Copywriting & editing

Before I write a word, I ask about goals, audiences, constraints, and how success will be measured. Then I partner with designers, researchers, SEO strategists, and product & project managers to write exactly what is right — whether it’s an email, blog post, social media ad, campaign landing page, app navigation, error message, or chatbot response. Each deliverable has its own voice and set of requirements, and I love figuring them out. As an editor, I focus on consistency and accuracy, and also empowering individuals to own and flourish in their work.

Research

Why are we making the thing that we're making? Research starts with curiosity, objectivity, and kindness. I do some talking, and do even more listening. User and stakeholder interviews are essential; contextual observation is even better. I take a deep dive into analytics, and look to competitors for benchmarking. I identify patterns and priorities through persona creation, affinity clustering, and journey mapping. And I translate those findings into an actionable strategy.

User Experience &
Information Architecture

Gone are the days of pixel-perfect design comps. It's all about rapid prototyping using whatever tools are best for the job, whether it's pen and paper, Axure, Figma, or HTML/CSS. Sitemaps, sketches, and workflow diagrams are great for refining and communicating information hierarchies and user interfaces. Responsive, in-browser wireframes and front-end prototypes are important for iteration, and for usability testing – which I conduct early and often.

Workshops & Training

What I value most about learning is the sense that we're all in this together. No one has all the answers – certainly not me. I design and facilitate workshops and training sessions around mutual self-discovery as the path to organizational consensus. Collectively, we decide what actions will fulfill our mission. It's about involving and empowering people, at all levels, across disciplines, to solve problems together.

Content Strategy

Nothing makes content strategists happier than turning messes into structured, flexible systems. I perform content audits and content modeling. I work with teams to define voice and tone. I write and edit copy, and help get everyone writing and editing with end users and the multi-device web in mind. I've worked in lots of different CMSs, and have experience in e-newsletter creation, blogging, social media marketing, and SEO.

Project Management

I partner with multi-disciplinary teams to scope and schedule projects. Then we work through iterative, incremental cycles, and achieve efficiency and innovation through flexibility and collaboration. Let's call this process "agile" with a lower-case "a." Tools I find helpful include Basecamp, Jira, GitHub, Sifter, Slack, Google Drive, daily stand-ups, and chocolate-chip cookies. My Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification recently expired, but the knowledge is still (mostly) there.