A call to action for
Content Designers
Throughout my career, I’ve seen firsthand the very real frustration content designers experience around exclusion. I’ve felt it myself across multiple teams and companies. This sentiment may have even sparked movements like thisiscontent.design, which has undertones of the plight of content design as a discipline. While empathy is crucial, so too is shedding entitlement and confronting these paradigm shifts directly.
In each of my content design roles over the past decade, I had the privilege of reporting into a design function. This structure was invaluable, amplifying our voices in the product design process. However, in every role I’ve held, that alignment eventually changed.
I’ll say that again. Every single role I had shifted.
Whether this is unique to my experience (though I doubt it), there’s a clear shift happening. And what this experience has taught me is simple but crucial: We must consistently prove our value and impact to endure and thrive in an organization.
The shifting Design landscape and rise of AI
I recall having a conversation with a colleague at BILL, Kassie Chaney (Sr. Director, Research & Research Operations). We talked about how Design (note the capital “D”) is going through an existential crisis. I won’t get into the weeds of that conversation. Instead, it’s worth checking out this February 2024 Fast Company article, The big design freak-out: A generation of design leaders grapple with their future. Although the article is focused on design leadership, there certainly are downstream effects of such a “break up” with design leaders.
Couple that existential crisis with AI gaining a stronger foothold in content creation and design, and people definitely start to freak out. The automation of writing and design tasks means that simply creating isn’t enough. AI can generate text and user interface designs, making it critical for us to clarify and communicate the unique value we bring to the table.
The landscape we once knew is evolving faster than ever. This shift can be unsettling, but it's also an invitation to elevate our work beyond mere execution. AI’s rise is pushing us to become strategists, problem solvers, and quantitative thinkers—a role that demands more than just crafting copy or enhancing user interfaces.
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Facing the hard truths: How Content Design must evolve
The truth is, it’s hard to escape the perception that “everyone is a writer.” But that misconception underscores a more significant opportunity. Instead of letting the judgment of others diminish our craft, we can turn the conversation around. Yes, everyone may write, but not everyone can distill complex ideas into clearly crafted, impactful messages that drive real business outcomes.
To survive and thrive in the evolving landscape, we must become invaluable to our organizations by providing quantifiable, strategic value. Instead of expecting leaders to see our impact automatically, we must demonstrate it through tangible metrics and experimental approaches. Ask yourself: Are there experiments we can run that show content’s impact on metrics like user retention, engagement, or conversion? How can we partner more closely with data and product teams to track, measure, and enhance our impact?
Turning entitlement into empowerment
It’s tempting to feel entitled to support, but relying solely on that mindset is a fast track to professional obsolescence. Instead, let’s view leadership as partners in our journey to showcase the power of content design. Rather than expecting them to immediately understand and champion our craft, let’s bring them on board with data-backed stories of our impact.
Leaders, especially those outside of our domain, may not immediately understand content design’s unique contributions. But when we demonstrate our work’s impact on user experience, business growth, and brand strength through measurable outcomes, we’re building a compelling case for long-term investment in our discipline.
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Establishing shared goals to quantify
value and impact at BILL
In guiding my team forward, we’re focusing on two core goals that anchor our contributions in measurable outcomes and stronger relationships.
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Build and foster an experimentation mindset – This means defining metrics that show tangible business impact. By establishing a clear process for creating, executing, and reporting on experiments, we make our work's value actionable and visible. Our goal is to launch lightweight experiments for targeted flows, which enables us to adapt quickly and showcase our impact across various aspects of user experience. In doing so, we’re aligning our objectives with quantifiable results, moving from intuition to evidence-based outcomes.
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Strengthen strategic partnerships through improved CSAT - To ensure we’re not only meeting but exceeding expectations, we’ve prioritized an approach focused on achieving high satisfaction rates with our stakeholders. By capturing and incorporating their feedback, we can drive continuous improvements and deepen our value in our projects. This commitment to high stakeholder satisfaction strengthens our relationships and demonstrates our role as trusted, proactive partners.
These shared goals serve as our foundation for a data-driven, partnership-focused approach to content design. When we actively work to prove our value, we’re not just elevating our discipline, but making content design indispensable.
The road forward: Adapting to thrive
So, what does this all mean for us as content designers? It means we have to let go of entitlement, rise above the frustration, and embrace the shifts that will continue to happen. Rather than viewing AI, reporting changes, or challenging feedback as threats, we should see them as catalysts for growth. Our adaptability, strategic insight, and willingness to prove our worth will define our success.
I challenge content designers to think bigger: Let’s shift our approach from defending our value to proving it. From running experiments to collaborating cross-functionally, content designers have an opportunity to transform not just our roles, but the perception of our discipline. Facing these changes won’t be easy, but for those who embrace the challenge, there’s an exciting path forward—one where content design thrives as an indispensable part of any organization.
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