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UX writing training and content review  

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Summary

 

Delivered UX Writing training to in-house writers and performed an extensive content review.

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  • Role: Senior UX Writer 
     

  • Company: Foolproof (UX agency)
     

  • Client: Nedbank South Africa
     

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The problem 

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Nedbank hired Foolproof to help relaunch their loans proposition.

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As a Senior UX Writer, I was asked to:

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  1. Review the content on the new page designs 
     

  2. Write suggestions into an actionable copy document so they could update the website
     

  3. Show the thinking behind my decisions 
     

  4. Provide high-level guidelines for the client's in-house writers 

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My approach

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1. Briefing and user stories

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I was briefed on Nedbank's brand content strategy, including their new brand purpose.

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I was also given some job stories to work with, which were based on previous research. 

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2. Researched competitors 

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I did some competitive research, looking at:

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  • User journeys. Did they prioritise advertising their loan calculator up front? Or push on low interest rates? 
     

  • Visual design. Image heavy? Layout? How did their loan calculators work?
     

  • Information architecture. How did they prioritise the benefits of their products?  
     

  • Language. What words were they using? E.g. 'Quick and easy', 'trust', 'overpayments'. Could we do better?   

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3. Analysed keyword and search data

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To find out what kind of language people were using, I reviewed the keyword and search term data.

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The data surprised me. Some of the search terms South Africans used were quite different to what I had expected. For example, South Africans often call it a 'bond', rather than a loan. 

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This finding made me especially aware of my linguistic biases towards English spoken in the UK.

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4. Reviewed proposed content and journeys

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Working with a UX Designer, I reviewed the proposed user journeys, starting from paid and organic search results.

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See the proposed user journey map below. The yellow stickies are my comments and questions. 

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The sticky note below shows some of the questions I had at the start of the process.

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Question 1: I wanted to know (ideally from research evidence) what interaction mode users were in. Did they want to compare loan providers? Did they want to apply for a loan immediately? Or were they generally browsing?

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Question 2: What are the top features users are looking for? For example, did they want the highest loan amounts? Or the lowest interest rates?  

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Getting answers to these questions would help me prioritise those messages in the content.  

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5. Made UX copy suggestions

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Using Miro, I suggested content changes based on: 

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  • Context of the user journey. Where the user has come from, what mindset they might be in, etc. 
     

  • Readability and accessibility best practices. Simplifying the language and improving content structure.
     

  • Brand content strategy. Aligning with key messages, such as 'being the friendly bank'. 
     

  • SEO best practice. Focussing on data-driven keywords, structuring content to improve organic SEO, etc. 
     

  • Conversion rate optimisation tactics. Increase clickthrough rates by leading with benefits, etc. 

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See below an example of how I applied the brand strategy to the UX content. 

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Instead of the heading 'Get a personal loan that suits your needs', I suggested alternatives based on the concept of 'trust': 

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  • "Responsible loans – we'll guide you through" 
     

  • "We'll help you choose the right loan for you"
     

  • "Feel confident you're choosing the right loan"

 

(This was followed by links to several guidance articles on how to choose the right loan.) ​

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This is what the suggestions looked like in Miro: 

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The solution   

UX content suggestions

I handed over the Miro board and Word document which outlined the content I suggested, plus the rationale behind those decisions.

 

The writers at Nedbank could then choose their preferred suggestions, or create their own based on the rationale.  

UX writing training 

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Finally, I delivered UX writing training to the client's in-house writers. 

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During the 90-minute training session, I explained my approach to the UX content review, and best practices for UX writing.

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Here's a summary of the content I covered in the training:

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  1. Understand the context of the user journey
     

  2. Build empathy – understand the user's mindset 
     

  3. Stay mindful of the tone of voice and brand identity
     

  4. Use best practices – lead with benefits, increase readability by simplifying, etc.
     

  5. Writing tips – for example, create multiple variants and see what they look like in situ
     

  6. Test your content with users and iterate

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Here's a slide from the deck: 

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Outcomes

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  1. Received fantastic feedback from the client's in-house writers and stakeholders
     

  2. The presentation and the review played a significant factor in the client choosing to extend our Content Strategy account

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Here's a screenshot of the one of the published pages (Feb 2022): 

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