Overview · Content Design Strategies

The Art of
Designing
Content

Sarah Richards created the discipline of content design at the UK Government Digital Service, proving that data-driven, user-centred content transforms how people experience the web.

Sarah Richards

Founder of Content Design London. Former Head of Content Design at the UK Government Digital Service. Author of Content Design. Now known as Sarah Winters.

Creator of Content Design as a discipline
"Content design is a way of thinking. It's about using data and evidence to give the audience what they need, at the time they need it and in a way that they expect."
— Sarah Richards
01 — Origin

The GOV.UK Revolution

Between 2010 and 2014, Sarah Richards led one of the most ambitious content projects in web history: consolidating over 400 separate UK government websites into a single, user-centred platform — GOV.UK.

The problem wasn't a lack of content. There were an estimated 3,500 government websites with around 75,000 pages of information, most of it written to satisfy internal departmental priorities rather than to serve the people who actually needed it.

Richards and her team challenged the status quo at every level — from ministerial sign-off to individual page structure — establishing a new discipline: content design.

400+
Separate government websites consolidated into one
75K
Pages reduced through user-need focus
10×
Daily page visits achieved through content design alone
02 — Definition

What Is Content Design?

Core Definition
Content design is the art and science of creating content so people can use your service, buy your products, and validate your organisation's reason for existing — using data and evidence to give audiences only what they need, when they need it.

❌ What it is not

  • Graphic design
  • Copywriting under another name
  • UX writing (microcopy only)
  • Content strategy (that's the vision)
  • Assumption-based publishing

✓ What it is

  • Evidence-driven decision making
  • Format selection (not just text)
  • End-to-end user journey thinking
  • Cross-channel communication
  • Delivering the content strategy
03 — Strategies

Six Core Content Design Strategies

Strategy 01

Start with User Needs

Every content decision begins with a user need — not an organisational want. Analyse what users are actually trying to do, using data, search queries, and behaviour patterns. There is no room for assumptions.

Strategy 02

Use Data as Your Foundation

Every piece of evidence accelerates your work. Analytics, search data, user research, and support queries all reveal the gap between what content exists and what content is actually needed.

Strategy 03

Choose the Right Format

Content design is not defaulting to paragraphs of text. The right format might be a tool, calculator, video, chart, infographic, or checklist. Ask: what format best serves the need?

Strategy 04

Design for the Whole Journey

Content designers must understand the complete user journey — including letters, emails, and offline touchpoints. A disconnect between a letter and the webpage it references creates confusion.

Strategy 05

Contextual Relevance

Content must be relevant and actionable within the specific environment where it is encountered. Provide clear descriptions, examples, and necessary background — nothing more, nothing less.

Strategy 06

Manage Stakeholders Actively

60% of the challenge is explaining what content is. Involve decision-makers in discovery so they understand the evidence. Collaboration with those who might block you produces better outcomes than confrontation.

04 — Key Concept

Push vs. Pull Content

One of Richards' most powerful frameworks is the distinction between content that pushes information at users versus content that pulls them in by answering a genuine need.

❌ Push Content

Blast Publishing

  • Organisation-driven priorities
  • Departmental agendas dictate content
  • Assumes users want what you produce
  • Content quantity over quality
  • Ignores user motivation and emotion
  • Results in low engagement & wasted resource
→
✓ Pull Content

Need-driven Design

  • User needs drive every decision
  • Data reveals what people are seeking
  • Content answers a specific question
  • Quality and precision over volume
  • Understands motivation and emotion
  • Delivers measurable increases in engagement
05 — Format Selection

Content Isn't Always Text

A core tenet of content design is that the format should be chosen to best serve the need — not defaulted to. Richards consistently challenges teams to question whether a paragraph of text is truly the right vehicle.

📝 Written text
📊 Infographics
🎬 Video
📈 Charts & data viz
🧮 Calculators
🛠️ Interactive tools
📅 Calendars
✅ Checklists
🗺️ Maps
📱 Multi-channel content
✉️ Letters & emails
🔍 Search-optimised copy
06 — Process

The Content Design Process

1

Discovery

Gather data from analytics, search terms, support queries, and user research. Involve stakeholders from the start so they share your understanding of the problem.

2

Define the Need

Identify the precise user need. Understand the motivation and emotional state users bring. Get alignment — discovery is complete when everyone agrees on the next step.

3

Select the Format

Decide what type of content will best serve the need on the channel the user is on. Challenge text-as-default. Consider the full journey.

4

Design, Test, Iterate

Create content using plain language, clear structure, and appropriate format. Test with real users. Use performance data to iterate and improve continuously.

07 — Principles

Underpinning Principles

01 No assumptions
Success or failure in content design hinges entirely on how well you understand your users' needs — not what you assume they want. Every decision requires evidence.
02 Data speeds everything
Evidence-based conversations replace opinion battles. When everyone can see the same data, alignment becomes far easier and faster to achieve.
03 Accessibility is non-negotiable
Content must be operable and understandable by all users — including keyboard-only navigation, plain language for all reading levels, and cross-device consistency.
04 Content isn't an afterthought
Content must be a critical element from the earliest stages of product and service design — not something retrofitted at the end. It shapes other design elements.
05 Quality over quantity
A thoughtful approach to content creation ensures it stands out. Aggressive publishing schedules that sacrifice quality produce noise, not value.
06 Consistent cross-channel voice
If a letter sends users to a website, both must feel coherent. Discontinuity between channels breaks user trust and creates confusion at critical moments.
08 — Practice

Stakeholder Management

Richards dedicates an entire day of her content design training to stakeholder management — because she found 60% of the real challenge isn't the content itself, it's the people who have power over it.

01

Involve them in discovery

Get stakeholders involved early so they understand what you're doing and why — reducing sign-off friction significantly.

02

Show them the data

Redirect "I just want this" conversations toward shared evidence: "Let's look at what users are actually saying."

03

Collaborate on the problem

Work with blockers rather than around them. Shared problem understanding leads to better solutions than imposed ones.

04

Use experts outside the team

Sales staff, support teams, and subject experts offer insight into offline behaviour and repeated questions that analytics won't show.