Building Motivation
in Yahoo Mail
Project Background
Email has a motivation problem. People open their inbox because they have to, not because they want to. At Yahoo Mail, we saw an opportunity to change that, not by rebuilding the product, but by building something underneath it.
As Lead Designer, I'm creating a motivational framework that sits beneath the core Yahoo Mail experience, designed to make email feel rewarding, even fun. The framework spans Yahoo Mail Streaks, Challenges, and a growing set of experiments, all working together to drive daily engagement and give users a reason to come back.
Throughout the process I've been leaning into AI tools including Claude, Figma Make, and ChatGPT to accelerate everything from assets and animation to design strategy. Some experiments are already live, with more in progress.
This is an early glimpse of some of the work! More to come soon....
