Recent role: content design at Shopify
Project highlights
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Website relaunch
Shopify needed an experienced content designer with copywriting experience to express the value of its new fulfillment service, particularly to entrepreneurs who might not know what “product fulfillment” actually meant.
I wrote the experience in four web pages, working with a visual designer to make something reassuring, crisp, and immediately recognizable as “Shopify.”
Andrew is an incredibly capable and thoughtful content designer. In addition to consistently producing top-notch work, he was an amazing teammate. He communicates clearly, keeps priorities on track, and is focused on producing work that delivers. He collaborated with teams across the board on various projects and also on ways to improve processes and craft. Andrew brings a growth and big picture mindset to all aspects of the job and we were lucky to have him on our team.
+20% conversion from a pricing calculator
Explaining the pricing model for Shopify Fulfillment Network’s services was challenging. It was also an industry first. Instead of charging separately for storage, materials, and delivery, Shopify offered a single fulfillment price per item.
I worked with a product designer and a visual designer to create a lean calculator that showed the service’s price per item, multi-item discounts, and how it hinged on item weight.
Andrew is an amazing colleague and friend. I was a product designer at Shopify when we worked together, and it was my first time ever in my professional career to work with a content designer. Now I can’t imagine ever working without one. He taught me so much. I would have these seemingly wild or random ideas. He would reference a concept from his craft, teach me, and support/ideate on more crazy ideas with me. Andrew also has this knack for always putting the user first without losing sight of the business goals.
Most of all though, Andrew is a genuine human being and has been super fun to work with. Whenever I felt a little down on myself, he always took the time to build me back up.
60% faster product sales cycle
Relaunching its fulfillment service also meant reinventing the onboarding experience, especially for merchants new to the world of fulfillment.
I coordinated with a product designer to create a cohesive experience that transitioned merchants from the website through the application process right in the app. I also coordinated with the product marketing team to match this with an accompanying email automation flow to educate new users along the way, ultimately handing them off to the sales team, ready and informed.
Andrew and I were in the same marketing content design crit group at Shopify. Andrew is always so willing to dive into the weeds when it comes to content design. What’s more, he’s a systems thinker, so he knows when to suggest copy changes and when to suggest IA or strategy changes. He’s present and committed to upleveling his content design craft. His suggestions are thoughtful, and he’s one of those teammates you always feel better after seeing. I would HIGHLY recommend Andrew to any team. I know I’ll miss him at Shopify.
50% faster newsletter production
Shopify Fulfillment Network’s newsletter had existed as one of those “just get it out the door” channels for about a year before I joined.
I systematized the process for gathering product updates and FAQs from multiple teams to address merchant pain points, cutting down production time to two weeks (including everything). I also rewrote the signup page to bring merchants’ employees and partners further into Shopify’s logistics ecosystem.
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Working with Andrew, you know you’re going to get quality above all else. Beyond being a great writer and editor, he’s incredibly intentional in everything he does. He doesn’t cut corners and he’ll fight to put the customer first when decisions are being made about content and campaigns. A great collaborator I’d be happy to work with any time.
Other contributions
Product vision videos
I worked with a staff product designer to script four videos that served as the compass for all of our product and marketing UX initiatives over the next two years. These were presented to the whole fulfillment UX team for design ideation.
Authored content guidelines
Shopify Fulfillment Network was a product without a consistent voice. I took it upon myself to create a a set of content guidelines for our team to operate more efficiently, and it evolved into a formal guide for the entire division’s marketing and UX efforts.
Improved content hiring practice
Within three months of joining Shopify I was asked to interview incoming candidates. I interviewed alongside senior content designers and refined our interview formats, working with an internal recruiter to refine our talent sourcing approach.
Andrew’s writing style was perfection. Creative, unique, with character and clarity. He led projects and working session with great confidence. His incredibly supportive and collaborative nature made our team feel unified and aligned with our goals. In his year at Shopify, Andrew touched not only people’s hearts but also a multitude of projects that made a significant impact on Shopify’s reach into the market (fulfillment services specific). Andrew wrote the content for the Shopify Fulfillment Network’s website, launched paid ads, sent out monthly newsletters, wrote for A/B testing email campaigns, scripted product vision videos, and so much more. His talent should not go unnoticed and any company would be very lucky to have him. Thank you Andrew, for making every day brighter at Shopify.
