Content design for Action on Hearing Loss

Action on Hearing Loss is a UK-based charity that supports Deaf people, and people with hearing loss and tinnitus. I worked with the Action on Hearing Loss UX team as a freelance content designer. Project background The team had started working on a full-site redesign to match the charity’s upcoming redefined strategy and values. The old site had been built around internal departments and silos, so the emphasis was on making the content user-focused. When I joined the team, initial discovery had been completed and there was an established set of user needs. Project goals - Redesign the website in a user-focused, inclusive way - reflect the organisation’s new strategy and direction - get the wider charity team used to working in an agile and user-focused way - get an MVP live within 3 months from when I started. Using a content design approach My work with Action on Hearing Loss included: - defining acceptance criteria for user needs - sketching and drafting content to meet user needs - running content crit sessions with the UX and product team - working closely with subject matter experts to ensure consistency and understanding around technical terms - writing and moderating user research interviews to test our content - working on digital services for local and national involvement - reviewing prototypes of other areas of the site - rewriting existing content in plain English - drafting a content governance framework for the content team to build on. Outcomes Despite setbacks due to coronavirus, the MVP for the site went ahead and was launched 4 months after I started. The content I designed tested really positively with users. The feedback indicated: - clear structure - simple and straightforward choices - ease of finding what they were looking for. We also achieved great collaboration with stakeholders across the business, who weren’t necessarily used to having input for a user-centred website. Testimonial Kate Flagg, content lead at Action on Hearing Loss: “Amy is a fantastic content designer and it was great to have her join us for our website re-design. She used her skills and experience to design clear, concise content for key user journeys on the new site. All of her design decisions were based on evidenced user needs and her content is performing well on the new site. “I really appreciated Amy’s ability to self-organise and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation. She also contributed lots to our collaborative exercises, ran all our content crits, and was full of enthusiasm for the project from start to finish. Everyone enjoyed working with Amy and I hope to work with her again in the future.”