How design & content strategy work together

Insights for how to build a strong relationship

Illustration by Taylor Krut

I recently spoke on a panel about how design and content strategy work together at Facebook.

The overwhelming takeaway was that the relationship between product design and content strategy is an important one, and both roles are required to build exceptional products. Throughout my career, and especially at Facebook, I’ve learned how to build strong relationships with my content design counterparts and how to work with them effectively.

Throughout the panel a few themes emerged that I wanted to share.

1. Design and Content are strategic partners

“Designers make things look pretty.” If you’ve worked in the field long enough, you’ve heard a version of this. For the most part, this adage has been dispelled. In many cases, design is now considered a strategic partner with a seat at the metaphorical product management table.

I believe content strategy is undergoing a similar transformation. “CS writes the words” is an utterance quickly going out of style. Their contribution to product development is broader and more strategic. Pull up a chair.

2. Content Strategy does more than words

In the 8 years I’ve been in the industry, I’ve seen content strategy evolve alongside design as a discipline. When I first started out, I worked with “Technical Writers”. I would design an experience and then work with them to write all of the supporting documentation including tooltips, form field labels, and support documentation.

Fast-forward to today and content strategists are now responsible for product branding, voice and tone, internationalization and localization, taxonomies, SEO, in-product guidance, and much more.

I often find that content strategists are empathetic and intuitive in nature. They naturally represent the voice of the customer in any meeting or product conversation.

3. Content is a distinct role and skillset

Content Strategists often have journalism, marketing, or editorial backgrounds. They often have degrees in English, communications or information management. Therefore, like design, it is a specialized role with a high level of craft.

That may seem obvious but when budgets are tight, designers often find themselves without a content counterpart. They are expected to fill this role which is intended for someone with a deep level of knowledge and expertise. So if this is you, what can you do?

1. Think about the users intent, motivations and emotional state. A lot of content strategy is about giving people the right information at the right time. If you keep these things in mind, you will likely make the right content decisions.
2. Stick to a consistent tone. Without a content strategist, it will be nearly impossible to create a unique voice and tone. Just try to stay consistent. For a great example of voice and tone, check out Mailchimp’s Content Style Guide.
3. Simplify your language. People tend to get overly complex with their choice of words and sentence structures (I know I do). Try using only the 1000 or 2000 most commonly used words in the english language (check out this video that explains space travel using only the top 1000 words). Or try using the Hemingway Editor to simplify the readability of your language.

Thoughts?

Design and Content Strategy work together differently at each company. I’d love to hear what your experience has been like working with content strategists. Or if you are a content strategist, what has been your experience working with designers? Do you have any other tips for how designers can write better content?

In my experience:

1. Design and content are strategic partners
2. Content strategy does more than words
3. Content is a distinct role and skillset