to be done (JTBD), which directly informed our design strategy—especially around email composition, file uploads, and campaign performance insights.
The redesign also required strong cross-functional and cross-product collaboration to ensure visual and functional consistency across the company’s evolving product ecosystem. As a design system user, I analyzed how newer product features were implemented using shared components, which guided reuse and informed decisions around what needed to be custom-built.
Using Miro, we mapped existing workflows, iterated on proposed solutions, and aligned on decisions with the broader design and engineering teams. This collaborative approach ensured that BDA Mail not only met user needs but also aligned with the company’s long-term goal of unifying products under a cohesive design and codebase.
team
UX, PO, PM and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
role
UX Lead
who are the users?
PERSONA BUILDING & USER INTERVIEWS
Sales Persona: Rob
Research Analyst: Brian
JTBD: Sales Persona
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On a daily basis, check macro and micro economic indicators to see what might affect clients.
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Speak with clients daily to discuss trending items, upselling, pitch ideas and generally maintain the relationship via digital correspondence.
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Prospect for new accounts and contacts and reach out to them in order to establish a new relationship.
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Log client interactions into CRM.
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Manage client subscriptions.
"If I want to get the message across I have to call them- emails don't always land".
JTBD: Research Analyst
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Track and monitor companies under their coverage.
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Regularly publish research reports.
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Engage with clients daily by fulfilling client request calls and log client interactions in CRM.
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Log client interactions into CRM.
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Support sales persona with data and targeted analysis based on client interaction with research reports and economic factors.
"It's not about whether they read the email- it's whether it got to the right person".
user interviews
After conducting user interviews we received the following insights:
Pain Point Category | Description | % of Interviews Mentioning It |
|---|---|---|
UI Complexity & Usability | Overly complex UI, non-intuitive workflows, too many filters/options, requires training or workaround habits | ~67% (10/15) |
Email Creation & Editor Issues | HTML issues when pasting from Bee, flaky editor, trouble formatting and previewing emails, quirks like cursor glitches | ~47% (7/15) |
Readership Tracking Limitations | Readership stats are buried or not actionable, need tracking tied to profiles or campaigns; want to surface top readers and forwards | ~53% (8/15) |
Search & Filtering | Building or saving lists is difficult; too many dropdowns or unintuitive search mechanisms; want to save and rerun searches easily | ~60% (9/15) |
Prospecting Workflow Integration | Prospecting steps too manual; users want lists, alerts, contact info, and outreach centralized; CRM integration needed | ~67% (10/15) |
Data Accuracy & Timeliness | Contact/job data not always accurate or current; AUM and ownership data not timely or clear; filter granularity lacking | ~53% (8/15) |
Alert System Improvements | Data alerts and news triggers not surfaced or actionable enough; users want to see alerts tied to dashboards or profiles | ~60% (9/15) |
CRM & Workflow Gaps | Users log interactions, but find gaps in how BD Mail ties activity to firm/account profiles; desire for better list/account views | ~47% (7/15) |
News & Market Integration | Users want integrated push updates or curated news (like Bloomberg/StreetAccount); some interest in AI-driven insights and personalization | ~40% (6/15) |
Dashboard Overload | Dashboards present too much information or irrelevant items; users want customizable views with only the most relevant data and alerts | ~33% (5/15) |
scope and feature prioritzation
Our team looked at our insights and went through a feature prioritization process based on the level of importance placed on each pain point. The level of importance was determined by the amount of times a piece of feedback was received as well as any obstructions to major workflows that keep users from completed their daily tasks.
MVP features:
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UI complexity and usability
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Email creation and editor issues
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Readership tracking and analytics
Disclaimer: during these interviews additional areas of the product were discussed, so even if the percentage of complaints were higher in a particlaur area, we prioritized anything BD Mail related.
how to attain cohesion?
CROSS- PRODUCT CONSISTENCY
proactive alignment
At the same time BDA Mail was redesigning its email system, Capital Access—another product within the S&P ecosystem—was also developing a new email solution. This parallel initiative created a valuable opportunity for cross-team collaboration. By aligning early and often with the Capital Access design team, we were able to compare user needs, identify shared patterns, and determine which components could be reused from the design system. We also worked together to assess where new components or extensions of existing functionality were needed. This proactive approach helped us reduce design and engineering risks while promoting consistency across products.
insights
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Email analytics need to be emphasized. Statistics for the following were needed:
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Total Campaigns
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Total Emails Sent
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Total Emails Opened
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Avg. # of Recipients
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Unsubscribed Users
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Unique Opens
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Delivery status/Rate
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URL Link Open Rate
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File Link Open Rate
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Forward Rate
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Bounceback Rate
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Team emails , my emails and all emails tabs - each products has different use cases.
- Compose form required additional functionality:
- Unsubscribe Link
- Add Securities
- Research Library
- Additional filters for bounceback emails.
concepts complete.
MOCKUPS
compose form
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Persona-specific fields
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Added fields related to securities coverage for the sales persona.
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Supports client tagging for easier tracking and logging of correspondence.
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Integrated Research Library
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Side drawer includes a selectable research library.
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Enables the research persona to share relevant materials with clients.
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Facilitates tracking client engagement based on follow-up conversations with sales.
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Clean and intentional UI
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Uses hidden fields to reduce visual clutter and cognitive load.
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Fields are revealed contextually as needed.
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Error prevention and testing
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Includes the ability to send test emails before launching a full campaign.
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Designed with user error in mind to reduce risk during the send process.
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campaign summary dashboard
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High-level analytics overview:
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Users can view overall statistics across all sent campaigns.
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Dashboard supports custom and preset date ranges to refine data views.
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Collaboration-focused insights:
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Sales personas can toggle between “Your Emails” and “Team Emails” to:
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Understand how clients are reacting to campaigns sent by colleagues.
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Stay informed about team-wide performance and outreach.
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Campaign filtering and breakdown:
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Users can see which contact lists or securities were targeted for each campaign.
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Supports deeper visibility into audience segmentation and distribution strategy.
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Quick-access campaign previews:
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A drawer preview allows users to quickly view campaign content without navigating away.
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Helps refresh memory and context during client conversations or follow-ups.
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campaign detail dashboard
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Drill-down campaign insights:
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Accessed via the "Campaign Statistics" button from the Campaign Summary Dashboard.
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Displays data specific to a single campaign, distinct from the high-level summary.
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Breadcrumb navigation helps users stay oriented within the system.
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Interactive data table:
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Users can hover over metrics to reveal more granular insights:
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e.g., email forwards, URL link clicks.
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Enables users to assess how widely their content is being shared and identify if it's reaching the right audience.
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Bulk actions and list management:
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Users can select multiple rows in the table (e.g., emails received or not received) and perform key actions:
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Send new email
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Include in mailing
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Add to or remove from list
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Send to research
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Robust filtering capabilities:
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Filtering can be done by nearly any attribute:
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Email opens, file links clicked, mailing status, bouncebacks
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Contact details like name, institution, and coverage
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Unsubscribed contacts can also be surfaced easily
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