User Experience Content Strategy

Your research findings are useless if they don't drive decisions. After watching countless brilliant insights disappear into the void, I developed 5 practical templates I use to transform research into action: 1. Decision-Driven Journey Map Standard journey maps look nice but often collect dust. My Decision-Driven Journey Map directly connects user pain points to specific product decisions with clear ownership. Key components: - User journey stages with actions - Pain points with severity ratings (1-5) - Required product decisions for each pain - Decision owner assignment - Implementation timeline This structure creates immediate accountability and turns abstract user problems into concrete action items. 2. Stakeholder Belief Audit Workshop Many product decisions happen based on untested assumptions. This workshop template helps you document and systematically test stakeholder beliefs about users. The four-step process: - Document stakeholder beliefs + confidence level - Prioritize which beliefs to test (impact vs. confidence) - Select appropriate testing methods - Create an action plan with owners and timelines When stakeholders participate in this process, they're far more likely to act on the results. 3. Insight-Action Workshop Guide Research without decisions is just expensive trivia. This workshop template provides a structured 90-minute framework to turn insights into product decisions. Workshop flow: - Research recap (15min) - Insight mapping (15min) - Decision matrix (15min) - Action planning (30min) - Wrap-up and commitments (15min) The decision matrix helps prioritize actions based on user value and implementation effort, ensuring resources are allocated effectively. 4. Five-Minute Video Insights Stakeholders rarely read full research reports. These bite-sized video templates drive decisions better than documents by making insights impossible to ignore. Video structure: - 30 sec: Key finding - 3 min: Supporting user clips - 1 min: Implications - 30 sec: Recommended next steps Pro tip: Create a library of these videos organized by product area for easy reference during planning sessions. 5. Progressive Disclosure Testing Protocol Standard usability testing tries to cover too much. This protocol focuses on how users process information over time to reveal deeper UX issues. Testing phases: - First 5-second impression - Initial scanning behavior - First meaningful action - Information discovery pattern - Task completion approach This approach reveals how users actually build mental models of your product, leading to more impactful interface decisions. Stop letting your hard-earned research insights collect dust. I’m dropping the first 3 templates below, & I’d love to hear which decision-making hurdle is currently blocking your research from making an impact! (The data in the templates is just an example, let me know in the comments or message me if you’d like the blank versions).

"Post more, engage more, grow more"→biggest scam ever. A client came to me, frustrated. “I’ve been posting every single day. Following all the advice. But it feels like nobody is reading my post.” She wasn’t wrong. Her posts were well-written. Packed with value. Structured perfectly. But here’s the problem: No one felt anything. People scrolled past, nodded, and moved on. Because her content wasn’t hitting them where it mattered. So, we made one change. Instead of just sharing “value,” we made them feel something first. We told stories. We showed real struggles, real emotions, real shifts. 3 weeks later: → More engagement on one post than her last twenty combined. → DMs from people saying, “Wow, I needed this.” → Inbound leads—without ever pitching. Because here’s the truth: People don’t ignore your content because it lacks information. They ignore it because it doesn’t move them. Want to fix that? Do this: 1️⃣ Find the moment that makes people stop. Not a “pain point.” A real emotional trigger they already feel. 2️⃣ Start with a punch. No warm-up. No fluff. Hit them where they feel it. 3️⃣ Tell a story, not just a tip. Instead of “3 ways to improve,” show what happens when they don’t. 4️⃣ Make them uncomfortable. People act when they realize what they’re missing, not when they get another “how-to.” 5️⃣ End with a thought that lingers. A question, a challenge, a shift in perspective that sticks after they scroll. The moment you stop making “content” and start creating experiences? That’s when people start paying attention. Now tell me: what’s the last post that actually made you stop scrolling? #storytelling

