I build bridges and break down silos to get projects across the finish line.

I build bridges and break down silos to get projects across the finish line.

Project by skill

  1. Aligning leaders from diverse customer segments
  2. Aligning marketing and product content

1. Aligning leaders from diverse customer segments

Problem description

Company: Thomson Reuters

Role: Senior UX Content Designer

Problem: During the process of renewing a subscription, users encountered two terms, ‘banded’ and ‘per seat’, used to describe how the subscription is being charged. The terms were confusing and caused users to contact their sales rep instead of completing the renewal process on our platform. This caused friction for users and was costly for Thomson Reuters.

User goal: Understand our product offering to manage subscriptions.

Business goal: Implement clearer terms to reduce calls made by users and increase self-service renewals.

Context

I was responsible for several work streams and collaborated regularly with product managers, product designers, accessibility experts, and UX researchers. My pod designed the platform that served all products and customer segments.

Collaboration

I worked closely with the lead product manager, my direct manager, and 6 segment leads representing users from small law firms, large law firms, corporate legal departments, and the government.

My approach

  1. Start with research. Gather context and background information like what these terms represent, what alternatives have been tried, and what data we have on calls with reps.
  2. Draft new options to share with segment leads. For the first iteration, I added help text explaining the terms. Not only did the help text add to the cognitive load of that particular modal, the content did not satisfy all segment leaders.
  3. Consider the internal context. The segment leads were entrenched in their own set of needs and focused on their differences. The product managers (PMs) were desperate for a solution.
  4. Align with the product managers and work with them to keep the momentum. I quickly turned around 3 new drafts, this time targeting the terms themselves. The PMs quickly scheduled a new meeting with segments.
  5. Arrange a walkthrough of draft copy with segment leads. I explained the rational behind each content decision and gave my recommendation. The segment leads almost gave up again because none of the recommendations would meet all needs.
  6. Respond to feedback in real-time, I revised copy on the spot. I asked lots of questions and iterated until we reached a draft that everyone agreed on. The segment leads approved the term change in the meeting.
  7. Implement with UX/UI designer.
  8. Gather additional feedback and user call data. Ensure this change indeed adds clarity to the experience.

Outcome

  • All customer segments were aligned on one term.
  • ’Per Seat’ became ‘Products charged per user’
  • ’Banded’ became ‘Products charged per attorney’
Subscription summary modal displaying term change
Subscription summary modal displaying term change

Product stakeholders were happy 🥳

Email from product manager to me and my direct manager.
Email from product manager to me and my direct manager.

What I learned

  • Having a working session with all stakeholders can be very effective.
  • Be ready to throw your initial recommendation out the window.
  • Take advantage of momentum.
  • Listen carefully to stakeholder needs!

2. Aligning marketing and product content

Problem description

Company: Thomson Reuters

Role: Senior UX Content Designer

Problem: A product page needed updating to the current design system and content standards. It contained irrelevant content and lacked important information for decision-making — causing additional cognitive load and friction for users.

User goal: Explore product plans to understand value/cost and potentially make a purchase.

Business goal: Reduce friction in the user experience by eliminating unnecessary content, and adding content helpful for decision-making. Also, to align with our current design system and establish a repeatable template.

Collaboration

I worked closely with the lead UXUI Designer to revise the template and with product marketers for content regarding product features.

My approach

  1. Assess existing content. Remove any unnecessary content that doesn't help the user complete the task at hand.
  2. Work with a product designer to use a different component for content and remove content elements that did not add value.
  3. Work with product marketers to revise the feature description copy. The copy needed to take on an informational tone.
  4. Delivered to the project owner, a director of product marketing, with the UX/UI designer. We explained our rationale for design decisions and he was in complete agreement.

Outcome

The template is currently live with the Westlaw Classic product page and is planned for future product pages.

Original template
Original template
Revised template that I worked on
Revised template that I worked on

What I learned

How to more closely collaborate with product marketers and other partners. I was driving this project and in doing so I learned that I need to explain what my objectives are as a content designer and why these objectives are important. Once stakeholders and partners understand how content can contribute to the user experience, everyone understands we are working towards the same goal and we can collaborate more effectively.