UX Writing | Content Design
A platform built to effectively provide a culturally inclusive curriculum representing black and brown homeschoolers through streamlined, intuitive, and automated technology.
Overview
Notion
Figjam
Figma
Slack
Google Workspace
Zoom
Tools:
Developers
Product Strategists
Project Managers
UX Researchers
UX Designers
UX Writers
The Client:
The Melanin Village
Role:
UX Writer
Timeline:
8 Weeks
Team:
Deliverables:
Content Audit
Content Style Guide
Platform Migration
The Melanin Village serves as a growth-centered gathering space, effectively providing a culturally inclusive curriculum that authentically represents black and brown homeschoolers. Their mission is to increase the educational outcomes and opportunities for Black and Brown children by equipping and empowering families to homeschool.
Introduction:
The Problem
The main challenges encountered by TMV users included manual administrative tasks, difficulty in locating information, and navigating an unresponsive platform.
The Solution
We created writing guidelines and suggested platform enhancements to support a more user-friendly online experience for TMV users.
Project Objectives
Discover
Content Audit
In this phase of The Melanin Village project, we delved deep into understanding the essence of the brand and the unique experience we aim to provide to TMV’s homeschooling community. We first conducted a content audit on the existing site to pinpoint areas where messaging may be inconsistent.
Content Audit Goals
Find opportunities to:
Identify TMV’s strengths and weaknesses.
Make page recommendations (remove, leave as-is, consolidate, improve).
Simplify and consolidate pages
Fix any errors
Align content with user and business needs (accessible, accurate, reliable, consistent, on-brand)
Content Audit Goals
We noticed irregular spelling and grammar, especially in capitalization, and identified issues with broken links, outdated information, and redundant content that could be consolidated.
There were also major accessibility issues including font types and small font sizes, poor contrast ratio, and non-responsiveness of the website.
Brand Archetype & Characteristics
Utilizing insights gathered from the content audit and incorporating feedback from our client, we developed brand archetypes to represent the fundamental essence of The Melanin Village.
As a collaborative effort, our team defined 2-3 archetypes and identified 3-8 characteristics that resonated most with TMV's mission and voice.
The ultimate decision on the brand archetypes—Sage, Hero, and Everyman—was made by our client.
Back to Top ☝️We developed TMV's content style guide based on our content audit, TMV's brand archetypes, and TMV's email newsletter.
The style guide centered around four main sections—Voice & Tone, Usage, Accessibility Guidelines, and Glossary of Terms. Splitting this guide into two pairs, my team member and I primarily focused on identifying the voice and tone.
Define & iterateContent Style Guide
Platform Selection Research
Implementing a score sheet created by the Dev team, our goal was to assist our client in evaluating seamless platforms for TMV's site migration, with a key emphasis on platforms providing customization features for an enhanced UX experience, community building, and feasibility.
Collaborating with UX Design, we assigned ratings to each platform using a numerical scale to assess their compatibility with our specified criteria.
After a collective evaluation, we determined that Hivebrite and Honeycommb were the most suitable choices based on our criteria and client needs. Following the presentation of our insights to the client, we agreed in favor of Hivebrite as the best platform for TMV's future migration.
Conclusion What Did I Learn?
The Power of UX Writing: Quality UX is inseparable from well-crafted content. This was my initial journey to specializing in a project's written language, voice, and tone. From this experience, I learned that the written content not only resonates with users but also encapsulates the brand's identity. By comprehending the brand's archetype and characteristics, it becomes a powerful tool for fostering a seamless and resonant connection with the audience.
Our Initial Objectives vs. Our Actual Achievements: By advocating for research, I ensured that the focus remained on the people we were designing for, leading to outcomes that were not only impactful but also meaningful and relevant. This commitment to putting users at the forefront of the project was key to achieving success and making a real difference.
Back to Top ☝️Visit My Other Projects
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