I helped a Certified Financial Planner go from 10 to 6,000 followers in just 5 months. Most financial content is BORING. We cracked the code to make personal finance interesting and engaging. Here's the EXACT strategy that transformed his personal brand 👇 📌 Establish a unique voice A few initial calls helped me identify his unique voice. I asked, “How would you share an investing tip with a friend, sitting in Starbucks?” He said, “As if I’m talking to a 12-year-old. I’ll use analogies and examples to make it simple.” 📌 Define 3-5 content pillars We defined 3-5 content pillars. This helped us refrain from random, generic content. 📌 Think beyond INVESTING Most financial advisors talk ONLY about investments. But we expanded the narrative to: → personal finance → career growth → lifestyle management → money mindset 📌 Keep a balanced content mix → 50% educational content  → 25% personal stories  → 25% client success stories 📌 Find the “unique” angle We used Reddit to: → Find real financial questions → Understand audience pain points → Create hyper-relevant content Result? 🔹Started at 10 followers 🔹Reached 6,000 in 5 months 🔹600x follower growth 🔹Zero paid promotions 🔹100% organic strategy BONUS: You can transform your personal brand by applying these 5 steps: 1. Find your unique voice 2. Define content pillars 3. Expand beyond the core topic 4. Mix content types 5. Research your audience deeply PS: If you can’t do that yourself or don’t have enough time, let’s connect! I offer Do-it-for-you services! 😉

Every job I’ve taken in the last ten years has started the same way: six months spent updating Help Center articles that were months, sometimes a full year, out of date. It’s always the same story: they cut the tech writer to save money, the product evolved, the docs haven’t, and customers are left frustrated and confused. It creates doubt. It generates churn. Outdated content doesn’t just make support harder. It breaks trust. When users follow your documentation and the screenshots don’t match, or the steps fail halfway through, or they can't find instructions on new features, it sends a message: we stopped paying attention to users to focus on features. And fixing it after the fact is always more expensive than keeping it current. It means rework, lost time, higher ticket volume, and extra strain on support and product teams. Keeping Help Center content accurate isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s part of the product. It’s part of the customer experience. It’s part of your brand. And if you’re not maintaining it as carefully as your code, your customers will notice. #TechnicalWriting #Documentation #CustomerExperience #ContentStrategy #KnowledgeManagement #TechComm

I’m not asking my CSMs to resolve support tickets. I’m asking them to leverage them. Support tickets aren’t just a backlog of problems; they’re customer truth bombs waiting to explode. If you’re not mining them for insights, you’re flying blind—and that’s exactly how churn sneaks up on you. Every Customer Success team I’ve ever led has been trained to use Support tickets strategically. Why? Because they’re packed with insights that make us better at our jobs. ✅ We learn more about the product. ✅ We spot trends before they become problems. ✅ We understand our customers’ use cases more deeply. If you’re not tapping into support data, here’s what you’re missing: 🔥 Emerging Pain Points Recurring issues expose friction in the customer journey. Ignore them, and those minor frustrations turn into churn-worthy headaches. 🔥 Product Gaps Customers vote with their tickets. If the same feature requests or usability complaints keep surfacing, your roadmap is practically writing itself. 🔥 Engagement Risks A spike in tickets isn’t just noise—it’s a flare. Users don’t submit tickets when they’re thriving; they do it when they’re stuck, frustrated, or in need of more enablement. Here are a few ways my team and I are using these insights: ✅ Spot & Engage Struggling Users A surge in ticket volume? Proactively reach out before frustration turns into a cancellation. ✅ Create Targeted Content If the same questions keep coming up, turn those insights into help docs, webinars, or office hours. ✅ Surface Expansion Opportunities Seeing frequent feature requests? Build them—or better yet, use them to tee up expansion conversations. ✅ Map Out User Behavior Support tickets tell you who’s onboarding, who’s adopting new features, and who’s stuck. Use that data to drive deeper engagement. ✅ Collaborate with Product Your product team needs this intel. Share support trends regularly to influence meaningful fixes and features. High ticket volume isn’t necessarily a bad thing—but you need to know how to use it to your advantage. Bottom line? CSMs don’t need to fix support tickets. But the best ones know how to use them to drive retention, expansion, and adoption. _____________________________ 📣 If you liked my post, you’ll love my newsletter. Every week I share learnings, advice and strategies from my experience going from CSM to CCO. Join 12k+ subscribers of The Journey and turn insights into action. Sign up on my profile.

