Writers of Silicon Valley

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Canva is a true (Aussie) tech success story, and the content design practice there is no small reason why. 

One of the people leading that practice is Sally, Head of Content Design at Canva.

Sally and I dive into how Canva has built one of the strongest content design practices in the world, why leadership is about more than managing people, and what content designers need to do to grow their careers. We also discuss why content design in Australia often feels a few steps behind the global stage and what Canva is doing to set an example.

This was such an honest and motivating conversation, and I think it’ll resonate with anyone working in content or design, especially those navigating fast-paced environments.

Timestamps:

(0.52) Content design at Canva (4.28) Sally's work experience and history (8.30) Growing Canva's content design team (10.44) How Canva content designers approach AI (13.20) How Sally helps lead and develop her team (23.00) How leaders should prioritize (26.20) What Sally looks for when hiring (29.20) How to navigate change as a leader (32.50) Sally's biggest leadership challenges (38.15) The importance of culture and values (43.30) Psychological safety in teams (48.20) What the industry needs to change

What we talked about:

• How Sally helped build a 30-person content design team at Canva
• Why content drives the first impression users have of Canva
• The four pillars of growth for content designers at Canva
• Balancing leadership with staying connected to the craft
• How Sally helps content designers focus on impact, not volume
• The emotional side of change and why people feel loss more than gain
• Why diversity in hiring goes beyond skills to mindset and adaptability
• Navigating the challenges of a fast-growing company culture

Notable Quotes:

• “Content drives the first impression of Canva. We have a lot of responsibility to make sure that’s a good one.” — Sally
• “There’s no such thing as time management, only choice management.” — Sally
• (AI): “If we focus too much on the loss, we’ll never realize the gains.” — Sally

Where to Find Sally:

• LinkedIn

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A few weeks ago I made a post on LinkedIn that caused a little bit of a stir. I said that content designers need to do more in considering how content supports the greater product ecosystem...and why that lack of curiosity might be holding them back.

In essence, I was asking: which is more important - product or content?

I got a lot of great responses, but Scott Kubie's was one that stood out to me. His view was that my assessment of the situation was a little upside down, and that we should talk about it.

So I did.

Scott and I agree that content designers need to think bigger, but we're coming at this from slightly different directions. This episode, we hash it out. I hope you enjoy it - it was a productive, pleasant, and deep conversation that really left me with a better understanding of Scott's position.

What we talked about:

• Why Scott thinks content people are “playing small” — and what they can do about it
• What "content" actually is
• The real role of content in a product 
• The difference between interface copy and content that truly drives value
• Why structured content and content operations are the future
• Scott’s candid thoughts on how to navigate industry challenges and thrive
• The content "death star":

Notable quotes:

• “Content is what people are there for… not just the words on the screen.” 
• “There’s a massive opportunity available to any product manager who wants to pick it up and run with it, which is to start thinking about your content ecosystem.”

Resources Mentioned:

• Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines

Where to find Scott:

• LinkedIn
• Scott's website

Listeners get 20% off podcasts and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout

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Having trouble letting go? Deiadora Blanche (Airbnb, Coursera) can help. 

In this episode, we dive deep into the idea of ego detachment — letting go of personal attachment to the work we do. Deiadora shares her journey from business consulting to content strategy, and how she’s learned to balance personal growth with professional success. 

We also chat about thinking like a CEO, even when you’re not in leadership, and how content professionals can create their own success by setting metrics and driving results. Plus, Deiadora shares some incredible insights about AI content strategy — why we need to engage with it, not fear it.

If you’re curious about how to stay grounded in your work, navigate high-pressure environments, or just want to hear some practical advice on building a successful content strategy career, this episode is a must-listen.

What we talked about:

• Deiadora’s path from business consulting to content design
• Why detaching from your ego can make you a better content designer
• How to set metrics for your team and think like a CEO
• Using mindfulness to step back and make better decisions
• How content professionals can lead without a formal title
• Practical tips for using AI in content strategy
• Why letting go of attachment to outcomes helps you succeed

Notable quotes:

• “Stop being so attached to the work—it's not about you. It’s about what the user needs.”
• “When you step away and detach from the ego, you can make better decisions.”
• “Thinking like a CEO is essential, even when you’re an individual contributor. Own the work, don’t wait for direction.”

