01 — Overview
Role
UX & Interaction Designer
Platform
Web App (Desktop & Mobile)
Tools
Figma
The Brief
Professionals in legal, compliance, and operations fields regularly need to preserve email communications as formal documents. The existing workflow — manually exporting, reformatting, and filing emails — is slow, error-prone, and easy to forget. MailArchive solves this by giving users a dedicated archive address: forward or BCC any email to it, and within seconds a clean .docx file is generated and stored in a searchable, annotatable archive.
The design challenge was not technical — it was behavioral. The system only works if users remember and trust it. Every design decision was oriented around reducing friction to near zero while making the status of each archived email immediately visible and verifiable.
Design Principles
Make conversion unmissable
The .docx conversion is the core value proposition — not a setting buried in a sidebar. Users always see whether their emails have been converted, what format was produced, and where it lives.
Clarity over completeness
The archive must feel organized and navigable even as volume grows. Clear visual hierarchy and obvious filters are always favored over dense, information-heavy displays.
Minimum friction to archive
Users can forward, annotate, archive, and download emails through automation or short, low-effort processes. There is no multi-step export workflow — just send and done.
Feature Design
Each feature was grounded in a specific moment of friction in the email archiving workflow — from initial capture to long-term retrieval.
Auto-Forwarding
Eliminates manual conversion steps entirely. Users can set a forwarding rule once or add the archive address to BCC when composing — and never think about exporting again. This "set it and forget it" model means important emails are captured in real time, without requiring users to remember a separate workflow after the fact.
Annotations
Enables collaborative document management without leaving the platform. Users can add context, notes, or clarifications directly to archived emails, transforming static records into living, annotated documents that evolve with audits, legal reviews, or team collaboration needs.
Unassigned Emails
Provides flexibility and reduces decision paralysis. Not every email needs immediate categorization — users can archive first and organize later. The "Keep in Archive" option prevents important emails from being lost simply because the user has not decided on the right tag yet.
Tags
Offers powerful organization without rigid folder structures. Tags allow multi-dimensional categorization (one email can be both "Legal" and "Q1-2026"), making retrieval intuitive and fast. Common tag suggestions speed up organization and maintain consistency across the archive.
Recent Activity with Status
Delivers instant visibility into what is happening with archives. Users see at a glance which emails are successfully converted versus still processing — eliminating anxiety about whether an email was received and converted correctly. This transparency builds trust in the system.
Bulk Upload via CSV
Dramatically reduces setup time and prevents onboarding abandonment. Instead of entering email addresses one-by-one, users can import via CSV in seconds. A downloadable template removes guesswork about formatting, making onboarding feel fast and professional rather than tedious.
Interface Design
The dashboard is the first screen users see after login. It is designed around a single question: “Did everything get archived?” Status, recency, and volume are always visible without scrolling.
Total archived
1,247
+12 this week
Processing
3
In queue
Email addresses
5
4 active
Unassigned
18
Need tagging
Recent activity
View all →User Journeys
The following journeys represent the key scenarios a user encounters — from their very first login through to ongoing archive management.
The first session is critical. Users need to experience the product's core value — automatic email-to-docx conversion — before they invest time in configuration. The onboarding flow is designed to deliver that moment as early as possible.
Entry
Sign up and claim your archive address
Users are given a unique archive email address immediately after signup. This is shown prominently — it's the product's core mechanism and users need to see it before anything else.
Setup
Bulk import email addresses via CSV
Rather than entering sender addresses one-by-one, users can upload a CSV. A downloadable template eliminates formatting guesswork. The manual fallback ensures no user feels blocked.
↓ Reduces onboarding abandonmentAHA Moment
Set up a forwarding rule and send a test email
Users are guided to add the archive address as a BCC or forwarding rule. The onboarding flow then prompts them to send a test email and watch it appear in their archive as a converted .docx file — often within seconds.
★ First conversion is the AHA momentConfirmation
Archive populates with the first converted document
The dashboard shows the newly converted email with a green "Archived" status badge. The user sees their .docx file, its original subject line, sender, and date — and can download it immediately. Trust is established.
This is the most frequent interaction. A user receives an important email in their regular inbox and wants it captured as a .docx document. The journey must be fast enough that it never feels like an interruption.
Trigger
User receives an important email in their regular inbox
A contract confirmation, a client approval, a compliance notice — any email the user wants to preserve as a formal document. No special tooling is required at this stage.
Action
Forward the email to the archive address
The user simply forwards the email to their unique archive address, or adds it as BCC when composing. This is the entirety of the user's required action — one field, one click.
↓ Zero additional steps after forwardingProcessing
System converts the email to .docx
The platform receives the forwarded email, strips it of quoted replies if needed, and generates a formatted .docx file preserving the sender, subject, date, and body. The file is assigned to the archive.
