Portfolio Automation
- Lena
- Sep 17, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 29, 2018
Using automation on my (this) portfolio website

To recap the discussion of systems and automation in my last blog post, I highlighted four main design questions to consider when implementing automated systems:
What are you automating and why?
What is the desired span of automation?
What are the potential consequences of a failed automation system?
How reliable and trustworthy is your system/product?
All four of these points are intended to point you in a direction that leads to high levels of perceived reliability and correct levels of trust in the automated system. To serve as an example,
I implemented an automated system in the 'CONTACT' section of my (this) website.
Here's the thought process I followed:
What Do I Automate?

Under the 'CONTACT' section of my website, there is a form that users can fill out to reach me by email.

Once a user submits the form, a tiny message pops up on the bottom of the page stating, "Success! Message received."
I wanted to automate this 'CONTACT' form so that whenever a user submits the form to reach me, not only will the user see the page's notification, but the user will also immediately receive a 'Thank You' email stating that their message has been received.
Why Did I Automate?
I automated this email response to demonstrate clear communication with my visitor, as well as to establish trust within the visitor that I will respond soon.
From personal experience, whenever I submit an online form or inquiry, I enjoy receiving emails in addition to the page's notification confirming that my submission was received. An immediate email establishes:
Confirmation of a successful submission
Documentation as proof should I forget if I submitted at a later point in time
Trust that I will receive a response
Desired Span of Automation
The extent of my automated system will only be used in the 'CONTACT' section of my website—if a user is directly reaching out to me, then I am assuming the user wishes to receive a response. Therefore, if the user receives an email stating that they will receive a response from me soon, this email will probably elicit a positive reaction. I have not extended the automated emails to the blog section of my website, because comments on my blog can purely be comments; they do not necessarily assume a response from me.
The timing of my automated email is immediate. Once the user submits the Contact form, they will immediately receive the confirmation email. This prevents any confusion with the Contact form submission that the user may experience.
Potential Consequences
If the user never receives a confirmation email, potential consequences may include:
The user becoming confused about if the form was correctly submitted
The user submitting the form multiple times due to confusion from the point above
The user believing that I will not receive the email, and therefore the user believing that I will not respond
If the user receives the wrong email, potential consequences may include:
The user becoming confused about what form they submitted
The user distrusting my website system, and therefore the user distrusting me
If the user receives multiple confirmation emails, potential consequences include:
The user becoming annoyed with my website system (and therefore annoyed with me)
The user distrusting my website system (and therefore distrusting me)
To avoid these consequences, I ensured that the automation email will only send once per contact, and that there is only one version of the automated email that can be sent. There is a place where I can view how many times this automated response has been triggered as well.
Reliability and Trustworthiness
The automated system that I used is embedded within Wix Automations, which has many credible reviews from the public (this tool is available for free to the general public).
The whole purpose of this automated system is to establish clear communication between me and those who wish to get in contact, therefore boosting their trust and reliability in me.
Implementation
I used Wix Automations to set up my email automation process. Through this tool, automations can easily be set up by defining three main components: (1) Trigger, (2) Action, and (3) Timing. This is how I defined my automation components:
Trigger: Every time a user submits a Contact Form
Action: Send a confirmation email to the user from my email address
Timing: Sent immediately and once per Contact Form
I customized the automated email to make it feel more personalized, and voilà! The automation was all set up.
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