Introduction

Content Design is the task of designing the words within a product design. It includes all of the main body text, as well as labels on buttons, helper text to explain inputs and whether or not to include an example in an input so a user knows what they should enter. There are a lot of elements to consider, and often, large design teams will have specialist content designers who are experts focused entirely on this role.

I do not have the luxury of a large design team on this project, so the task of content design is falling to me. I often find this to be one of the most challenging aspects of a project, but with the huge advances in AI models and the ability to train them to match a brand’s tone of voice, I hope to utilise these tools as my assistant content designer.

Initial Attempts

I have already defined my brand’s tone of voice as part of my branding work earlier in the project. Briefly, the key is clarity, and not to overwhelm my users with text. I need to keep information concise and usable. It is also key that I take into account my user group, who are potentially neurodivergent. This means I need to consider factors more common among neurodivergent people, such as difficulty understanding metaphors, ambiguity, and complex words and language.

I decided to start with the content for product onboarding. Which I could use as a guide for Google Gemini Pro to help me improve it and ensure it fits the tone of voice I defined for my brand. Then I could develop the rules and constraints required to use AI to create the rest of the content, or at least initial drafts, that I could then edit to fit my needs.

As I created this content I realised two major issues with my work:

1. I was much too verbose and needed to make the content significantly more concise.
2. I had fallen into the trap of marketing speak, using unnecessary comparisons and adjectives to sell the product.

Both of these issues would need to be rectified, as both could cause difficulties for my intended audience.

AI-Supported Content Design

With these issues to solve, I decided now would be a good time to use AI to help, I wanted it to do two main things:

1. Rate my current content versus the brand tone of voice and rules I needed to meet.
2. Suggest improved text for me to use.

I decided to use Google Gemini Pro for this task as I had access to its Pro features, such as a choice of models to use and unlimited prompts, which would be useful as I explored further.

I started by providing Gemini with some brief context and the rules I needed it to follow. The prompt I used was:

I am designing an application to triage whether or not people require a specialist assessment for autism spectrum disorder. I am currently designing the content for the app. There are some basic content rules I need you to follow. They are 1. All content must be in plain English with no colloquialisms, jargon, or technical language. 2. There can be no confusing phrases such as metaphors, anecdotes, etc. 3. All accessibility guidance to help people with neurodiversity must be followed. Can you help me with this?

I was then able to provide my initial draft content and ask:

I would like you to redraft this text for an initial screen that a first-time user will see when initially opening the app