Visibility
Dashboard shows the email with real-time status
The "Recent Activity" panel on the dashboard updates to show the newly archived email with a processing or archived status badge. Users never have to wonder whether their forward was received.
↑ Status eliminates uncertaintyOptional
Tag, annotate, or download the document
Users can tag the archived email (e.g. "Legal", "Q1-2026"), add an annotation with context, or immediately download the .docx file. These are optional post-archive steps — the email is already safely stored before they happen.
✎ Archive first, organize laterUsers need to control which email senders are recognized by the system — adding new trusted addresses, pausing or removing old ones, and reviewing the full list as their organization grows.
Navigation
User navigates to Email Address settings
The address management screen shows all registered email addresses in a clear tabular layout with status, label, and archive count visible at a glance.
Add
Add a single address or bulk import via CSV
Adding a single address takes two fields: the email and an optional label. Bulk import reuses the onboarding CSV flow, so the pattern is consistent throughout the product.
↓ Consistent pattern from onboardingManage
Pause, edit label, or remove addresses
Pausing an address stops archiving from that sender without deleting the address or its archived emails. Editing a label is inline — no modal required for simple changes.
Visibility
Archive count confirms activity at a glance
The "Emails archived" column gives users a sense of which addresses are actively sending, making it easy to identify stale or low-value addresses over time.
Forwarding destinations are the outbound targets where converted .docx files are also sent. Users need to create, organize, and audit these destinations.
Concept
Understanding the distinction: addresses vs. destinations
The product clearly distinguishes between "who I receive from" (email addresses) and "where converted files also go" (forwarding destinations). This distinction is explained with a plain-language diagram on first visit.
Create
Add a forwarding destination with a label and format
Users name the destination, enter the email address, and optionally set conditions (e.g. only forward emails tagged "Legal"). The .docx format is the default output — always shown, never buried.
↑ Output format always visibleTest
Send a test document to confirm the destination works
A "Send test" button dispatches a sample .docx to the destination immediately. Users see confirmation in-product and receive the file at the target address — building confidence before committing to the forwarding rule.
Audit
Review forwarding history and delivery status
Each destination has an expandable log showing the last 30 days of forwarded documents with delivery status. Failed deliveries are surfaced prominently with a one-click resend option.
⚠ Failed deliveries surfaced immediatelyThe archive is the product's primary evidence store — it needs to remain fast, navigable, and trustworthy even as it grows to thousands of documents.
Navigation
User opens the Archive view
The archive loads with the most recent documents first. Each row shows the .docx badge, subject, sender, tags, and date — enough context to identify any document without opening it.
Filter
Filter by tag, date range, or sender
Filter chips at the top of the archive allow instant narrowing by tag. A date selector and full-text search handle more specific lookups. The "Unassigned" filter surfaces emails that have not been tagged yet.
↓ Multi-dimensional filtering via tagsReview
Open a document to preview, annotate, or tag
Clicking a row opens a side panel with the converted .docx preview, full email metadata, all annotations, and a tag editor. Users can add or edit tags inline and append annotations without leaving the archive view.
✎ Annotate without leaving the archiveDownload
Download a single document or bulk-export a selection
Single documents download with one click from the side panel. For bulk downloads, users check multiple rows and click "Bulk download" — the system packages selected .docx files into a ZIP archive.
Unassigned
Handle unassigned emails without pressure
Emails without tags surface in the "Unassigned" filter. Users can tag them now or leave them in the archive as-is. "Keep in Archive" is always a valid choice — no email is ever lost due to missing categorization.
↑ Archive first, organize laterDesign Impact
These features don't operate in isolation — they form a system designed around a single behavioral truth: users will only adopt archiving habits if the habit costs them less than the alternative. Every interaction is designed to shrink that cost.
Design philosophy
“The archive should feel like it takes care of itself. Users are busy — their only job is to forward the email. Everything else is ours to handle.”
Low friction, high adoption
Auto-forwarding and BCC support mean users don't need to change their workflow — the archive integrates into what they already do.
Transparent, trust-building
Real-time status on every archived email eliminates anxiety. Users always know what was received, what was converted, and what's still in queue.
Organized without rigidity
Tags and unassigned handling let users organize at their own pace — no mandatory taxonomy, no emails lost to indecision.
Collaboration-ready
Annotations transform a static archive into a living record. Legal teams, auditors, and collaborators can all add context without leaving the platform.
Fast onboarding
Bulk CSV import and a guided AHA moment mean users experience value within minutes of signing up — not after hours of configuration.
Scalable by design
Clear visual hierarchy and multi-dimensional filtering mean the archive remains navigable whether it holds 100 or 100,000 documents.