There have been a lot of exciting changes at Interfolio in the past few months, all in the service of our commitment to providing you with an easy way to submit confidential letters of recommendation for your students and colleagues. We know one of your favorite features of Letter Writer is the cost (FREE) and don’t worry, we haven’t changed a thing on that front! But just because Letter Writer is free doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve some user experience love! After June 9th, when the new version will be made live, all of our beloved letter writers will benefit from a new, clean interface and more efficient ways to complete your tasks.
Although we still require an email address and password to submit a letter (after all, we need some way to keep your letters safe, secure, and always owned by you, the writer), those of you who are new to our Letter Writer product will find a streamlined account creation experience that’s more efficient and easier to understand.
We only require a little bit of information to get started.
Once logged in to the Letter Writer product, you’ll see clear displays of any and all pending letter requests. These requests will also include better displays of critical information, such as the due date or whether a signature is required. This comprehensive information is also found in your recommendation history, where you can also perform actions on recommendations already submitted, such as downloading the original document and replacing a letter if necessary.
View all the recommendations you’ve written.
But our changes didn’t stop with aesthetics. We heard loud and clear that although “less is more” in terms of our interface design, the letter requests themselves would benefit from more information from the candidates. Context matters and it results in better letters. We’ve responded to this issue by making changes to the recommendation letter request process in the Dossier product, which you can see in our new Dossier sneak preview. We now prompt your students and colleagues to include the information that letter writers find most useful when writing letters of recommendation. Those initiating letter requests have the opportunity to attach their CV and/or cover letter, to link you to the opportunity they are applying for and to leave you a personal message. We’re hoping that this additional information makes it easier for you to fulfill any requests for letters that you receive.
Sometimes, writers are reluctant to call us if they need help. We know you like your questions answered quickly and efficiently, so we have embedded help content throughout the Letter Writer interface to answer your most frequently asked questions.
Of course if our embedded help doesn’t do the trick, once the new product rolls out (check back after June 9th!), our help documentation will include up-to-date instructions and screenshots to ensure that you get the answers you need. As always, our Customer Support Team will be standing by to answer your questions and listen to any concerns you might have.
Help appears where you need it.
We think these enhancements will provide everyone with an easier path to uploading letters moving forward. As always, we want you to spend as little time as possible navigating our system, so that you are freed up to focus your time and energy on everything else—including writing great letters!