Content design skills to be more proactive

Content designers often work in very fast-paced environments. Deadlines are tight, scopes are huge and the product specifications can be very complex. Indeed, in today’s digital landscape, speed is everything: no product owner would want to miss a business opportunity.

This emphasis on speed and delivery creates a common frustration among content designers: Rather than using their expertise to craft the best user experience and set the product’s tone, they are often limited to proofreading copy predetermined by product owners and compliance.

While research has long shown that content quality directly impacts usability and user trust, decisions are often made without content experts at the table. The result can range from unnatural text to style guide violations. But with legal and product sign-offs, little can be changed.

In my experience working in several environments like this, this situation, albeit frustrating, isn’t a dead end. With the right content design skills and some strategic thinking, you can gradually turn the tide and position yourself more prominently.

Starting with identifying the issues

When I first started in my current role, copywriters were in a very reactive position. The team was only given signed-off UI strings or content marketing texts directly from product owners without any context, and our tasks were simply to proofread them. Things simply ran like a factory line, and we had no influence over the UI accessibility and navigation flow of the user journeys.

Copy produced in this environment was often subpar and inconsistent, hampering user engagement. Yet, under constant pressure to deliver quickly, copywriting remained an afterthought for generations of product owners, even though clear, relevant copy led to higher user retention and conversion rates.

To solve this issue, I decided to insert content designers into the workflow. I devised a standard operating procedure (SOP) to elevate content designers’ prominence and visibility within the workflow. This is an example of how a little proactivity, when systemised, can gradually make a huge difference. By identifying pain points, developing a thorough solution plan, and defining the intended results, one can facilitate changes to how things work in any environment.

The SOP I developed rests on three principles, each supported by best practices in UX and content strategy.

1. First, establishing a consistent tone of voice for each scenario creates a more cohesive user experience, which increases brand trust and clarity.
2. Second, providing content designers with the full context—such as Figma files and marketing materials—enables them to deliver copy that’s tailored and effective.
3. Third, involving content designers early in the workflow allows them to collaborate on UI components, ensuring the copy fits the layout and supports usability.

This integrated approach has been shown to reduce costly revisions and improve user satisfaction, as evident by the decrease in customer complaints over time.

Facilitate your plan and actions

Once the scope was established, I outlined the responsibilities, steps and sign-off processes, clearly specifying who does what and the intended outcomes. To better understand the pain points, I held meetings with some product owners to identify copy-related issues or needs they were encountering.

To my surprise, many product owners weren’t deliberately treating copywriting as an oversight. In fact, they were simply too busy and had no clue where to start, even though they knew content design was vital to their product quality, while some were unaware of the potential benefits.

Here’s a tip: by bringing a few product owners on board, the process of facilitating change can become far smoother.

Eventually, a framework was set. Content designers should be involved in the product review stage to comment on UI components in Figma files. Then, we would provide optimised copy directly in the Figma files to ensure our version best reflects the entire UX journey. Product teams would then critique our version, sign off, and pass it to developers.

The process involved many back-and-forths among the product leaders, the head of UX, and me to ensure the SOP addressed their respective pain points without adding too much time.

To address the sharp increase in workload, I built a series of custom bots on ChatGPT that fully understand our editorial style guide and intended tone of voice. This allows us to analyse Figma screenshots and quickly provide improved UI strings and copy.

The end goal of driving change and becoming more proactive was clear and slowly coming to effect. Content designers were gradually no longer being given copy to edit without context or agency. Our team now has input and say over UI components and copy tone, making sure what our users see is actually accessible and value-added.

This immediately had a huge impact on our new product launches, with UX and product designers realising the difference in copy quality. There is no better way to foster trust and collaboration than with a few success cases under the belt.

Personal skills and results are key

However, the process is never smooth. Sometimes it’s “three steps forward, two steps back,” and it can be frustrating. For instance, some product owners may perceive the extra copy guardrail as bureaucracy and dragging down the already-strained timeline.

Some may be used to the old ways of working and don’t see the value of a new SOP. Some may not even see the value of effective copy. One question I got from a product owner was, “How would you measure the monetary value of subpar copy?”

In these cases, it’s vital to keep a proactive mindset and resist the temptation of seeing these doubts as a personal challenge. Instead, focus on the issues and your rationale. In my experience, I have insisted that having copy aligned with the product intent is the only way to minimise drop-off, given everything else constant. Also, getting things right in one go reduces published errors and the need for iteration.

Combined with some win cases from A/B testing, I was able to let the result speak for itself. Lastly, in case of unclear responsibilities, I went back and revamped the SOP so that each role is clearly defined.

Moreover, this is a time to make good use of your newfound alliances. By having a few leaders on board with this approach, I was able to secure a smoother adaption process than expected. Being proactive means solving issues as they come and expanding your network along the way. Trust me, this pays off significantly.

Content design skills that drive results

Fast forward for two quarters. Today, this is now the standard for our new product launches:

• Content designers are now expected to be involved in the UI review stage and provide copy directly on Figma.
• Product and UX designers find the new copy helpful for guiding user navigation, and our team can now provide quick turnarounds in Figma.
• Copy quality has drastically improved, and eventually, users will find our UI strings easier to read.
• Given the clear benefits, major product lines are keen to keep this SOP in place.

Yet, this SOP is still far from being universal. New-joining product owners or joiners who haven’t got the memo may still insist on the old way, believing that copy is still an oversight and quick launch is everything. There is still some work to be done in educating our product counterparts.

The next step is to prove that good copy that can help navigate can boost the conversion rate. Once the figures and analytics come in, or when our upcoming user survey identifies copy as one of the key experience strengths, we’re in a position to keep striving for even wider adoption.