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Show Notes

In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Sean Treiser sits down with Kelly Erickson, a content designer at Warner Music Group, to explore the nuances of content design and the critical role it plays in shaping user experiences. Kelly shares her career journey, starting as a sports writer and transitioning into content design roles in nonprofit, sports, and tech sectors. With over a decade of experience, she offers rich insights into how content design differs from other design disciplines and the immense value of user and content testing.

From her time at Eventbrite, Kelly reveals surprising insights uncovered through content testing and how small changes in language can lead to significant improvements in user engagement. She emphasizes the importance of understanding user motivations and behaviors and how these insights can guide effective content design decisions.

Listeners will learn how to balance qualitative and quantitative data, prioritize content testing in fast-paced projects, and maintain brand consistency across various touchpoints. Kelly’s practical advice for content designers and UX professionals highlights the long-term impact of a user-centered approach and offers actionable strategies for integrating content testing into design processes.

Key Themes and Ideas Discussed:

Content Design Journey: Kelly discusses her path from sports writing to content design, reflecting on how her love for words and human behavior led her into the field of UX writing and content design.
The Role of Content Design in User Experiences: Kelly highlights how content design is fundamentally different from other design disciplines, emphasizing that without the right words, a design may lose its effectiveness. She underscores the importance of clarity and using language that speaks to the user intuitively and humanly.
Power of Content Testing: One of the core ideas Kelly shares is the importance of testing content before it goes live. She provides examples of how simple wording changes during her time at Eventbrite significantly impacted user engagement, including a 30% increase in click-through rates from a headline change.
Balancing Qualitative and Quantitative Data: Kelly discusses the balance between qualitative insights from content testing and quantitative data like click-through rates. She explains how each type of data informs content decisions and drives user-centric design.
Designing for User Motivation: A key insight Kelly shares is understanding and addressing user motivations. She explains how focusing on what users are trying to accomplish, rather than just delivering a product, can elevate the overall experience.
Consistency and Personalization in Content: The episode covers strategies for maintaining a consistent brand voice while tailoring content to different user scenarios. Kelly introduces the concept of a “tone dial,” where the intensity of the brand’s tone is adjusted based on the user’s interaction.
Advice for New Content Designers: Kelly encourages content designers to start testing early, even with time constraints, and to focus on building strong relationships with cross-functional teams like engineers and product managers to drive AB testing and other content experiments.

Episode links:

Strategic Content Design by Erica Jorgensen
Eventbrite’s publicly available style guide
Find Kelly on LinkedIn: Kelly Erickson LinkedIn

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