Content Portfolio

Civilla (2020—present)

As a long-term contractor with non-profit design studio Civilla, I lead learning design, writing, editing, and multimedia content strategy for Practica, a curriculum on ethical design and research methods, serving public-sector professionals. Learn more about the project here. View excerpts from courses below.

I also support research and content design for other studio projects, including client-facing materials, internal documents, and grant reports. For example:

  • National Voter Registration Form: I partnered with Civilla’s Design Lead to redesign the country’s official mail-in voter registration form. I helped plan research, recruit participants, lead interviews with voters, subject-matter experts, and election officials, and synthesize insights. I also led strategy on content, working within significant constraints from the Election Assistance Commission (including not changing any state-specific instructions), and collaborated directly with visual designers on changes.

  • Michigan Unemployment Insurance Claimant Roadmap: A team at Civilla was working to design a claimant roadmap for Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency. They brought me on to edit the roadmap’s content; my revisions brought clarity and consistency to the roadmap’s language and structure.

◡

NYC Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (2017—2018)

As Content Strategy Lead and one half of NYC Digital, a tiny design team inside the NYC Mayor’s Office of the CTO, I consulted with other City agencies on creating accessible digital experiences, with a focus on content. I helped build internal and New Yorker-facing digital products, and consulted with agencies on improving content strategy, information architecture, and plain language for existing public apps and websites. I also launched an internal knowledge base for the City’s digital workers, and helped found and produce an annual conference on digital accessibility.

  • NYC Housing Portal: As part of Mayor DeBlasio’s LongLive NY campaign, City Hall tasked NYC Digital and the Department of Housing and Preservation with creating a single online stop for New Yorkers seeking information on affordable housing in NYC. Working on an accelerated timeline to match the launch of the campaign, we got it done. I led content strategy and copywriting, and co-led design research and strategy.

View the current site.

 

  • Complex Language Translations for NYC DEP: The NYC Department of Environmental Protection reached out to NYC Digital for help developing a new content and design strategy for their behemoth website. I worked closely with the Design Lead to develop a research plan consisting of surveys, a content audit, stakeholder interviews, and card sorting, to determine what needed to change and how. One of my deliverables was this handy set of plain language translations for DEP jargon.

    View the document.

 

  • NYC Digital Blueprint: My team developed a digital resource hub for all City workers who design, build, or interact with New Yorker-facing digital products. I designed the site’s information architecture, and wrote and/or edited all the text on the website. I also spearheaded the project and led cross-team product operations, content and design strategy, research, and user outreach.

    This site is no longer active; view an excerpt to the right.