Where to find Deiadora:

• Deadorable Life
• The Quantum CEO Podcast
• LinkedIn

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Vidhika Bansal might win the award for the most positive Twitter timeline. Just reading her tweets makes your entire day better.

But Vidhika's talents go far beyond nice social media posts. Her intense interest and focus on human behaviour and user research make her one of the most thoughtful and fascinating people in UX. She's spoken at conferences like Button and Confab, led teams at organizations like Intuit, and has one of the most human-centered approaches to UX that I know of. 

Vidhika shares her journey from studying pre-med to finding her passion for human-centered design, explaining how her love for poetry and small details fuels her content strategy work today. She talks about the intersection of behavioral psychology, content design, and the profound impact of well-crafted UX writing on user confidence and trust.

Whether you're a content designer, UX writer, or simply curious about how the little things in digital products can make all the difference, this episode dives deep into the art of designing for the human experience.

We talk about:

• Vidhika’s unexpected journey from pre-med to UX design
• The power of small details in building user confidence
• Balancing efficiency and humanity in content design
• How poetry and emotional storytelling influence Vidhika’s UX work
• The importance of content in high-stress user situations
• Designing with edge cases in mind: why the small problems matter most
• The evolving role of content designers in shaping user experiences
• Why internal tools and processes are just as exciting as customer-facing products

Connect with Vidhika: 

• https://vidhika.carrd.co/

• Vidhika on LinkedIn

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Larry Swanson might be one of the most knowledgeable and friendly people in content design and content strategy. Every time you speak to him, he’s full of joy and passion about the craft.

Not just that - he’s probably one of the most intelligent people in the industry when it comes to the technical aspects of content. He calls himself a “content architect”, but that’s really too short a description of his capabilities. Whether he’s talking about information architecture, content modeling, or content and AI, Larry has just an unthinkable amount of knowledge and depth when it comes to how content is created and structured within a product experience.

So that’s why I had him on the podcast today. We discuss:

• Larry’s history in content

• His thoughts on the skills content designers need to succeed

• Knowledge graphs - what the hell are they, and why are they important?

• Information architecture

• Much, much more…

Connect with Kyra: 

• Larry Swanson on LinkedIn

• Knowledge Graph Insights

• Content Strategy Insights

• Content + AI

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Get US $100 off your ticket for the upcoming Button Conference! Use UXCC100 at checkout! 

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I know, I know. A lot of AI. But I swear, the conversation in this one is really worth listening to. 

For so many organizations, the use of AI is dictated by the CEO, or head of product, etc. Rarely do content designers take the effort or initiative to actually develop an idea of how AI should be integrated.

That's why this interview with Kyra Lee from UserTesting was so fascinating to me. Kyra and her colleagues have taken the initiative to create a "playbook" about how AI should be approached in their design philosophy.

We talk about that, plus...

• Why Kyra's interest moved from working in law to UX
• How UX writers and content designers can take part in quality research
• What Kyra has learned about testing content with users
• Why not ALL of your content actually needs to be in the user interface
• An approach to AI for user research that maintains a human touch...

As always, let me know your thoughts: [email protected].

(Also, yes...audio is a bit off today. Again. Please be patient as I fix some ongoing issues!)

Connect with Kyra: 

• Kyra Lee on LinkedIn

• Rolling with Kyra

Listeners get 20% off podcasts and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout

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Getting into content design is hard enough, but contracting roles are a different struggle altogether. While they can be lucrative (potentially depending where you live) they're also difficult to crack. 

But they're also a necessary struggle to understand - often the way to start a content design career is to begin with some contracting roles. 

Today's guest is a content design contracting queen. Alliteration! 

