Quick writing samples

Content design is more than just writing, but the result of all our thinking and collaboration is still important.

Big results from rewriting an enterprise contact form

+97% form completions
+74% qualified leads
+44% first meetings with a sales representative


Before
- Lots of detail about Upwork in general, with no mention of offerings specific to Enterprise
- Relied on Enterprise customers identifying with brands
- Worked heavily to sell the product before a sales conversation has happened
- "Get a Demo" CTA could feel like a big commitment

After
- Clearly grounds Enterprise customers so they know they're in the right place
- Concise and to the point, focused on a few main ideas
- Leads with value to clients rather than features
- "Schedule a Call" CTA is flexible, and shows awareness of client needs

Other improvements
- Redesigned the following confirmation screen for qualified leads to more clearly set expectations.
- Designed screens for unqualified leads to give them context to why they didn't qualify for the enterprise offering and provided other options.
- Added a more prominent link for freelancers who accidentally ended up on the page.

A more consistent sign-up experience

+4% visit to registration overall (primary metric)
+36% visit to reg when clicking on banner CTA
+31% visit to posting a job when clicking on the banner CTA


Before
- Generic "Get Started" CTA didn't speak to the headline or the overall focus of the page
- CTA redirected to a 2-step sign up process where users select what account they want (client or freelancer)
- Sign-up messaging did not reflect where someone is coming from or confirm that they're heading in the direction they expected

After
- CTA matches the action in the headline
- CTA pops up an on-page modal for a 1-step sign up for a client account
- Sign-up messaging acknowledges the content of the previous screen and the action someone takes to get there, and sets expectations for what is coming next

Reflections
It was easier to get a read on the impact of an isolated change like a new CTA, but harder to separate two significant changes to the next step.

And though most of the traffic to this page is prospective clients, there were some prospective freelancers as well. With the new sign up defaulting to a client account, we saw an increase in freelancers signing up for the wrong type of account.

Before
After

Encouraging thoughtful messages between users

Problems
Top-rated freelancers tended to get more invites than they could ever hope to accept, while freelancers who were newer to the platform had a difficult time finding enough work.

Hypothesis
Allowing freelancers to refer other freelancers will:
- redistribute invites to those who need them the most
- help clients fill jobs even if their first choice isn't available
- create a foundation for building freelancer networks

Research
We first presented the idea to freelancers as something based around helping fellow freelancers find work and helping clients fill jobs. There was a lot of support for the idea even without a monetary incentive.
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Solution
Throughout the process, we spoke to the value behind helping people find work or hire. We also provided guidance for how to include useful information for both parties about why you were referring someone for a job.

Results
Although the initial MVP did not see a large amount of users choosing to refer a freelancer, there was a significant impact on fill rates for jobs where an invited freelancer referred another freelancer.

A majority of the messages included in referrals were thorough and thoughtful, often times apologizing for not being to take the work, providing an explanation about why they weren't taking this, and detailing why the referred freelancer was great for the job.

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Intro screens and an 'about' page for a travel app


Though I didn't get the chance to run this content through more iterations, I put multiple approaches through user testing to get a sense of how the concept of our product resonated with prospective users.

It's also a great example of something I love to incorporate into UX design: sequential storytelling. I grew up reading comics, I've written a few self-published comics, and at one point I worked as an editorial assistant for a comics publisher. So much of what I've learned about the art of comics informs how I think about user interfaces. This includes the interplay between words and images, nonlinear interaction with time and space, the communication of ideas through components both as individual pieces and as a larger whole... even just the delight that people get out of visual narratives!


So many companies (of all sizes) use "about us" pages as an opportunity to tell their company's story, or list out bios of their team. I can see the utility in this for investors or press, but with a startup that's building an image from the ground up, I wondered: how could this better reflect the values of a company and how they want to interact with their actual audience?

When building this page, I reflected on what our audience told us about what they wanted out of a travel app rather than what we wanted them to care about.

So often we get caught up in the standard way things have been done that we don't stop to reflect on why we're doing it or whether that approach to content is actually useful. The internet may not be so new and unknown anymore, but it's easy to forget that there's still so much room to think outside the box.

This isn't the kind of page that drives business metrics, which may make it a lower priority in the grand scheme of things, but that also means there's lower risk in trying out more ambitious, creative ideas.

Other copywriting and editing


One of 100+ location descriptions written for a travel app. I wrote a few and ran them through several rounds of user testing to develop a repeatable approach, and helped manage the work of two copywriters who carried out the rest.
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A copywriting sample from an annual Downtown Long Beach publication.
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A few of the 100+ published books where I have editing credits.
A page of a comic book which displays a sequence where an escape artist breaking free from chains. The text reads: "To delve further and further inward, through boxes within boxes, picking locks within locks."A photo of an open book of poetry displaying a blank page and a page which shows the title 'seeds', three illustrations of different types of seeds, and credits for the book.A photo of an open book of poetry displaying a poem and an illustration of a fish swimming in water.

Creative work in comics writing, poetry, and book design.

Let's explore what content design can do for you

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