I failed at 2 HRIS implementations. Back to back. The first failure? I didn’t do any discovery. I picked the platform I thought would be best. The second failure? I did discovery… but badly. I asked employees and managers what they wanted. Not what problems they had. Worse still, I over-indexed on employee requests. They wanted things like better self-serve, easier time-off booking, mobile-first features. All valid - but those weren’t the most painful blockers in the business. The truth is: the worst-affected users weren’t employees. They were managers. They didn’t know where to find core policies, the were bottlenecked by reporting, and had nowhere to manage and document key people processes. If I’d done proper discovery, I’d have known that. Here’s the shift I wish I’d made earlier: 👉 Stop asking “What do you want from an HR system?” 👉 Start asking “Tell me about the last time you had to do X. What was painful about it?” That’s the core of Rob Fitzpatrick’s Mom Test: Don’t ask people for opinions, ask them about their actual experiences. A lightweight framework you can apply today: 1️⃣Identify your worst-affected users. Who feels the friction most? (Hint: it’s not always employees). 2️⃣Ask about real behaviour. “Talk me through the last time you had to approve a holiday / onboard a new starter / run a review.” 3️⃣Dig into pain, not features. “What took the most time? What annoyed you? What went wrong?” 4️⃣Look for patterns. If the same pain shows up across teams, that’s where the real value lies. When you ground discovery in real stories, not wish lists, you stop buying (or building) “what people say they want” and start solving what they actually need. I’d love to hear how other People Leaders approach user discovery before choosing HR tech? Is user discovery even a consideration or have you fallen into the same traps as I did? #PeopleExperience #UserDiscovery #ProductLedPX

Fintech websites face a critical choice most designers get wrong. Balancing storytelling with functionality isn't just a design decision - it's a business survival strategy: I've analyzed hundreds of fintech websites over the past years. The pattern is clear: companies consistently swing too far in one direction. Some create beautiful narrative journeys that fail to convert. Others build functional interfaces that feel cold and clinical. The most successful fintech platforms understand a fundamental truth: Your users need both emotional connection AND practical utility. Consider these real-world scenarios: 1. A wealth management app tells a compelling story about financial freedom but buries basic account functions three clicks deep. 2. A payment processor offers lightning-fast transactions but fails to explain why users should trust them with their money. 3. A banking alternative builds a slick interface but neglects to create any emotional differentiation from traditional banks. The companies winning in this space follow a specific formula: 1. Lead with a concise, emotionally resonant story 2. Transition quickly to clear functionality 3. Maintain storytelling elements throughout the user journey 4. Ensure critical functions are never more than one click away The balance shifts depending on where users are in their journey: - New visitors need more story - Active users need more function - Returning customers need reminders of both My takeaway: The most effective fintech websites aren't choosing between storytelling and functionality—they're orchestrating a careful dance between the two. The story gets them in the door. The functionality keeps them there. The ongoing narrative turns them into advocates. Stop treating these elements as opposing forces. Start seeing them as complementary tools in your digital strategy. If you need help with building a fintech website - drop me a message. Let's talk.

At 6'7", business travel is torture. But cramped airline seats taught me the most important lesson about user experience design. Every flight is a nightmare. Knees jammed into the seat ahead. Shoulders pressed against strangers. Neck bent at impossible angles. I travel constantly for The Good | Digital Experience Optimization client meetings, industry events and peer groups. Each trip reminds me how poorly designed systems fail people like me. But here's what I realized during a particularly brutal flight to a client meeting. Airlines have no idea I'm suffering. Their metrics look great: on-time departure, full capacity, and revenue targets hit. Meanwhile, I'm in physical pain for three hours straight 🫠 The disconnect is invisible to them. Your users are having the same experience with your website. They're struggling with confusing navigation. Fighting unclear error messages. Abandoning frustrated halfway through checkout. But your analytics show traffic, engagement, time on site. So, you think everything's working fine. The pain points that matter most to users are often invisible to companies. But your dashboard shows behavior... it doesn't show suffering. Users are struggling with your digital experience in ways you can't see from your analytics. Start measuring friction, not just flow.

