Project Title

RHS Newsletter Sign-Up Pop-Up: Optimizely Extension Development

The Challenge

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) needed a reusable, easy-to-manage pop-up solution to support newsletter sign-ups and future marketing campaigns. The goal was to empower digital producers to deploy and configure pop-ups independently, without relying on developers for each iteration. The solution needed to be responsive, brand-aligned, and flexible enough to support different campaign types.

My Role

As the Product Owner, I was responsible for:

• Defining the platform and feature vision, setting priorities, and writing detailed user stories and specifications.
• Collaborating with developers and designers to shape the MVP and final solution.
• Coordinating stakeholder input and aligning the solution with marketing goals.
• Testing the pop-up functionality and validating user experience across devices.
• Configuring and reviewing the final implementation to ensure it met business needs.

Tools & Setup

• Optimizely Templates – For building and managing the pop-up.
• JavaScript – Core development of the pop-up logic and UI.
• Campaign Monitor – Embedded sign-up form with hidden source tracking.
• Figma – Used for mock-ups and design references.
• Cross-browser Testing Tools – Ensured responsiveness and compatibility.

What We Tested

We began with an MVP to test:

• Pop-up display logic and integration with Optimizely.
• Embedding and functionality of the Campaign Monitor form.
• User interaction patterns across devices.

Once validated, we enhanced the extension with advanced configuration options:

• Auto Activation: Automatically trigger the pop-up based on scroll depth or time delay.
• Scroll Trigger: Display the pop-up after a user scrolls a defined percentage of the page.
• Timed Trigger: Delay the pop-up by a set number of seconds to avoid interrupting early engagement.
• Frequency Control: Options to show the pop-up once per session, only on first visit, or after a set number of days.
• Close Behavior: Define whether the pop-up reappears after closing, and after how many days.

These enhancements gave digital producers full control over how and when the pop-up appears, improving both flexibility and user experience.

What I Found

• Modular Codebase: A single codebase could support both sign-up and marketing use cases with minor configuration changes.
• Improved UX: Delayed and scroll-based triggers reduced bounce rates and improved engagement.
• Empowered Teams: Non-technical users could manage and configure the pop-up independently.

What I Learned

• What worked well: Starting with an MVP allowed us to validate quickly and iterate based on real feedback.
• What I’d do differently: Define pop-up behavior rules (e.g., frequency, triggers) earlier in the process to align expectations.
• Surprises: The flexibility of Optimizely Templates exceeded expectations, enabling scalable reuse across campaigns.

📸 Visuals

• RHS Sign-Up Form Pop-Up Mock-up (Mobile)
  Early design concept showing layout and user flow on mobile devices.

• RHS Sign-Up Form Pop-Up – Final Implementation (Desktop and Mobile)
  Screenshots of the live pop-up in action across different screen sizes.

• Goodwood Example Pop-Ups (Inspiration)
  Reference designs that influenced layout, interaction, and styling decisions.

• Configuration Panel Screenshots
  Showcasing the Optimizely extension settings, including scroll trigger, timed delay, and frequency controls.

Feedback welcome.

If you’ve tackled similar challenges with Optimizely, pop-up UX, or empowering non-technical teams through configurable tools, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Whether it’s ideas for improving engagement strategies or lessons learned from building reusable templates, feel free to connect — I’m always keen to exchange insights and explore better ways to deliver value through product-led solutions.