Zone Webmail service underwent a thorough overhaul under the guidance of Trinidad Wiseman
Estonia's largest web hosting provider, Zone, wanted to update its webmail service in terms of technical platform, design and user-friendliness. Due to her long-term experience and competence in the field of UX/UI, Zone chose Trinidad Wiseman as its development partner.
Today, the project has become a long-term partnership, which has just reached the next milestone – we launched Zone Webmail 3.0, an updated version of webmail, which further increases the functionality and user-friendliness of the service.
If you are looking for a development partner who would help your company implement business-critical development projects, see more about Trinidad Wiseman's services on our website and contact us.
In the following project story, we will describe in more detail how we modernized the Zone Webmail service so that it meets the latest technical standards and user expectations.
The Challenge: Developing a Next-Generation Webmail Service
Zone is Estonia's leading domain and web hosting service provider, which has been helping its customers to be visible on the Internet for over 25 years. The company manages more than 145,000 domains and 50,000 web hosts, as well as about 300,000 email accounts.
For e-mail account holders, Zone offers the Webmail service, i.e. a web-based e-mail management environment that allows access to e-mail directly from a web browser. In the webmail service, you can read and send e-mails, organize them, set up automatic replies and use other familiar functionalities directly in the browser, without setting up an e-mail program, which is convenient, for example, when using an unfamiliar computer.
In 2018, Zone saw the need for a thorough modernisation of the Webmail service, as the old solution no longer met the expectations of users, such as the desire to use the service on smart devices.
The company was faced with the choice of whether to direct its in-house development resources to the development of a new platform for two years or to focus on its core business and use external help for the project. The choice fell in favor of the second option and Trinidad Wiseman was chosen as the development partner, whose extensive experience and team with diverse competencies spoke in favor.
2018-2020: Zone Webmail 2.0 from analysis to implementation
Since our goal is always to ensure that the solution we create meets the needs of the end users, we started creating the new platform by mapping the user experience and needs.
We used personas, i.e. fictional users representing real-life user groups, and mapped their user journey using the storyboarding method, i.e. creating narratives of the users' activities in the given solution. Based on the storyboard, we created a primary navigation system that shows on a more technical level what can be done in the solution.
Once the functionality of the platform had been mapped out in this way, we started to develop a prototype, i.e. a visual and interactive version of the solution. Prototyping is an important part of the development process, as it allows you to efficiently collect feedback and make the necessary changes at an early stage of the project, when it is cost-effective. Therefore, we carried out usability tests next, where we asked the testers to perform various tasks with the help of the prototype and identified the areas of concern that needed improvement.
Next, we moved on to the design stage. During the iterative design process, which lasted almost a year, we created various drafts for the overall visual identity of the solution as well as functionalities, selected the most suitable ones together with the client and polished them. The last major stage was the technical development, which took place in parallel with the design of the user experience and user interface – and, of course, continued testing to ensure the quality of the software.
The thoroughly updated Zone webmail service, or Webmail 2.0, went live in 2020. The keywords of the new platform were:
- Modular architecture: larger pieces of the platform form independent modules, i.e. microservices, that can be added, removed and managed from a separate system. This makes it easy to make the necessary corrections and updates to the system.
- Using an API to communicate with the email server: Webmail 2.0 communicates with the email server over the API, rather than over the traditional protocols such as IMAP or POP3 used by email programs. This means that in case of problems, Webmail is the so-called source of truth. It also allows you to manage mailboxes with hundreds of thousands of emails or several hundred gigabytes of data over the web interface.
The auto-delete feature helps keep your inbox tidy by removing old messages after a set amount of time.
- Responsive web design: the design of the platform always adapts to the device in which it is used, whether it is a phone, tablet or computer.
- Improved security: We performed a security audit on both the back-end and front-end sides of the solution and made it more convenient for users to manage security settings.
Two-factor authentication provides a strong extra layer of protection – the user can choose between a security code or a security key.
