Content designers often work on large product areas where it isn't sustainable to physically write every line of microcopy. As a result, I've run both content clinics and formal content training sessions in all of the content teams I've been part of.
Content training for government
During my time at the Government Digital Service, I lead a monthly content design training session which was targeted at product managers, business managers, researchers and designers across government. We covered the basics of when to involve a content designer and how to approach content designs on teams without a dedicated person including :
- writing in plain language
- testing with real content
- using data and research to 'sell' content decisions to stakeholders
- how content works fits in with other disciplines
Content clinics at Shopify
In my last couple of years at Shopify I've set up and run content clinics for teams without a dedicated content designer. During these sessions I've encouraged participants to come with something they have already written so we can critique it together. These types of sessions also help us identify gaps so that we can provide further ressources. For example, I noticed lots of developers asked for advice on error messages despite the guidance in our design system, so I created ressources that were more specific to our product area.