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Our Story

Have you ever spent hours writing an email to someone important? Or received a poorly written email from someone reaching out for help? Lettersmith was developed to address the frequent communication snags that we all encounter in our day-to-day lives. There are a lot of general “How to write a good email” suggestions out there, but these tips can only take novice writers so far. What we write depends highly on the audience and context, whether it is asking for a job interview or reaching out to a client.

Lettersmith helps its users build writing skills to communicate more effectively with clients, employers, and fellow professionals. Users can:


  • Follow along with a checklist of best practices specific to different writing contexts
  • See examples of communication from experts and peers
  • Get feedback on their writing from experts and peers

This writing tool builds on the collaborative expertise of a writing community to produce guidance that is specific to one’s individual communication goals. Better emails and letters can mean stronger professional relationships, better project planning and reflection, and more confidence in your communication.

Our Team

Our team is made up of designers, developers, behavioral scientists, researchers, and students who work to ensure a pleasant and meaningful experience for Lettersmith users.

Contact us:
For questions about Lettersmith, please contact us at lettersmith-support@umich.edu

Julie Hui - Assistant Professor in U-M School of Information, Lettersmith Faculty Innovator James Alexander - Senior Software Ambassador
Holly Derry - Associate Director, Behavioral Science David Corneail - User Experience Designer
Ben Hayward - Director of Software Development and User Experience Design Cait Hayward - Associate Director, Research and Development
Nathan Magyar - Software Development Macy Morrow - User Experience Designer
Sundeep Nagumalli - Systeams Administrator David Nesbitt - Software Portfolio Manager
Dennis O'Reilly - Application Architect Becky Peng - User Experience Design Fellow
Ollie Saunders - Software Development and Dev Ops Manager Michael Skib - Quality Assurance Analyst
Xucong Zhan - Software Development

What's New

Jan
2020
Compose and Send
Improvements
Lettersmith now allows for users to send an email directly to recipients as a final step when composing a draft. The styling of these emails can be customized with a newly added Rich Text Editor within the drafting step.
Aug
2020
Account Page
New Features
Students and teachers now have the ability to customize and easily update their profile image and name within Lettersmith’s new Account page.
Aug
10th 2020
Application Migration to Center for Academic Innovation
Lettersmith was brought on as a new application and a full-team was assigned to develop the next wave of features and enhancements to an already existing system.

Testimonials

View some of what advisors, faculty, and students have to say about Lettersmith. Many thanks to those who have provided feedback throughout Lettersmith’s history.

  • From SI Instructor

    It allowed us to remove some of the basic instruction of how to construct these communications. We don't have to say, this is what a first sentence looks like. This is what a second sentence looks like, because it's laid out in the tool.
  • From SI Instructor

    When a class is that size, there's just too many. We have four different sections that all meet. So it's really hard to keep track of what's going on. In this case, we don't have to do any of that. If you complete your Lettermith assignment, then we know that to do that, you have to highlight what you think agreeing is and you have to highlight the connection to the project or your interest in working with the client or whatever it is. We can just define those pieces and they can move forward. And they do it on their own. It allowed us to remove some of the basic instruction of how to construct these communications. We don't have to say, this is what a first sentence looks like. This is what a second sentence looks like, because it's laid out in the tool.
  • From SI Instructor

    I also recognized that [Using Lettersmith] was modeling, that I hadn't done this in other classes. [The students] could actually see what it was I was expecting, it was very clear, which any of the negative feedback that I get from students working with me is that things aren't clear. I kind of gloss over big concepts without helping them connect it to, so it made it very clear. You should tell the students to tell the client why you're interested in this project. This is where you should look for, how can you make a change here.
  • From I6 Instructor

    Students feel like they already know what they're doing. So being able to use a tool that standardizes it was really helpful. Rather than standing in front of them and being like, you will do this and the class being like, `don't tell me how to write an email. I know how to do it.’ When I'm like you actually don't because I see the evidence of it. There's a certain expectation in industry of what people want or expect from a student team, and that student maybe is not as prepared as other students. And so like the gap of expectations, and how to teach that appropriately, I think is very challenging.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is it free?
A: Yes! Anyone can use Lettersmith at no cost. Reach out to our team for a walk-through.
Q: How can I start using Lettersmith?
A: You can sign-in to Lettersmith and start using it right away. We also provide set up step-by-step instructions. If you’d like a live walk through of the tool for your needs, please contact lettersmith-support@umich.edu.
Q: Are there existing writing templates I can adopt for class?
A: Currently, we have three public templates: Cold Email, Cover Letter, and Follow Up. We are in the process of creating more, so if you have any suggestions, please let us know!
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