Content design is going through a transformation.
In the past few years, the field has matured, diversified, and taken on a more central role in how products are shaped. But at the same time, content professionals are being pushed into new responsibilities, often without a clear path forward.
That tension is exactly why we created Advanced UX Content for Product, a new course from UX Content Collective designed to help mid-career content designers grow into more strategic, influential roles.
If you’re a content designer or UX writer who feels like the ground is shifting under your feet, this is for you. Here’s why we built this course, and what you’ll learn.
Layoffs, new AI tooling, shifting expectations around team structure and ownership. All of it has happened quickly, and many content professionals are struggling to keep up.
While AI is a big part of the conversation, the disruption started earlier. Layoffs began before ChatGPT even launched. But when AI entered the mainstream, it accelerated existing trends and magnified underlying challenges. Content designers are feeling a lot of pressure about not just the words on the screen, but the systems and workflows behind them.
Even early-career designers are noticing how quickly the landscape is evolving. One person in our recent salary survey put it plainly:
“I haven’t been in the industry very long, but it’s clear that things are shifting. I was planning to focus on upskilling in UX research and localization, but now it’s obvious AI is becoming the priority.”
This change is about how the role of content fits into the wider product and tech ecosystem. That shift comes with both uncertainty and opportunity.
While the external pressures have changed, many of the internal challenges remain the same. Content professionals still report being left out of decision-making, lacking visibility in product conversations, and struggling to show the value of their work.
What’s different now is the urgency. The rise of AI, automation, and dynamic content systems is widening the gap between content as a craft and content as infrastructure. That’s left many designers unsure of how to position themselves.
Hiring managers are noticing this, too. We’ve heard again and again:
Content is not integrated into product strategy (only content strategy)
There’s a shortage of content designers who understand technical systems
Teams struggle with consistency and standards at scale
There’s little guidance on how ICs can grow into senior or strategic roles
In other words: content designers are being asked to do more, in more complex environments without a shared playbook. We spotted these trends last year in our piece Content Design 3.0. Now, we’ve created some training to address.
When we asked content designers how they felt about the industry right now, we heard variations on the same themes:
“It’s important to learn and use AI.”
“There’s a lot of potential, but I’m worried about leaders who don’t understand quality and accuracy pushing quick-fix tools.”
“Content design is getting a little stale. It’s time to stop waiting for a seat at the table and start leading.”
There’s a sense that we’re at a crossroads. Either content steps up to help shape the future of digital experiences or risks being shaped by it. That’s where this course comes in.
We didn’t start this course by asking, “What do we want to teach?” We started by asking, “What are the most urgent problems content designers are facing?”
We put together an advisory group consisting of 8 industry experts:
Through a process of collaboration and feedback, we settled on six key challenges:
A lack of technical fluency. Most content designers don’t have a strong understanding of how products are built. That limits their ability to contribute meaningfully to engineering conversations or product planning.
Limited connection to product strategy. Content strategy is often siloed. To be effective, content designers need to understand and influence overall product direction.
Poor measurement frameworks. It’s hard to prove value when you’re only measuring success at the screen level. Strategic measurement needs to connect content to broader business and user outcomes.
Outdated team structures. Many organizations haven’t adjusted their content teams to meet today’s needs, especially around AI, localization, and structured content. Leaders don’t always know what skills to hire for.
Reactive, not systemic thinking. Designers are solving problems in isolation, rather than thinking across ecosystems. Without systems thinking, it’s impossible to scale quality content.
Uncertainty around structured and dynamic content. As more products depend on reusable or AI-driven content, designers need a stronger grasp of structure, governance, and tooling.
These aren’t abstract problems. They’re coming up in day-to-day work: in tooling decisions, in hiring conversations, and in career development discussions.
Advanced UX Content for Product is designed for working content professionals ready to take on more strategic roles. It’s a course about expanding your influence across the product ecosystem.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
This unit gives you a practical understanding of the tech stack not as an engineer, but as a content designer who needs to collaborate with engineers. You’ll learn about front-end vs back-end systems, content delivery architecture, APIs, version control, and more. Notably, you’ll see how content flows through systems and what that means for your decisions and influence.
As coure co-author Dave Connis put it:
“Understanding the system behind the UI unlocks real collaboration. If you can’t speak the same language as your engineers, you won’t get taken seriously.”
You’ll learn how to operate in ambiguity, shape product direction, and bring a content lens to early-stage planning. This unit focuses on working across teams and flows, rather than designing in isolation.
This unit goes beyond testing and content KPIs. You’ll explore how to measure content performance in the context of product outcomes, business goals, and cross-functional success. As course co-author Kyra Lee noted during the session, content designers often struggle to demonstrate impact. This section shows you how to make your work visible and valued.
The future of content teams will look different. You’ll learn what skills are emerging, how to build teams that can scale effectively, and what it means to lead (even as an IC).
This unit helps you think across ecosystems: design systems, governance, content ops, and more. You’ll learn how to architect solutions that scale.
AI, personalization, modular content – none of these work without structure. You’ll learn how to model content, work with components, and support systems that rely on reusable content patterns. Rather than teaching you one specific tool, this unit gives you a mental model for navigating whatever comes next.
There are plenty of technical courses, product management bootcamps, and content systems webinars out there. But none are built specifically for content designers and certainly not with this level of depth.
This course is grounded in real problems, designed by experienced practitioners, and focused on helping you become the kind of content leader the future demands.
You’ll get:
Self-paced lessons across six deep-dive units
Graded assignments to solidify your learning
An optional 1:1 coaching session midway through
A challenging final project to showcase your strategic thinking
Lifetime access to revisit material as your role evolves
It’s built by a team of experts that include:
This course is for content professionals who:
Are at a mid-level or senior point in their careers
Want to grow into strategy, ops, or systems leadership
Are tired of being left out of product decisions
Want to build influence across engineering, design, and product
Are ready to lead, not just deliver
If you’ve ever felt like your skills were outgrowing your title or that your title wasn’t keeping up with your responsibilities, this course is the bridge.
We’re launching Advanced UX Content for Product in early July 2025. Join the waitlist to be the first to preview the full curriculum and get important updates.
We don’t think this course is just another course. It’s a shift in mindset from flows to systems, from craft to infrastructure, from contributor to leader.
You don’t need to become a developer. But you do need to understand how products work and how content fits inside them. That’s what will help you build influence, shape strategy, and stay relevant as the industry evolves.
Have questions? Reach out to patrick@uxcontent.com anytime.
Explore our content strategy courses and certifications:
Get our weekly Dash newsletter packed with links, regular updates with resources, discounts, and more.