Slater Katz has worked as content designer for Netflix, Chime, Verizon, Fitbit, and more. Not only can I vouch for her content design skills (she's worked with us at UXCC for a bit) but she's unique in that she understands how business goals and design goals intersect - a rare skill.

And she understands personal branding better than anyone in the biz, in my opinion.

In this interview we discuss content design contracting, how to improve your personal brand, what makes a great contractor stand out, and why asking questions when you start isn't a sign of weakness - it's a strength.

Connect with Slater: 

• Slater Katz on LinkedIn

• The UX Gal

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Ah, English degrees. So often the target of snide comments and "there but for..." looks. I don't think there's another academic pursuit that's used as a metaphor for uselessness quite as much. Maybe basket weaving. 

And yet, as content designers know, English majors can become one of technology's secret weapons.

Speaking of secret weapons...

Today's guest might be one of the most impressive people in content design. 

Sammie Spector is the content design lead at Condé Nast, where she looks after brands including Vogue, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Glamour, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Pitchfork, Wired, and Bon Appétit. And she's one of the most impressive people I know. She has an incredible work ethic. Not only does she hold down a demanding job, she grades students and teaches workshops for UX Content Collective, and oh...she was an English major too.

Which is exactly what we talk about today. How English majors can stop feeling helpless, and start thinking about their careers. But we don't stop there. We cover:

• Why content design has a pipeline problem, and how to fix it
• What it's like working at a publishing company versus a traditional "tech" company
• Why English majors should start thinking early about how to adapt their skills to tech
• What content design can learn from software engineering to fix our graduate shortage

Sammie's wisdom should be heard by everyone in the industry. Send this to your friendly neighbourhood English grad, and give them a smile: it's gonna be okay. 

Connect with Sammie: 

• Sammie Spector on LinkedIn

Listeners get 20% off podcasts and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout

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There's an interesting path opening up in content design: working on the actual language models underpinning this explosion of new features we're seeing. 

This is a new and fairly anxiety-inducing area. But as content designers, it's important that we engage and help build any type of new technology that involves content - or it's going to outpace us.

This is why I spoke with Ben Barone-Nugent from Google for today's podcast. He's on the Gemini team, and we spoke about his work in moving from traditional "content design" into the content (and conversation) design for an chat-based LLM experience. 

This is an important chat for many reasons, but here's a big one: it's important that we see a future for how content designers can be involved in this type of work. We talk about that, and:

• How content designers can work on language models
• The path from content design to conversation design to AI
• What LLMs are good at, bad at, and what we don't know yet
• The future of content design as creating content at scale 
• Much, much more!

A quick note: apologies for my audio quality this month. I accidentally used my laptop microphone instead of my big fancy one. Don't hate me!

Ben on LinkedIn: 

• Ben Barone-Nugent on LinkedIn

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Ron Yakar made a bit of noise last month when he wrote a post on LinkedIn discussing how he created an AI tool to help scale UX writing at Monday.com. 

There was lots of debate. 

"This is cool."

"This is scary."

"Why don't you hire more content designers?"

And everything in between. So, I wanted to get Ron on the podcast to discuss it. Not only because it's an interesting piece of craft, but also because it's a vision of where things are heading. So far we've been so focused on using LLMs through prompts, but Ron's tool is an example of what happens when content designers and UX writers think about meshing AI and content operations together. 

We talk about Ron's background, his approach to AI, the tool itself, his process in using AI and determining when and where to use human intervention, and more.

I know I always say it. But you can't miss this one. 

Connect with Ron: 

• Ron Yakar on LinkedIn

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Many content designers want to be leaders. But how can they get there? Do they make great design leaders in general...and what will they struggle with when they get there? 

In today's episode I speak with Aladrian Goods, design manager at Intuit. We talk about her road to content design, her struggles and successes in leadership, and why content designers make great leaders - in general, not just for our discipline.

If you want to be a leader, are a leader already, or work with leaders - then this episode is for you.

