My first month as a content designer
My first 4 weeks as Content Design Intern at Scope were filled with different types of learning.
I was introduced to the team and their use of Kanban through daily meetings. I had not heard of this before, but I got used to it quickly. I like knowing what everyone in the team is working on and the way everyone communicates about it.
At the end of each week, we had a small team meeting for me to ask any questions. We also discussed what I had learned. This was a bit daunting at first, but everyone was interested and encouraging. It was good to have dedicated time to reinforce the week’s learning. I enjoyed the opportunity to spend more time with the team.
Reading
I learned about accessible meetings and the general procedures of content design work. This includes:
- initial research to find what content people need
- refining the data into user stories
- pairing with a subject expert to write a content piece
- a ‘2i’, where the editor checks the language
- having a crit, where everyone involved gives feedback
- user testing
I read:
In week 3, I focused on reading about user and job stories. I learned from this that to write a good user story means more than including as much information as possible.
Sometimes picking only the relevant details will get you further. For example:
‘When I am unhappy with the service,
I want to find contact details
So that I can complain’.
It might seem relevant to include ‘As a…’ with details like my age, or whether I am disabled. But this depends on whether this would affect how you present the content. If it would not change anything, leave it out.
Training
Each week I had at least 1 training session. This included:
- the Scope style guide and how to write about disability
- accessible formatting
- SEO basics
- Kanban principles
- coding in user research
Observing
I watched some user research sessions to learn more about how research works in practice. I saw:
- an open card sort, where a participant sorts menu titles into categories they made
- a content test, where we ask a participant about a page to check they have understood it
- a content feedback workshop (a crit)
Card sort
The card sort was particularly interesting. The participant sorted things very differently from how I would have done it. This was partly because she was basing it on her own experience. Since then, I have used the data from this and other sessions to make a new menu. It was not easy because everyone had different views.
Content test
I listened as our researcher asked a participant about a piece of content. The questions were about:
- the language used
- the information on the page
- whether it was easy to find what they were looking for
Something that stood out to me were the skills involved in interviewing. It seemed like a natural conversation, but we got detailed answers to the questions. This seemed like a better approach than having a fixed list of questions.
A crit
This is a meeting where a content designer gets feedback from the:
- senior editor
- subject expert
- policy adviser
- user researcher
It was valuable to see how the different roles work in practice.
It was easier to discuss the content constructively because everybody had defined roles. This meant any comments were not personal. I learned that asking people about their goals and expectations can create this kind of environment. People can then focus on how to achieve the shared goals.
Writing
My manager encouraged me to think about my own mental health and wellbeing, including how I work well. Everyone in the team has a ‘user manual’ explaining:
- their working schedule
- the way they like to communicate
They can review this every so often and change it if necessary. In week 4, I wrote my first draft.
My first piece of content work was a merge of 3 existing pieces with Chloe. They were all about talking to an employer about disability. Each talked about different times in the employment process, so it made sense to join them into 1 page. It is now live on the Scope website.
Disclosing disability to an employer
For this task, I knew that it is important to focus on the user stories to make the best content. But I also found that focusing on this can help when I am overwhelmed.
We had a lot of content to sort through. Focusing on the title and aim of the new page made me more confident about removing irrelevant parts.
This applied not only to the title of the piece, but to the general attitude. We wanted the page to give disabled people confidence when deciding whether to tell an employer about their needs at work. Identifying this made it easier to see why some of the text felt out of place, and how we could reframe it to fit.
What’s next?
At the end of week 4 I was given my first solo content piece, with a pair write scheduled for the following week. I will blog about my experiences of writing my own content soon!
