How to Design a World-Class Content Design Team

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Designing a world-class How to build a content design team

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Jonathon Colman @jcolman Senior Design Manager, Intercom

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Download this deck go.inter.com/ worldclass

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2001

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Jesse James Garrett The Elements of User Experience

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2009

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Kristina Halvorson Content Strategy for the Web

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2019

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§ Overworked § Underpaid § Spread too thin § Little recognition § Lack of influence § Poor credibility § Poorly understood

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§ Overworked § Overly reactive § Underpaid § High context shifting § Spread too thin § Low impact § Little recognition § Unfulfilling work § Lack of influence § Hard to advance § Poor credibility § Harder to lead § Poorly understood § Burned out AF

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We have unfulfilled potential

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WARNING

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WARNING STRONG OPINIONS AHEAD

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STOP

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1 Stop working on more than one product at a time

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2 Stop holding “office hours” and other ad hoc support

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3 Stop running content-only critique sessions

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4 Stop running content-only performance reviews

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START

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5 Start letting some or more products launch without content design

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6 Start using the same job expectations for content and product design

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GET THIS AT intercom.design

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7 Start empowering content designers to work deeply across all five planes of UX

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work, how they are controlled, and the “ “ Design is concerned with how things nature of the interaction between people and technology.

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8 Start paying content and product designers the same by level and experience

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THEN

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9 Incentivize content and product designers to focus on product, not design

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TRADEOFFS

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1 Product quality decreases without content design support

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2 Blurred lines between content and product design

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3 It’s much harder to work holistically across everything

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4 Content design impact is more closely scrutinized

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5 It’s much harder to invest time in content ops

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6 Content design team feels more like a design team

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7 Content design costs more, which can slow headcount growth

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8 It’s harder to recruit/hire content designers who can work like product designers

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OUTCOMES

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1 When content design is on, it’s REALLY ON

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2 Teams with content designers know what they do and why it matters

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3 Teams without content designers are incentivized to become advocates

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4 Content design impact is recognized—and there’s more of it

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5 Content designers feel more fulfilled in their work

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6 Content designers feel more included in product

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7 Content designers get equal pay for equal work

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8 We realize more of our true potential on products

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CONCLUSION

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1 Work on one product at a time

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1 2 Work on one product at a time Hold content and product designers accountable for the same expectations

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1 2 3 Work on one product at a time Hold content and product designers accountable for the same expectations Pay both roles the same

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