- Greater user-friendliness and new functionalities: thanks to the new design, simplified logic of activities and updating of all functionalities, the user-friendliness of the service improved significantly. We also introduced several new functionalities, such as using multiple accounts at the same time and conveniently switching between them.
The user-friendly contact form makes it easy to add new contacts.
2024-2025: Zone Webmail 3.0 development
In 2024, we started working on the next version of the service. Webmail 3.0 gradually went live in 2025, after nearly a year of development.
The main reason for building the new version was the need to upgrade the technical platform from the Vue 2 framework to the Vue 3 framework. Vue.js is a Javascript framework for creating user interfaces that we had implemented in the Webmail 2.0 project. Since the Vue 2 manufacturer's support and security updates had ended in the meantime, the upgrade to the new version was necessary to ensure security, better technical specifications and introduce new functionalities.
As the difference between the two frameworks is very large, the solution must usually be built from scratch in terms of development when switching to Vue 3 – this is also the case in this case. Thanks to our previous experience in the Webmail 2.0 project and our long-term partnership with Zone, we had a deep understanding of the existing architecture and the customer's needs, which allowed us to significantly shorten the analysis phase and speed up the development process.
The Zone Webmail 3.0 solution uses the latest technologies – Vue 3 in the front-end and the latest versions of Laravel and Node.js in the back-end. This makes it possible to provide end-users with a better user experience and new functionalities that were not previously available. For example, thanks to the update of the technical platform, Zone can now offer users such functionalities as the currently popular dark mode, various export and import functions, and offline support that will soon be added.
Advanced search with time filters and keywords makes it faster to find the desired information.
In addition, we have updated the user interface of the solution to further improve usability. To do this, we carried out thorough user tests and simplified user journeys. (During user tests, we even polished how users were transferred to Webmail 3.0 are onboarded and the updates are introduced to them.)
For example, we've added a quick settings menu that lets you quickly change the view of your inbox. You can also now choose the frequency at which messages are displayed. We've simplified threading logic to make threading more convenient, and we've added an auto-delete feature that allows you to automatically delete all messages that are X days old from the folder and keep your inbox clean. It is also now possible to navigate the mailbox using keyboard shortcuts.
The new Quick Settings menu allows you to quickly select the density of the view and the position of the Reading Pane.
We also updated the design and harmonized it with Zone's other services. As in the Webmail 2.0 project, we created the design based on Google's Material Design principles and recommended visual language. (The Material Design standard combines the principles of good design and technical innovation and is used in all of Google's own projects.)
In addition, during the project, we created a style guide and a collection of style components in Figma, which simplify future developments and allow components to be reused.
As this is a large-scale project that involves many processes, we used Atlassian's project management tool Jira to manage the project and communicate with the client, which gives the client an accurate overview of the work in progress and ahead, contributing to well-functioning communication.
Result: Advantages of Zone Webmail 3.0
- The solution uses the latest technical frameworks, which allows us to offer users new functionalities and simplifies future developments.
- Today, security requirements are met at the maximum possible level and users' email exchange is protected in the best possible way.
- The updated user interface further enhances the ease of use of the service, including through extensive user testing and adherence to the Material Design design standard.
- The updated design is more consistent with Zone's other services. The style guide and style component collection simplifies future design work and allows components to be reused.
- The solution is cost-effective for the customer: it is more affordable than ready-made platforms for providing e-mail services and, unlike free software, offers all the necessary functionalities.
Conclude
Zone's webmail development is a good example of how long-term cooperation is the key to success in the development of business-critical services. By knowing the customer's expectations and the needs of the end users, we can implement new ideas faster and faster.
At Trinidad Wiseman, you can find all the competencies needed to create user-friendly digital solutions, from analysis to software development, in one place – thanks to this, we can offer our customers complete solutions. We are one of Estonia's most recognized service providers in the field of user experience design, and our design and development teams work closely together to create solutions that are both user-friendly and technically efficient.
If you would like to discuss how we can support your company's needs, please contact us.
