Inside Omnisend’s emotional facelift

Reading Time: 5 minutes

You don’t always notice the subtle things brands do to make you feel something. An unexpected smile, a small spark of achievement — it happens while you’re using the product, and you don’t overthink it. You just know it made you feel a certain way.

What you might not realize is that those moments are often the result of smart product design — deliberate, thoughtful decisions meant to build an emotional connection between the product and the person using it.

In product design, an emotional facelift isn’t about changing how something looks, but rather changing how it feels. It’s that extra layer of personality, tone, and empathy that turns a tool into something people actually enjoy using.

For Omnisend, that meant creating small, intentional details that help users feel supported, celebrated, and understood. Because good design solves problems, but great design makes you feel something.

Designing emotion into everyday moments

As Omnisend set out on its emotional facelift, Karolina Stonkė, Director of Product Design, made clear that the team’s goal wasn’t to redesign the product’s appearance but its feel.

“We created the emotional facelift to connect with our users on a more human level, through clarity, support, celebration, and reassurance,” Karolina explains. “The focus wasn’t on adding new features or changing our branding. We wanted to design emotion right into the product experience.”

The update touches everything from loading screens to milestone messages. Subtle details meet users at just the right moment, whether they’re waiting, achieving, or even stumbling.

“Good user experience has always been something that sets Omnisend apart,” she says. “This was about making that edge even sharper. But emotional design isn’t something you finish. It’s a mindset that keeps evolving.”

The science and instinct behind emotion

Part of the facelift’s foundation came from research, but also from something much older — human instinct.

“People fall in love with products that are enjoyable to use,” says Karolina. “Research spanning more than 30 years, including Material’s Expressive Design studies, confirms it. That first spark of delight turns into trust, and trust turns into loyalty, and it doesn’t matter if it’s an app, a car, or your favorite pair of jeans you just can’t part with.”

The product design team leaned on design thinking — listening, defining, exploring, creating, and testing — but with a twist: they paid close attention not just to what users said, but to how they felt.

“Every hesitation, smile, or expression gave us clues,” Karolina explains. “Those emotions shaped the experience in ways data alone never could.”

Even the smallest interactions mattered. A playful loading screen, for example, can change how time feels.

“Sometimes users feel like their waiting time is shorter simply because the experience is enjoyable,” she says. “Perception can be more powerful than reality.”

Finding inspiration and learning what to avoid

Design trends can be fun, but for a timeless approach, balance is key. For example, professional tools often look sleek but feel intimidating, and Omnisend wanted to avoid that.

“A lot of tools are powerful but emotionally flat,” Karolina says. “We wanted people to feel comfortable, supported, and inspired, like having a creative friend by your side, cheering you on.”

She points to Canva as an example of getting that balance right.

“Canva does this beautifully. It’s been a big inspiration for creating an experience that’s both exciting and approachable. I’m a huge fan.”

But there was also a clear line the team refused to cross.

“We didn’t want to mess with usability, that was non-negotiable,” Karolina says. “The goal was to find that sweet spot between fun and clear. If something brings joy without disrupting the task, it stays. If it risks confusion, it goes.”

Giving Omnisend more personality (and a face)

One of the most visible parts of the facelift is the new mascot named Omni — a small, expressive figure that pops up around the product.

“It’s our Omnisend logo reimagined,” Karolina explains. “Brought to life with arms, legs, and just the right touch of attitude. Omni, ready to walk the talk.”

Omni acts like a friendly sidekick: warm, optimistic, and there when you need a little boost. It celebrates wins, softens frustrations, and adds a wink of personality to otherwise routine moments.

“We’re very intentional about where it appears,” Karolina says. “Only in moments where a touch of humanity actually makes the experience better.”

That balance between professionalism and playfulness is at the heart of the entire facelift.

Measuring emotion

Designers can’t A/B-test happiness, but Omnisend’s team still found ways to track emotional impact alongside the data.

“We measure both numbers and emotions,” Karolina says. “Engagement metrics, feedback tone, even the language users use to describe their experience. When the data improves and the feedback feels warmer, we know it’s working.”

And some feedback said it all:

“One user told us, ‘My job is kind of boring, and these changes make it a little more fun for me.’” Karolina smiles. “I’d say that’s mission accomplished.”

When small things make a big difference

It’s easy to underestimate details like loading screens, friendly icons, or celebratory copy. But in a product used daily by hundreds of thousands of marketers, those moments add up.

“We designed the mascot to bring emotion into the experience,” Karolina says, “but it quickly took on a life of its own. Now it’s on our office walls, in our product, even on social media — it just stuck, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

That’s just one example of how much everyone at Omnisend believes in what they do and takes pride in their work.

So what’s Omnisend’s personality like?

“Chill. The kind of ‘boring’ everyone actually wants.” That’s how Karolina describes Omnisend’s personality, and it fits perfectly.

This kind of boring comes from quiet confidence — a product that doesn’t need to shout, surprise, or overwhelm. It just works: predictably, smoothly, and with intention.

“We want people to feel that Omnisend is on their side — simple, human, and quietly encouraging, even in the smallest moments,” Karolina says.

In the end, that’s what “so good, it’s boring” really means: every part of the product is doing its job so seamlessly, you don’t even have to think about it.