Growing beyond a team of one
Selene Rosenberg of UX Content Design NYC chatted with three experts on how to survive the headcount hustle and build your content dream team.
On January 29, 2020, around fifty product content and design professionals gathered at Conde Nast’s offices in One World Trade for our tenth UX Content Design NYC Meetup.
We went back to the panel format this time with “Growing Beyond a Team of One”, featuring Amanda Lasnik from Spotify, Gina Pensiero from Facebook and Janet Choi from American Express, moderated by our very own Selene Rosenberg from Mastercard.
Even our panelists said they learned a lot from the discussion, so we wanted to share the highlights and key takeaways with those who were unable to join.
A little more about our panelists:
Amanda currently leads UX Writing on Spotify for Artists — a tool designed for artists and their teams to get the most out of their music on Spotify. Past roles include leading content strategy for Spotify’s self-serve ad platform and internal messaging tool, running her own design firm, and wearing too many hats at a product innovation agency.
Gina Pensiero has worked as a strategist and writer for 15 years, working with leading brands including Apple, Nike, and Twitter. At the time of our session, she led a suite of user experience-focused content strategy teams working across the Facebook app, including news, search, profile, dating, product foundation and more, though she recently transitioned to lead Interest-related teams at Instagram.
Janet Choi spent a decade as a graphic designer before she lucked into her first (and current) UX writing gig in 2015 at American Express. She believes the top 3 traits necessary to be a successful UX writer are patience, resilience, and the ability to correct someone’s grammar without causing homicidal thoughts (in either one of you).
Here are five imperatives about building a content team, gleaned from our 45-minute discussion.
1. Enjoy the silence
Working alone? Try to enjoy the simplicity of being an individual contributor while you can.
Panelists agreed that working alone can be easier in some ways, because you don’t have any of the headaches of managing a team.
“You get to be an auteur, and that’s kind of fun,” Gina said.
“When you have a team and a community, the challenge is presenting a unified front.”
However, there are some downsides. “Sure, it’s just you — but you say yes to everything and you’re spread completely thin,” said Janet. “When you have a team and a community, the challenge is presenting a unified front.”
Amanda agreed. “A larger team means more feedback,” she said, adding that she didn’t see much benefit to being a team of one. “I don’t think you can get better that way.”
2. Be patient and persistent
A little patience (and persistence) can go a long way toward growing your team. Getting the support you need can take up to 10 months, even in an established content strategy or UX writing practice.
“Getting the first UX writer is the hardest,” Amanda said. “Always be asking.”
“Keep saying ‘I can’t do this on my own’ — constantly,” Janet added.
Everyone agreed that one of the best ways to show your value — and grow your team — is to give people a taste of what you can do. Handing out “free samples”, the way a salesperson might, can increase interest and demonstrate the power of your craft.
“Suddenly it’s gone and they want more of it.”
“I like to say yes to everything,” Gina said. “That can be hard over time, but it can be good to do for a little bit to get people hooked.”
Once people have seen the value of content expertise in a tangible, hands-on way, she pointed out, it’s easier to make the case for headcount. “Suddenly it’s gone and they want more of it.”
3. Make the case for headcount
While designers can be relatively easy to convince of your value, product managers can be your most strategic allies.
“Product management is a lonely job,” Gina said. “I’ve had a lot of success offering up myself and my team as help for them.”
“Once you can show value, they include you and involve you in the planning,” Amanda added.
And how can you show your value? When you work in product design, metrics are everything. And it’s no different when it comes to making the case for headcount.
“Whenever you can tie back to metrics, that’s when it really solidifies for people,” Amanda said. “If you can show that just tweaking the copy changes engagement rates or reduces customer support tickets — that’s a huge one. Because when you reduce customer support tickets, you reduce dollars that the company is spending on those things.”
Metrics are everything. And it’s no different when it comes to making the case for headcount.
“Being able to tie back to metrics is huge,” Gina agreed. She pointed out that getting involved with testing can help you figure out how to deliver measurable outcomes rather than outputs.
Finding ways to make processes more streamlined and efficient can also help you show your impact on key performance indicators like speed to market.
4. Be intentional about hiring
Once you’ve got headcount, how do you start building your team? Everyone agreed that different organizations have different needs when it comes to hiring.
“I hire for someone who will be a good cultural fit,” Janet said. “I look more for relevant skills than the experience itself.” Janet has a small, “grassroots” team, and her top priority is preserving their rapport while helping develop the skills needed to address new challenges.
On larger content teams, a UX writer or content strategist might join a UX team of 15–20, where there is less opportunity to mentor a junior team member.
Different organizations have different needs when it comes to hiring.
“I definitely look for people with experience,” Amanda said.
Amanda also pointed out that not all UX writers are created equal — it can be dangerous to expect everyone to be strong in everything that involves words.
“Some people love writing style guides and some people don’t,” she said. “Me? I’m so thankful for it and thankful I didn’t have to write it.”
In a similar vein, Gina advised against equating copywriting skills with content strategy. “There are a mathiness and logic to the writing, an economy to the language that is extreme,” she said.
“It helps to have a design background,” Janet said. She uses her experience as a graphic designer to help ask the right questions about the choices designers make.
If you’re hiring a new resource, here are some questions you might ask yourself:
- Does this person need to hit the ground running?
- Do you have time to mentor/teach?
- What’s more important — cultural fit or relevant experience?
Panelists also agreed that diversity is an important element to consider with a new hire, especially when your product is trying to reach a global audience.
“It’s so important to have a lot of different voices in the room,” Gina said. “Try to think about diversity in a broad way to serve all users.”
“Be intentional about it,” Amanda said. “Get out there with people who think differently.”
Diversity of opinion can also be key to fresh perspectives. Spotify holds a weekly writing critique session as a way to get fresh eyes on the work.
“We might spend 45 minutes on a 3-word CTA,” Amanda said, “but it’s a valuable ‘sanity check’ for the team.”
5. Grow the discipline as well as the team
Once you’ve made your first hire or two, it’s important to make sure you’re giving your team the support they need.
“Every company has slightly different borders around this work,” Gina said. So how can you help new team members quickly understand how the content discipline functions at your organization?
One thing you can do is start gathering and organizing evidence for the decisions you’ve made. If it’s all in your head, it becomes difficult for you to scale your practice across product teams, because you’re the only source of truth.
How can you help new team members quickly understand how the content discipline functions at your organization?
Panelists mentioned term database dictionaries, content briefs, and style guides as key to helping establish standards and keep teams aligned. “Having those documents is imperative,” Gina said.
And when it comes to onboarding, everyone agreed it helps to get face time with key stakeholders in your organization to help new team members understand how different teams work with content.
Want to know more about how to create guidelines for your team? Here are some helpful links.
Megalist of Style Guides (I ❤ Content Design)
Content Style Guides Collection (UX Writing Hub)
How to create product content guidelines (UX Collective)
Creating a copy system along with your design system (UX Collective)
UX Writing How-To Guides (Daily UX Writing)
Want to know more about UX writing, content design or content strategy? Check out these content strategy resources and tools from Qordoba, and this megalist of UX writing resources from Noteworthy.
Thanks again to Janet, Amanda, and Gina for joining us to discuss their experiences with growing beyond a team of one. Want to know more about future events? Follow us on Meetup.
