Content Design Case Study: Chewy Sweepstakes Project
By Kate Goodin, Content Designer @ Chewy
Content design sounds great in theory: Focus on the customer to give them the content they need at the right time and in the right place. But in practice, it can be hard for fast-moving product teams to implement. Projects can be messy, with technical constraints, multiple stakeholders, and competing priorities. Can content design work in the real world?
At Chewy, we have a content design team in place, but we’re still breaking out of our roles as copywriters and testing out new, more collaborative processes. In a project earlier this year, content led the way, and we want to share how it worked for us from beginning to end.
Problem: Design and copy on separate tracks
The project was to create a landing page for veterinarians to enter a sweepstakes. I worked on this project as a copywriter, and together with design team members, we saw this as an opportunity to bring content and design on the same track with the same user goals in mind.
In the past, this is how our process would typically work:
A designer would design the pages and a copywriter would fit words into the design.
OR
A copywriter would write copy in a Word doc and a designer would create a design to fit around it.
There might be some collaboration to adjust the design and copy for a better fit, but largely, design and content work happened on separate tracks. This led to a number of challenges:
- Design and copy worked independently and didn’t always have the same user goals in mind.
- We treated design and copy as two parts rather than one whole experience, and it usually showed in the end product. Often, either the copywriter or designer had to make changes to help the two parts fit, rather than for the benefit of the user.
- Stakeholder feedback filtered through either the designer or copywriter, but rarely both at the same time. This meant changes would happen without the designer or copywriter knowing.
Solution: Bring content and design together for a user-centric experience
In this project, we wanted to put content first in the design process. Compared to how we’ve worked in the past, we saw this as a way to bring content and design closer together. According to Sarah Richards, “Content design is answering a user need in the best way for the user to consume it.” With that in mind, before we jumped into writing or designing, our team met to align on user goals.
What are the user goals?
The sweepstakes was for veterinarians to enter to win an all-expenses paid trip to Chewy Studios to record a Vet Q&A video. (The trip, originally scheduled for earlier this year, has been postponed due to COVID-19.) It seemed straightforward, but when we considered the goals of the sweepstakes landing page from our users’ perspective, we realized how much information we were missing. For example, a veterinarian entering the sweepstakes would need to know the dates of the trip and what “all-expenses paid” really meant. We also knew from past user research that many veterinarians are excited to promote their expertise with their clients, so we went back to our stakeholders to find out if the sweepstakes winner would receive a copy of the Vet Q&A video to use in their veterinary practice.
If we hadn’t considered this before we started writing or designing, the experience might have left users with questions—or stopped them from entering the sweepstakes at all.
Everyone at the whiteboard
Once we aligned on goals, we met again to sketch out wireframes on a whiteboard. To start, we wrote our goals on the whiteboard for visibility. Then we did a Crazy 8’s design exercise to get some ideas going. We did Crazy 4’s to work with our time constraint.
With our drawings in hand and user goals in mind, we discussed our ideas about content priority and hierarchy. We grouped together similar content on Post-it notes and organized them in wireframes drawn on the board. The way we organized the content reflected what was most important to the user: a grand prize callout and entry form at the top, the benefits of entering, how the grand prize works, FAQs, and one more call to enter at the bottom.
In this whiteboarding session, it was key that everyone participated, had their ideas heard, and worked collaboratively. This contributed to a feeling of shared ownership, pride, and responsibility for our project.
Now the writing can begin
Once we agreed on the order and hierarchy of the content on the page, the designer and I had a clear path forward. The designer used Figma to digitize our whiteboard sketches, and I drafted content in a Word doc. Once the wireframes were set up, I went into Figma and added the content I’d written. Then we used Figma to adjust the content and design so they fit together. (We happened to use Figma here, but this can work with any design tool your team uses.)
Because we collaborated so closely, we could talk through design choices to make sure we were displaying information in the best way for our users. For example, the page included a timeline section about how the grand prize worked. The designer included space for six images accompanied by content, but we realized we could condense this information into three images. This meant an easier cognitive load for the user, it was better for mobile viewing, and it saved us from finding six relevant images.
Stakeholder approval
We showed grayscale wireframes to stakeholders for buy-in before moving to high-fidelity mock-ups. In the past, our team would often show stakeholders full-color designs with placeholder content for a first round of feedback. When stakeholders see wireframes with “real” content, they can focus their feedback on the content priority and key messages, instead of colors and visuals.
Once we had stakeholder approval and feedback, the visual designs came together fairly smoothly because we’d already done most of the work! We went through some rounds of copy and visual design tweaks, but they were minor. Our stakeholders were happy with the overall content and design, thanks to the work we did beforehand.
A note on timing: From kickoff to Figma wireframes, this process took just over a week, and we all had other projects going on. The time we took to think about the user goals and experience before writing and designing in high-fidelity made the rest of the process easier.
Tips for starting content design
- Pick a new project with a relatively small team where you can start fresh and test out the process. Make sure everyone is up for trying something new and involved from the beginning, starting with the kickoff.
- Choose a project that won’t have a domino effect on other touchpoints in the customer journey. You don’t have to change everything in the customer experience overnight; at this point, it’s more about practicing the process so you can apply it to other projects.
- Taking time to consider the user goals and content priority is key to content design. Resist the urge to jump into writing or design tools—it’ll be so much easier to do that part when you have the goals and priority laid out.
- Don’t worry if the process doesn’t go “perfectly.” You’ll have to tweak it to fit your team, but if content and design both have a seat at the table and work together from the start, that’s a win for everyone.
by Kate Goodin
Content Designer @ Chewy
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