Anna and Arnaud: 

• Aladrian Goods on LinkedIn

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Last year the UX Content Collective published an extensive piece about content designers in China, written by Anna Potapova and Arnaud Frattini. The piece surveyed several people working in China, and revealed an amazing amount of insight into a place many people don't know anything about.

Today, Anna (Aliexpress) and Arnaud (Alibaba Group) join me on the podcast to talk about their survey, what it's like to work in China, and what we all can learn from the type of fast-paced business practices we see there. 

Given how important China has become to the world economy...perhaps there are a few things we can learn. 

Anna and Arnaud: 

• Anna Potapova on LinkedIn

• Arnaud Frattini on LinkedIn

Listeners get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout.

The Writers of Silicon Valley podcast is back! Listen to the first new episode with Chelsea Larsson, Senior Design Director at Expedia. We discuss the future of content design, UX writing, how AI is impacting everything, and why content designers shouldn’t hang on to old definitions.

And maybe…why content designers should learn Python?

I’m really excited to bring the podcast back, and really excited for you to listen.

Things we discuss during this episode:

• Generative artificial intelligence

• Information Architecture for the Web

• Open AI, ChatGPT, Gemini

• Python

Chelsea and her stuff:

• Chelsea on LinkedIn

• Smallish Book (newsletter)

Listeners get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout.

The Interface is a monthly, can’t-miss group chat for everything happening in content design and UX writing. The Interface has industry updates, deep conversations, and other helpful resources.

Yael Ben-David is one the most thoughtful UX writers in the industry. She’s written numerous blogs and has spoken at several conferences on how to make sure UX writers and content designers prove the value of their work.

Today, we take a look at some of the regulations surrounding the fintech industry which make writing for it so difficult. Plus, we explore the ultimate question: how do you get out of the customer’s way?

Listeners get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout.

Jane Ruffino is one of the most experienced UX writers in the industry, with an extensive work history. She also teaches a UX writing course and consults to companies on their UX copy.

But what makes Jane even more interesting is her studies - she’s currently pursuing a PhD in digital acheology. In this episode we talk about how she bridges that world with the world of content design, and the discussion may surprise you.

Listeners get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout.

Andrea Drugay has one of the most experienced resumes in the content design industry. Now she works at Slack, one of the most coveted roles in all of design.

In this episode, we talk about Andrea’s background, what makes Slack’s copy so special - but most importantly, how to make sure UX writers and content designers bridge the experience that’s outside the product, and the experience inside the product as well.

Listeners get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective! Just use PODCAST20 at checkout.

Jasper Platz is NOT a UX writer or content designer. He says that straight up. However, he quickly discovered a love for content design when building other products.

So much so, that he decided UX writers need software of their own to manage the copy process.

We talk about that in this episode, but we also talk about:

• How software can democratize design for UX writers

• What would product managers look like if they came from design?

• Why is content design getting so much attention?

…and more. This was a great chat, so I hope you enjoy it!

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After all, being able to edit a design without any specific software makes it harder not to give writers access. Which means it’s easier for us to do our job.

Chris Baty is the Principal UX Writer at Figma, and was previously the head of UX writing at Dropbox. He’s also the founder of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). He’s a busy guy. He’s also an exceptional champion for all types of writers everywhere. Including content designers.

In this episode we talk about him joining Figma, the work he’s doing there to make Figma an exceptional tool for UX writers and content designers, and what it’s like working as a team of one.

And so much more.

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It’s crazy that digital conferences haven’t been a thing until now, but COVID really thrust this one upon us. Today, I’m speaking with some fantastic UX writers and content strategists: Duaa Osman from Google, Yael Ben-David from Fundbox, and Vicki Siolos from Kickstarter.

The one thing we have in common? We all attended Button back in late October, probably the first major conference that’s completely dedicated to UX writing and product content strategy.

I don’t want to get into detail, but if you missed the conference, let this serve as a reason to invest in the Button on-demand access pass, which is available now. Seriously, it’s worth the money. Enjoy the episode and find out why.

If you did attend Button, well, let this serve as a great reminder of the good times we had - and the great things we learned.

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