If you’re not educating your customers, you’re failing them. 🔥 An informed user base is your greatest asset. Most fintechs spend millions on user acquisition—ads, influencer partnerships, referral programs—but forget the most important thing: 📌 Educated customers stay. Confused customers leave. • If your users don’t understand your product, they won’t trust it. • If they don’t trust it, they won’t use it. • If they don’t use it, your churn rate skyrockets, & your LTV tanks. Finance is complex. Throwing buzzwords like “DeFi,” “yield farming,” or “embedded finance” at users won’t make them stay. ✔ Users need clarity, not complexity. A confused mind always says no. ✔ Customers who understand your product use it more—& refer others. ✔ The fintechs that dominate are the ones that simplify, not complicate. If your approach to customer education looks like this, you’re already losing users: • You rely on FAQs instead of real education. (Nobody reads 15-page help center articles.) • Your onboarding is a speed bump instead of a launchpad. (Customers should feel empowered, not lost.) • You assume customers will “figure it out.” (They won’t. They’ll just switch to a competitor that makes it easier.) • Your product is intuitive—to you, not to them. (Users aren’t fintech experts. Stop expecting them to be.) If you want loyal customers who actually understand & trust your product, do this: 1. Educate in the onboarding, not just the blog. Show, don’t tell. 2. Use plain language, not fintech jargon. If a 12-year-old can’t understand it, rewrite it. 3. Turn education into engagement. Gamify learning, offer rewards, & make it interactive. 4. Leverage social proof. Use case studies & testimonials to show how real users benefit from your product. 5. Invest in customer success teams. A chatbot won’t replace a human when a customer needs real help. If your customers don’t understand what you do, you haven’t earned their trust. So, ask yourself: Are you just acquiring users, or are you empowering them? #Leadership #Management #Compliance #Fintech #FinancialTechnology #FinancialServices #Business #Innovation #Customer #Customers #Finance #FinancialLiteracy #CustomerExperience #UserEducation #CustomerSuccess #DigitalTransformation #Trust

If you ask anyone what to say with content, they'll probably tell you to "focus on the pain points." But I think that advice is missing something crucial. Pain points aren't enough. Pain can be ignored... for a long time. People will put up with inefficient systems, broken tools, workarounds, and frustration for longer than they are willing to admit. Buyer Inertia is Real. Case in point (not B2B related) -- my son spilled a science experiment on my sofa like 3 years ago. We cleaned it up, but there's a big stain on the ottoman. We threw a blanket on it, talked about a new sofa, and promptly got used to the slight discoloration. That "stain" is not moving me get a new sofa. I have sofa inertia. Literally - stuck on the couch. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago when I realized we were hosting THE ENTIRE family for Thanksgiving. Guess who is looking at new sofas. Pain point - the stain that we covered with a blanket and ignored. Buying trigger - the entire family coming for dinner. See how they are different, yet related? Buyer enablement requires that you address BOTH. This is why I don't talk about "content pillars" or "calendars" with my clients. Because the content that moves buyers forward does one thing really well: it connects what buyers are experiencing RIGHT NOW (the buying trigger) to how you help them alleviate the root cause issue (the pain point). This is the perspective that makes them say, "This person gets it." When you nail that connection, qualified buyers show up because your content has already done the heavy lifting. If your content isn't generating inquiries when you're not actively promoting, the problem isn't your offer. It's that you're not connecting the dots between their current reality and your solution. Want to fix that? Send me a DM. Let's talk about how to reach more buyers with relatable, timely, relevant content that responds to tangible triggers, not just abstract "pain points".