Content design training for non-writers at the Wellcome Trust

Wellcome is a global charitable foundation established in 1936. It supports scientific solutions to the world’s urgent health issues by funding research, leading policy and advocacy campaigns, and building global partnerships.

Its in-house team of product and UX designers were great at user experience techniques and processes, particularly UX design and user research, but lacked confidence and experience when it came to content design.

As non-writers they needed an entry level introduction to the discipline that also considered their existing UX knowledge. They were particularly keen to add content design-specific research methods to their repertoire so they could test users’ understanding of the content and services they’re designing.

We worked closely with the client to understand their particular needs and tailored a bespoke content design course to their knowledge, experience and ability. The course started by looking at online writing in general and examining the role of words on a webpage, before introducing UX writing concepts such as using plain English for understanding and a style guide for consistency.

Next we focused on ways to research and test content before moving on to writing best practice. Throughout the course we used examples from the Wellcome website to illustrate concepts and make them easier to understand and digest.

The team had a full day training course where they discussed and practised several content design techniques.

Since the course they have been able to confidently apply what they learned to what they’re designing, resulting in more considered and effective design.

The team is also able to design appropriate tests for their content to see if improvements can be made.