Samples
Welcome to the What problems has Stephen helped solve? page, also known as “Samples.” Here, you’ll find a list of some recent and past work, along with a little information about why each came to life.
We’ll start with a glimpse into a massive collaboration I led.
Google App Ads Help Center
As we were updating naming on some help pages, I saw an opportunity use these changes to make improvements based on the customer sentiment metrics and escalation data we had. I brought together a team of collaborators to identify the top unmet user needs, re-imagine our information hierarchy, and tie task completion rates to specific help pages. We created a new article hub that increased satisfaction sentiment rates to 83% — up from the low 60s — and reduced escalations to our Customer Service agents by more than 6% in less than three months.
Let’s take a look at just a handful of my content design and UX writing work.
280
In what was probably the biggest fundamental change since Twitter’s creation, a team of Designers, Researchers, Engineers, PMs, and a lone Content Strategist came together to figure out whether or not people needed more characters per Tweet. Once we decided they did, we then had to build out ways to let people know about the change, from Tweets and blog posts about the design and the rationale, to UI indicators and errors.
Topics
We wanted to connect people more quickly to the interests they care about most. Rather than putting the burden on them to find people Tweeting about each one, we needed to create a quick and easy way to present what Twitter already knows they’re interested in, and give them a way to add relevant Tweets to their timeline.
Lists
We also wanted to give people a way to create and personalize specifically curated timelines for themselves and others. That way if they had particular interests that they only wanted to dip into occasionally, they could build and share timelines of Tweets from accounts talking about sometimes niche interests.
Bookmarks
People were using the Like feature to save Tweets to read later. But as Twitter added more recommendations based on Likes into other timelines, these became more visible to everyone. A #HackWeek project introduced the ability to privately save Tweets to refer back to later.
Freelance
Now, let’s look at a few challenges from recent clients.
PayPal
To integrate Zettle and its infrastructure more holistically into PayPal, we needed to unite two different content and design systems so they worked seamlessly across all screens, whether they were computers, tablets, phones, or the proprietary card readers. So, I helped identify user experience gaps, unify the terminology, and built the messaging frameworks to account for the limitations and constraints for each device.
GoodRx
Using the app was the fastest way to get to the biggest savings, since this gave us additional signals, like precise location and a better understanding of which pharmacy apps people had also installed. And while savings were available in the mobile site, larger discounts could be available when we knew more about members. So, we explored ways to get more people using the mobile web to download the app. We did this with iterative testing of both banner design, placement, and content. Each test needed a more than 5% lift before becoming control for the next experiment.
Jasper AI
Product education and feature adoption was slow and cumbersome for people with new accounts. I streamlined the navigation and introduced a more novice-friendly information architecture, which included fewer links, simpler language, and more up-front instructions on how to find value during an initial visit. Based on qualitative and quantitative research, the improved experience exceeded goals in both user comprehension and task completion.
RingCentral
We needed to address an under-served population of solo entrepreneurs, so I re-imagined the voice, tone, and all UX writing for a new app targeted at this untapped audience. This included creating an app-specific style guide, onboarding framework, and customer service documentation.
Symantec
Next, here are a few items I helped launch with Norton.
Mobile
As mobile security threats grew, Symantec needed an easier way for people to buy and install Norton protection for all of their devices. So, our team developed the framework, style guide, and information architecture for Norton’s the first mobile site and e-commerce platform.
Navigation
After the Norton mobile-first redesign launched, we noticed people were spending too much time trying to find what they were looking for. We created new naming, taxonomy, and metadata through content analysis and user testing to update the global navigation and search results, improving conversion rates by more than 2%.
Brand
As part of the new Norton “Protect Your Stuff” brand campaign, we worked with the UX, Design, and Brand teams to create new messaging, simplified product comparisons, and stream-lined purchase flow for the 2014 Norton launches.
Oracle
Now, let’s look at some of the content strategy for some social channels.
OpenWorld
We needed to come up with some novel ways to help drive traffic to sponsors’ booths at Oracle OpenWorld. We created and executed a coordinated social campaign promoting convention events on the official blog, Twitter, Foursquare, and YouTube channels.
Stark Expo
We partnered with Marvel for the launch of Iron Man 2 — admittedly the worst of the IM trilogy — for an online Oracle Stark Expo Virtual Pavilion portal to become Honorary CIO of Stark Industries. Creating the film-themed user-interaction copy was a nice change of pace, for both visitors to the Oracle site and the people writing for it. 😉
Linux
Remember CDs? We needed them in this case (pun intended) so people could install Linux onto their machines. We came up with the concept and design and handed out this 3-CD installation packaging an as event giveaway. (PDF)
Intel
Let’s continue with some writing from my time with the Intel Education Foundation.
Overview
We regularly produced and updated information on an overview of all of the Intel Foundation’s education programs, efforts, and successes. (PDF)
Fun fact: U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won 2nd place in the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for microbiology.
Initiative
One of the efforts we regularly updated was about the ways in which we were helping U.S. teachers bring technology into their classrooms. We wrote and edited the printed brochures, highlighting Intel’s efforts to improve teaching and learning. (PDF)
Case Study
In addition to the high-level informational brochures about our efforts, we also created case studies for all of our initiatives. This specific one quantifies Intel’s philanthropic efforts in South African schools. (PDF)
Ancient history
Finally, here are some additional examples I’ve done for clients long ago.
Writer
Some clients let me write under my own name, some want me to ghost-write for their executives. No matter the request, creating the right voice and tone for the audience is always top priority.
Spokesman
Sometimes communication happens in real-time, often as new facts emerge and circumstances evolve. Thinking quickly and reacting thoughtfully can get the right quote in the right place at the right time.
Producer
Creating compelling stories is fundamental in getting important information across to people. It also feels pretty good when those stories win awards.
Wow
Well, since you’ve scrolled this far, here are a few more things I helped put together:
• Twitter Design and Research blog
• Not Tweets personal blog
• “Anyone Can Be a Content Strategist (and other lies you’ll find on LinkedIn)”
• “Editors Needed”
• This confluence of events
You can also get a sense of what it’s like to work with me by hearing directly from some former teammates.
If you think I can help you achieve your goals, why not get in touch? Or, just send me a text; that’s probably faster.