Sarah M. Smart, Adobe

I’m a senior UX content strategist at Adobe. I report through the design org, solving user problems with word witchery. I’m a cat person, a pizza-lover, and a bad but enthusiastic karaoke singer. Right now, I am really excited about Eurovision.

How did you get into content strategy?

I got lucky! I had a 10-year career in various roles writing and editing for the web at a number of companies — from a horoscope website to a for-profit art school — but I always felt underwhelmed by what I was doing. Always hustling for the next gig, I managed to land a side job doing some marketing writing for the Oracle Applications User Experience team. The recruiter who got me that job submitted me for a UX content writing contract on the QuickBooks Self-Employed team at Intuit.

I had no real clue what this role would be like, but I walked in, wowed them with a pizza-themed portfolio presentation, and never looked back. I never felt like I was really being useful to the world in my previous jobs, but as a UX content designer, I could see the real impact my work had on them. When I think about how happy I am in my current field, I tear up a little because I’m so happy. Sorry, I’m corny af.

What does a normal day look like?

I get to my desk, make myself some coffee, and get psyched for the day ahead by listening to Johnny Gill’s “Rub You the Right Way” three times in a row at full volume (via headphones, of course).

After catching up on email and Slack (or at least marking all messages as read), every day is a little different. Some mornings find me jamming out 200 copy explorations for an onboarding screen, and in others I’ll be going back and forth with designers on the latest revs and new projects coming down the pipe. I’m really involved in a horizontal onboarding initiative, and it’s still in its infancy, so I’m picking up a lot of new skills that I’ve never bothered with before (cf. content modeling) in order to stay relevant.

I reserve my mornings for creating deliverables because I’m way less productive and efficient after lunch. Speaking of lunch, I always take time out to eat because you’re only as good as you feel, and I feel best when I’m not hungry. After lunch is my prime time for meetings, reading the latest posts and news inside the industry, and scheduling more meetings.

What are the top 3 apps you use?

Slack, Outlook, Dropbox Paper. Can I give Google Drive an honorable mention?

Where do you go and what do you do for inspiration?

I listen to music a lot. I’m not a good dancer but I have a lot of my best ideas when I’m tapping my foot, nodding, or swaying. Sometimes a song lyric will find its way into something I’m writing and, even though it won’t be usable, it’ll kick off a whole ‘nother path of ideas.

When I’m looking for examples on how to do something, a Google image search tends to do me right. And I’d be remiss not to mention my fabulous, four-person-strong content strategy team, whose diverse skillsets have already taught me so much and whose big, beautiful brains are always ready with a new perspective for me. They are constantly teaching me new ways to solve problems. They must be exhausted.

Are there any books or blogs you’d recommend?

There are the classics: Content Strategy for the Web, Content Strategy for Mobile, Addiction by Design, Content Everywhere… I really love books about language, too, so I enjoy Eats, Shoots & Leaves, The Elements of Eloquence, that kind of thing. I also enjoy trashy, fast-reading thriller novels, but I don’t think that’s the kind of book you mean.

I don’t follow blogs so much as I follow the links in the emails that Medium sends, but A List Apart publishes so many good articles that I go there first when I’m thirsting for knowledge about something in particular.

What have you worked on that you’re most proud of?

I’m really excited about that onboarding project I mentioned earlier! I think this is gonna be a great example of end-to-end product content strategy, which isn’t really in the limelight yet. I was also really proud of my first big project at Intuit: the mobile-first launch of QuickBooks Self-Employed. I had to address everything from the App Store description and in-app purchase screens to the new features that took the app from companion to standalone. I got to work with some of my favorite designers and product managers in the world, too.

How do you approach getting stakeholders on board?

This can be really challenging, depending on your environment, and I am still figuring it out. In contrast to design and engineering, everyone on a team tends to feel ownership of the words in the experience. Andy Welfle, who’s leading my team now, laid some fabulous groundwork before the rest of us arrived at Adobe, but half of my job is still proving my value. That’s why I have tried to learn about new skills and types of deliverables, so I can contribute something concrete at all stages of the design process, not just the tail end.

Another thing I try to do is provide strong content rationale in the exploration stage, before we even get to finals. That way stakeholders can see what we’ve already tried and why we chose one direction over another. And when someone critiques something I’ve delivered, I listen, and I keep asking why until we get to the root of their feedback. That can help build your reputation more solidly than just saying “OK” and changing the one word your PM doesn’t like.

What are the biggest challenges you face as a content strategist?

Like many content folks out there, I sometimes have trouble injecting myself into the design process at the right moment. So I find myself playing catchup or twiddling my thumbs or screaming into a void. Soft skills are another thing I’m really trying to work on. I don’t have a poker face at all! Oh, also I have too many meetings.

What’s your biggest content pet peeve?

“Will you look over this content we already wrote when we could have easily looped you into the design process earlier?” I’ve been a copy editor. I left that life behind.

Do you have any advice for aspiring content strategists?

Never delete anything. Even if it’s a mean email you decide not to send, you might find some use for your various turns of phrases at some future point. Reuse and recycle! Also, if you don’t have a strong portfolio, find less-than-optimal examples of what you want to do and rework them. Say you want to write UX content for mobile apps. Capture a flow with crappy content and make it yours. And finally, there’s room for everyone in this field. The more the merrier, I say, so try not to feel shy about asking for intros or critique.

Is there anything you want to promote?

Have I mentioned Eurovision?

Where can people find you?

I’m @sarahmsmart just about everywhere.

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Thanks again to Sarah M. Smart for taking the time to answer these questions.