Creating Content for the Verizon Design System

Leading content strategy and UX writing for the new Verizon Design System.

Role: Lead Content Strategist, Customer Experience Platforms

Company: Verizon

The Challenge

Verizon had multiple design resources of varying ages, some created and maintained by teams, others by agency partners. Designers and content strategists relied on varying PDFs, Sketch files and intranet pages to follow brand guidelines. However, they were often relying on different versions. The Verizon Design System team was created to create a unified source of truth for digital design.

The Solution

UX writing and content design needed to be part of the design system from the documentation itself to contextual content examples to illustrate brand style and best practices.

Verizon Design System documentation

As part of the design system team, I was responsible for competitive research, nomenclature development and all UX writing. I worked closely with UX and visual designers to get feedback as I drafted content: What is true for the brand? What is unnecessary? What is the clearest hierarchy of information?

Writing Documentation for Components

I researched and wrote design system documentation including instructions on setting up the library, fundamentals establishing the grid, spacing, typography, color, iconography and guidelines on 28 components.

Creating UX Writing Guidelines

With +125 designers in the Verizon Consumer Group and fewer than 10 content strategists, not all projects had dedicated content strategists or UX writers. Designers and other stakeholders were often on their own to create content, with mixed results. I created UX writing guidelines for the design system to help designers work with content.

The guidelines summarized UX writing best practices, high-level concepts like brand voice and tone and offered specific guidance for Verizon digital experiences.

Training Designers on UX Writing

The UX writing guidelines were released while teams were working remotely due to Covid lockdowns. All the planned, in-person, small-group training sessions were cancelled. But, the design teams in India created a virtual series, which provided a great opportunity to hold a session on UX writing for all interested designers.

During the 90-minute event, I walked designers through UX writing concepts, guidelines and examples specific to Verizon, and took questions from some of the 125+ Verizon designers in both the United States and India who attended.

UX Writing consultation

As the content strategist on the design system team, I reviewed content for design teams using the system to create new experiences. The projects ranged from a legally-required app interstitial to research stimuli.

Making App Permissions Understandable

When the California Consumer Privacy Act became law, customers who downloaded the app needed to understand their data permissions. I received an urgent email asking if I could make the copy “radically more customer-friendly.”

*If I could, I would rename the app because “My Verizon” creates frequent conflicts with pronoun use.

Clarifying Content for Research and User Testing

Research stimulus also needs appropriate content to ensure accurate testing. Inconsistent, unclear or generic stimuli content will negatively impact testing. When a team shared their customer-benefit concept cards with me, and needed same-day feedback, I provided on-the-fly content strategy best practices and prior user testing observations to quickly improve the stimuli.

The Results

The design system is used by co-located design and development teams in New York, New Jersey and Chennai, India.