Becoming a Shopify alumnus
On July 26, 2022, Shopify laid off 10% of its staff.
It wasn’t based on performance or reviews; the company carefully hires hard workers at the outset.
I was just one of the unlucky 1,000 who were let go.
My team and I really liked working together, and we were on a mission to build the next big thing at Shopify.
That mission was cut short for me, unfortunately, but my teammates left one hell of an impression on me. I hope I can bring that same fire to my next project.
The reaction from the community has been heartwarming, though. I didn’t expect so many people to reach out. To be honest, I didn’t realize they felt so strongly about me.
This is what they had to say.
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The project results
Shopify Fulfillment Network started a new product without a voice. During my time here, our team created the bedrock for integrated UX and marketing efforts. We created the product’s information architecture, its first real campaigns, and all of the essential marketing and sales assets to complete the business funnel.
We accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time. Here are the big contributions tallied up:
- Launched 4 new product pages.
- Built a pricing calculator.
- Authored brand content guidelines from scratch.
- Fixed the newsletter production process.
- Conducted several A/B test campaigns.
- Co-designed a brand-new app onboarding experience.
- Debuted brand-new marketing campaigns for a fulfillment service.
- Co-scripted four videos directing the team’s product designers for the next two years.
- Created a suite of Black Friday/Cyber Monday marketing collateral.
Ultimately, my time at Shopify was cut short, but I’m still glad I worked here. I met incredible people who showed me new ways of thinking and who pushed me to uncover my inner designer.
Check out my other projects
Click on a project to learn more about it.
Meta
Meta recruited me as a content designer to improve the internal tools that power sales and support operations for tens of thousands of employees pushing advertising solutions every month.
Shopify
I joined Shopify as a content designer to promote its logistics and fulfillment service. I worked with product UX and marketing teams to create a cohesive experience experience across the app and everything related to it.
Employed Historian
Liberal arts grads are diving into job markets for which their education never prepared them. I'm creating the roadmap and resources I wish I'd had to build my early career.
aha insurance
Canada’s insurance industry leaves a lot to be desired, so I joined up to give it a kick in the pants. My responsibilities included content and SEO strategist, editor, copywriter, web analyst, UX writer, and ad writer.
Webb Content
Webb Content is my freelance brand for UX content design, content strategy, and SEO-informed content marketing strategy.
Honeypot Marketing
I joined in the middle of a Black Friday sale that generated $70,000 for one client, then continued to grow into the team's Content Marketing Manager.
Food for thought
How I became a content designer (or UX writer)
I never thought of myself as any kind of designer. If you’d asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said “video game journalist.” With a background in history I never expected to work in the tech industry, either. Yet now I’ve worked for two...
What is a UX content strategist?
A “UX content strategist,” more commonly called a “staff content designer,” is a fairly new user experience role, evolving alongside UX writing as a major component of the content design discipline. It can be a role on its own, but most commonly it just represents a...
Content design vs. content strategy: know the difference
Trying to understand content design vs. content strategy after a confusing look through job boards? Good news: I've done both, so I can tell you the key differences between them. Companies often interchange and merge these two phrases, but they are different. You only...
How I became a content designer (or UX writer)
I never thought of myself as any kind of designer. If you’d asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said “video game journalist.” With a background in history I never expected to work in the tech industry, either. Yet now I’ve worked for two...
What is a UX content strategist?
A “UX content strategist,” more commonly called a “staff content designer,” is a fairly new user experience role, evolving alongside UX writing as a major component of the content design discipline. It can be a role on its own, but most commonly it just represents a...
Content design vs. content strategy: know the difference
Trying to understand content design vs. content strategy after a confusing look through job boards? Good news: I've done both, so I can tell you the key differences between them. Companies often interchange and merge these two phrases, but they are different. You only...
What is a content designer?
Most people I speak with don’t understand what content designers actually are, and it’s no surprise. “Content” has become synonymous with the digital marketing industry, and “design” has become a ubiquitous term for visual work. I was guilty of it, too. I would refer...
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