Content Strategy
UX Voice, Tone, and Style
I started Northwestern Mutual's UX content guide as a 60-page print publication released as part of our design system. The guide is the UX team's source for voice, readability, content components and patterns, and other writing style standards.
Under my direction, we evolved the guide into its own website and integrated our guidelines with artificial intelligence tool Writer to surface the guidance where work actually happens.
I own and manage the content design guidelines for Northwestern Mutual's UX team.
Content Design and UX Writing
I partnered with product owners, UX designers, UX researchers, and other stakeholders.
Together, we worked to map complex user journeys and workflows, ideate design concepts, and create clear and simple content to explain complex financial topics.
Final design iteration for a page in Northwestern Mutual's financial plan explaining the concept of one of their annuity projects.
Dozens of design iterations on the way to final designs to explain the concept of a Northwestern Mutual annuity product. UX design partner: Jennifer Yacoub
Enterprise Persona Development
Using hundreds of pages of data provided by consumer insights teams, I narrowed down the most important differentiators between our main client and advisor segments.
I repackaged the information into consumable booklets, featuring a single page (front and back) per persona.
The persona information is also accessible digitally on a special-built internal website.
Thousands of people enterprise-wide use these booklets and the website to make strategic decisions.
Persona book consists of 4 client personas
Sample persona — content redacted
Design Team Culture
I served as a design culture ambassador to help invigorate the culture for the UX design organization.
Based on structured feedback collected at an annual design summit, I helped develop a shared intake process, standardized meeting etiquette, and other norms and rituals designed to make our team culture better.
Culture opportunities captured at an annual design summit
9 culture principles developed to capitalize on opportunities
Dozens of norms and rituals proposed to operationalize our culture principles
Design Summit Keynote
"Chaotic Designing: The Power of Wasting Time"
What happens when you stop trying to think about a problem and let your subconscious take the lead?
Our UX design group found out when I gave this talk. With practical techniques people can start trying right away, it's a powerful lesson in giving your mind the space to do what it does best: imagine.
