AOL Mail Redesigns
I redesigned the UI design of the AOL mail inbox page for both desktop and mobile versions to make AOL mail more pleasing to the eye and compatible with the competitors like Gmail and Outlook. The existing AOL mail is just a plain simple page that’s no fun to look at. It is lack of colors with poor layout structures. One of the biggest changes in my design is that the menu, inbox, and email content can all be viewed on the same page for a better user experience on the desktop.
Sketches
I first clicked through AOL mail, then its biggest competitors like Gmail and Outlook to compare the three and see what AOL mail is behind. However, I do not want this redesign to look like what its competitors look. Therefore, I did a little more research on what other professionals would do to redesign an email interface. I started sketching what I was inspired by after researching.
Wireframes
Creating Wireframes is one of the most fun parts of the project. I created 6 wireframes based on the sketches I drew above, 3 for desktop and 3 for mobile screens. Basically, there are 3 different versions for each screen for me to see which version would look better at the end.
Surface Comps
Adding colors and pictures is my favorite part of the project! I used the Material Design System as a guideline to make the surface comps. I used AOL’s theme colors throughout all 6 designs to avoid unnecessary colors, so I only used white, blue, and grey colors. I also used cards a lot in my designs.
Conclusion
I love redesigning existing products even though it would be fun to create a project from scratch. Resigning helps me think of more possibilities from a different perspective. I learned from the original and other existing designs to create something better and give AOL mail an upgrade. I enjoyed researching examples of what other professionals have created, it opened my eyes and I was inspired by a lot of their amazing works.
After polishing these 6 designs for AOL mail, I personally like the third version of both desktop and mobile screens because they are matching and look like something that I would use on the daily basis and wouldn’t get bored looking at it.