Spark
About
Spark is a cross-platform email client with user over 17.5 million worldwide. It’s built to help individuals and teams manage email more efficiently.
By reintroducing key third-party integrations like Trello, Todoist, and Evernote, I streamlined users' ability to convert emails into tasks without leaving the app. This project improved user satisfaction and solidified Spark's position as a premium productivity email client.
My role
As a Product Designer at Spark, I led the design of the Integrations Center to address productivity issues and reduce context switching in Spark 3.
My specific contributions included:
• Conducted in‑depth interviews with Spark Classic users who hadn’t upgraded, uncovering the root causes of churn.
• Generated and ranked hypotheses to pinpoint the highest‑impact adoption barriers.
• Focused the team on the most critical issues to maximize impact and speed of delivery.
• Rapid prototyping and validated them through iterative usability testing.
• Built flexible, modular components that accommodate future feature integrations.
Outcomes
of former Spark 2 users migrated to Spark 3 after the update.
of users connected at least one external service.
Problem
Users felt unproductive in Spark 3 due to constant context switching. Manually transferring information between email and other tools wasted time and broke users' focus.
Pain Points
Missing Workflow Features
The new Spark 3 omitted third-party integrations that were present in Spark 2. Users could no longer convert emails into tasks or notes in external apps directly from Spark.
Disrupted User Flows:
Common email-to-task workflows were broken. Users had to resort to manual copy-paste or switching apps to create tasks (e.g. sending an email’s content to Trello or Things), which was tedious and time-consuming.
Context Switching Overhead
Without built-in integrations, users had to leave Spark to update other tools, increasing context switching. This not only slowed them down but also introduced distraction and lost focus.
Missed Opportunity for Premium Value
Spark is positioning itself as a premium productivity email client, so lacking integration features weakened that value proposition.
Process
Problem Validation:
We conducted user surveys with over 100 respondents and found that a majority of users (approximately 75%) reported difficulties in turning emails into actionable tasks, confirming the need to centralize work in one place.
Data Analysis:
I worked with our product manager to analyze Spark 2 usage logs and customer support data. We identified which integrations (Trello, Todoist, Evernote, Things) had been used most frequently in Spark 2, prioritizing them for Spark 3. This included mapping frequency of use across different user segments to ensure we were addressing the needs of our core users.
Competitive Analysis:
I performed an evaluation of competitors, mapping out integrations for products like Outlook, Gmail, Shortwave, Superhuman and other. I created comparison matrices measuring factors like availability of integration, user friction, and setup complexity to identify opportunities for differentiation.
Main
We envisioned the Integrations Center as the answer - a one-stop hub inside Spark to connect with third-party productivity apps and streamline workflow. In essence, the Integrations Center would let users “bring their favorite apps into Spark”, so tasks triggered by emails could be handled without leaving the app.
Success Criteria
I established three key goals, each with measurable success criteria:
Reduce context switching (measured by time spent in Spark vs. external apps)
• Speed up task follow-through (measured by time from email receipt to task creation)
• Encourage Spark 2 users to migrate to Spark 3 (measured by conversion rate)
01
Connect though Command Center
Users can connect their favorite apps like Trello, Asana, and Evernote via the Command Center with a quick OAuth login. Once connected, integrations appear in Spark’s list and can be managed or disconnected anytime. I designed this flow after testing three different connection patterns with users, finding that command center integration had the highest discoverability and completion rates.
02
Connect through Settings
Users can manage their connected apps in Settings. The list of available services in Settings also introduces how users can enhance their workflow inside Spark.
We implemented a robust error handling system to address common integration issues, reducing support tickets by approximately 30%.
Reducing Context Switching
Previously, users had to manually copy email content, open another app, and then return to Spark. This disrupted their focus, broke workflow continuity, and slowed overall productivity.
To address this, I designed a streamlined export dialog that allowed users to send emails to their connected apps with just one click, minimizing friction and saving time.
I created 14 unique export dialogs for Spark Desktop, carefully customizing each one to match the structure and requirements of different third-party services like Trello, Things, and Evernote.
To ensure the best user experience, I led multiple rounds of usability testing, refining the flow and interface based on user feedback until interactions felt smooth and intuitive.
Platform Expansion
Android Implementation
After releasing the feature on our desktop app, we received significant feedback from Android users requesting the same functionality. I designed the integration experience for Spark on Android, adapting our patterns to accommodate platform-specific constraints while maintaining a consistent mental model.
Design Evaluation
Once the flow was completed, we conducted several tests with our beta users to do the fit and finish. We also added the ability to export emails by swiping in the email list, which received the most positive feedback from users.
Post-launch, we implemented tracking to measure:
• Integration connection success rates (98%)
• Most-used third-party services (Trello, Todoist, and Notion led the pack)
• Time savings per email-to-task conversion (average 45 seconds saved)
Learnings
Early Engineering Collaboration:
To better understand all possible limitations and agree on design trade-offs, early collaboration with the development team saved design time and accelerated the development process. Creating technical specifications alongside design assets reduced implementation questions by roughly half.
Design for Flexibility:
I had to design a system flexible enough to handle many third-party apps and future integrations, requiring the creation of adaptable, consistent patterns. We built a component library specifically for integration UI elements that could scale as we added new partners.
Value of User Metrics
Establishing clear success metrics from the beginning helped focus our design decisions and provided objective criteria for evaluating the feature's impact. This data-driven approach helped us identify which integrations to prioritize for future development.