DESIGNRR
eBook Creation Redesign
Content Design • UX Writing • Voice & Tone
—What I Did
Content audit
User research
Content strategy
Voice & tone
UX writing​
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—Tools
Figma​
Airtable
Notion
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—Team
Product manager, UX designers, content designers, and developer
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—Timeline
June 2022 – August 2022
Today, there are over 50 million content creators sharing and monetizing their expertise online. Designrr is a SaaS tool that helps 200K+ creators grow their audience by repurposing their content into professional eBooks.
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Challenge
Help new users create an eBook with ease of use and understanding.
Solution
Align UI copy with a unified voice and simplify the eBook creation process.
My Role
I led research and strategy efforts to create the company's first content style guide. Leaning on this guide, I collaborated with a cross-functional team to revamp the eBook flow and copy.
Research
CONTENT ANALYSIS
Reviewing the current state
To pinpoint areas of friction for new users, my team and I conducted a content audit and usability testing. Since Designrr didn't have a prior UX writer, its writing style ranged from marketing copy to engineer notes. Without a unified voice, the inconsistent copy negatively impacted the brand's credibility.
The software also had lengthy and cluttered flows, which caused user confusion and page abandonment.
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Users experienced cognitive overload from the 15 import options. The marketing upsells also didn’t add value to move users forward.
Each import page had inconsistent copy and wordy pop-ups that didn’t bring new knowledge to Designrr’s prosumer target audience.
REQUIREMENTS
Understanding constraints and goals
To identify content needs, I conducted stakeholder interviews and weekly syncs with my peers in design and engineering. To understand user goals, my team and I also gathered customer feedback data and analyzed our direct competitors. Key considerations:
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• Our target users are Gen X and Millennial prosumers (think creatives, marketers, and entrepreneurs). They’re new to eBook creation but not new to technology. Our voice and copy needed to appropriately guide without being overbearing.
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• Across competitors, users preferred a simple interface and free software. However, Designrr's self-funded model offered three paid plans. We needed to:
1. Show users the value before asking them to pay more
2. Guide users with clear copy and content hierarchy
Conversation Mining — We analyzed users' tone of voice and top keywords used when reviewing eBook creator tools.
Content Strategy
Defining the brand voice
Leaning on our team's research, I led efforts to create the Designrr Content Style Guide. The goal was to create a comprehensive guide for our UX team (and anyone who produces copy) to align on. My process involved:
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Collaboration — Talking with various departments and organizing voice brainstorming sessions
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Documentation — Writing descriptive copy to define the brand values, voice, tone, and grammar guidelines
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Iteration — Refining the voice attributes with fellow content designers
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Application — Sharing content recommendations and supporting the product team with guide adherence
CONTENT STYLE GUIDE
Direct, friendly, and mature — a quick snapshot of how we speak.
Cutting out the fluff
After charting out the primary user journey with another content designer, I brainstormed user flow iterations to reduce cognitive load and help users move forward to the eBook editor. This part of the content strategy took some trial and error, but it emphasized the importance of ongoing communication to ensure a smooth design-developer handoff later on.
FLOW ITERATIONS
The iterations aimed to reduce cognitive load and the amount of steps needed to reach the eBook editor.
ITERATION 1: EBOOK EDITOR FREE TRIAL
Skip the import flows, and show users the value of the eBook editor as soon as possible.
ITERATION 2: MENU OF 2 MAIN OPTIONS
Keep the import flows, but simplify the 15 import options into 2 umbrella options first.
After reviewing the iterations with my team, we learned of additional business constraints that required iteration 3: keep the original import menu, and update the content for each of these 15 import options.
Results
Simplifying the eBook creation process
​ To align user goals with business constraints, the most fitting solution was to revamp the content in each import flow. My approach was to prioritize the user’s current task in mind with concise, on-brand UI copy.
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MENU HEADERS AND TERMINOLOGY
Since pushy marketing led to user mistrust and dropout, I rewrote the marketing header to lead with a clear instruction. I also revised the import terminology to align with our content style guidelines. To improve usability for users with small screens or screen readers, I also advocated for grouping each plan's available options at the top.
CONTENT REDESIGN
BEFORE
AFTER
CONTENT HIERARCHY AND MICROCOPY
The key was to let users skim and understand at a glance. Since Designrr's target users aren't new to technology, I shortened the pop-ups into concise microcopy.
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BEFORE
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AFTER
CONFIRMATION PAGES
Success states let users know an action is complete and inform them of the next steps. The original version crammed multiple layers of information into a brief pop-up. I redesigned the confirmation into a scannable page that guides users to open their completed Flipbook (the user benefit).
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BEFORE
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AFTER
CONTENT REDESIGN
Outcomes
During comparative testing, 90% of users found the revised screens easier to understand. The content revisions have been passed on for development. By aligning the team on a single source of truth, the content style guide also increased the design team's workflow efficiency by 20%.
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I'm happy to have helped Designrr establish a credible brand voice and deliver a more intuitive eBook creation process to users. Next steps: continued testing and optimization!
Got a complex project like this one?
No worries. I'd love to apply my design thinking to improve your user experience.
© 2024 Jolene Mai