What does a senior content designer do all day?
I’ve had some conversations lately about what being a content designer actually looks like. What are the expectations of seniors? What types of tasks are you actually responsible for? It made me think I should probably write it down somewhere.
The truth is: companies have different expectations of seniors, just as much as they have different expectations of content design. It depends on the context you’re working in. Some of my colleagues are still surprised at some of the tasks I’m responsible for, as they really do think of content designers as ‘the words person’. Which is ok, but it’s not entirely accurate for me.
The focused ‘problem space’ stuff
I’m the only content designer in my business area at eBay, so I’m currently working in a consulting style where I’ll spend most of my time with one squad as the ‘design rep’. I might move over to another squad in the future, depending on priorities.
So that means right now I’m focused on one product area and one problem space. Specifically, I:
map user stories and edge cases with a product manager
draw out the information architecture using diagrams or even post-its (showing things like the various pages and levels, in and out routes, how we label everything)
create content-first wireframes, designing with lines of text before boxes come in
identify opportunities for user testing, partnering with a researcher
create basic prototypes in Figma to demonstrate the user journey
mock up the UI in higher fidelity using our design system components, once we’re more confident on the flow — this is where I might ask a product design partner to help me refine.
Sometimes I wonder if this flavour of content design just a modern combination of UX design and UX writing.
The holistic ‘across everything’ stuff
In comparison then, how does working across everything look? I did this last year at eBay, and at most of the other companies I’ve been at. My tasks and responsibilities can be different when I’m doing this.
They include:
desk research on language use and product positioning — how are competitors talking about similar concepts, what do users naturally use and what aligns with our brand strategy?
creating documentation and content guidelines on things like clear language, UX content ‘rules’ and how to use voice and tone in different situations (and I’ll update these as and when we get evidence from user testing)
sharing and talking about that documentation so others can use it
reviewing work against guidelines and suggesting improvements– this can turn into ‘content dusting’, which we don’t like, but sometimes have to do
being the bridge between brand, marketing and product. I’ll ask and help answer questions like: “Are social posts using the same language as in-app journeys?”, “How do marketing and transactional comms work together?” and “Is the brand reflected in UX content in the right way?”
collaborating with customer support teams, making sure they’re trained on how our product journeys work and that we’re using their insights to make improvements
collaborating with product marketing to contribute to an overall strategy (this one’s a bit wishy-washy, but generally includes running workshops, defining our target audience, and writing docs together to describe our approach to messaging inside and outside the product)
Is this way of working more aligned with content strategy? Maybe.
The ‘I do this regardless’ stuff
No matter whether I’m focused on one problem space, or working across everything, there are some things I’ll always do as a senior content designer. These are:
writing UX content, drafting different versions of microcopy, playing around with pacing and hierarchy in a flow
working closely with product and tech leads
identifying problems or blockers — this could be anything from writing up a one-pager to circulate to the leadership team, or just speaking up in a meeting when something’s not right
hosting and contributing to design crits
working with and learning from research. Always!!!
working closely with other content designers (if we have them) to critique and align on content in other spaces — asking things like “Does this have the desired effect?” and “Where else are we talking about this?” and “Does this align with our voice and tone?”
guiding and mentoring junior members of the team — this is different to fully training someone up (which requires more focus, time and resources) but I’ll always look out for junior designers and lead by example
contribute to DesignOps initiatives and/or communities of practice (like accessibility) — this often separates a senior from a midweight but depends on the company you’re working for. Personally, I enjoy this “extra-curricular” stuff!
Now, I’ve just listed a lot. There’s no way you could do all of that as just one person at one time. I tend to switch my focus depending on priorities, and the model I’m working in.
Anyway, it’s a pretty good reflection of the activities I do as a senior content designer, and have done over the years. It’s going to be different for other content designers of course, but it’s my personal experience and hopefully it was useful. 💗
