Is a senior content designer at the Royal Borough of Greenwich

The aim is to make content work harder, so users don’t have to.

Worked in content design, education, and programme management. 

I'm a digital content designer at University of the Arts London

April, we brought together a room full of curious, thoughtful, and open designers to talk about something we’re all figuring out in real time: career progression.

And if there was one thing that came through loud and clear… there’s no career single path.

From “falling into” content design, to zig-zagging careers, to stepping away from leadership, the amazing panel reminded us that progression isn’t linear. It’s messy. It’s personal. And that’s okay.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways

➡️ Show the value. Don’t just talk about it
Content design isn’t always understood. So meet people where they are. Show how your work helps them.

➡️ Your career is yours. Not a job title
Don’t blindly chase titles or money. Focus on what you love. That’s what shapes your path.

➡️ Soft skills are the hard skills
Communication, empathy, dealing with people, that’s the real work and the skill people look for.

➡️ Be human
Step away from Slack. Have a conversation. Bring a coffee (and maybe a doughnut). That’s where real progress can happen.

➡️ AI is a tool. Not a replacement
It can speed things up. But it can’t replace human judgment, emotion, or understanding.

➡️ Be yourself
Your CV. Your work. Your story. That’s what people will connect with.

I want to say a massive THANK YOU to our brilliant panel, Andy Long, Steve Hutson, and Alysia-Marie Annett. Your honesty, your stories, and your insights are really what made the night what it was.

Also, a bit SHOUT OUT to Hippo and Emma Thornton for collaborating with us and helping bring this together.

For something that can still feel new, there was so much curiosity and eagerness to learn and lots of thoughtful conversation about where “design” is going, and what that means for us as content and product designers.

From me, conversational design doesn’t feel like it’s arriving from nowhere. It feels like an evolution of things content designers have always cared about:
➡️ language,
➡️ clarity,
➡️ tone,
➡️ structure,
➡️ empathy,
➡️ intent,
➡️ and designing with the user in mind

Throughout the night, we explored questions like:
Is content design a job title? Or is it a set of principles that can and should travel across disciplines, regardless of what someone calls themselves?

Because when you’re designing for LLMs, building prompts, shaping tone of voice, scripting journeys, role-playing scenarios, and thinking deeply about the nuances of language, it’s hard not to see content design all over it. It’s content design, just not in the “traditional sense”

We explored:
🟡 Designing the “person” before designing the experience.
🟡 Defining personas for conversational AI.
🟡 Thinking about how you want a user to feel.
🟡 Writing prompts that bring best practices to life.
🟡 Building in strong guardrails and rules.

If AI is changing how people experience products and services, then our role definition is changing too. It’s becoming less about forcing users through one fixed mental model and more about designing systems that can adapt to what different people need, in different moments, in different ways.

To me, that’s exciting. But it also raises the bar of content design.

Other things we touched on were skills. Whether coding still matters in a world where AI can generate so much for you. My view? Yes, it does. Because when you understand the craft underneath, you can shape, refine, and improve what AI gives you. You’re not just prompting. You’re directing.

This meetup reminded me that we’re in a moment of transition. The tools are changing. The language is changing. The expectations of our roles are changing. But the need for thoughtful design. For clear language. For strong principles. For human judgment. That’s not going anywhere.

If anything, it’s becoming more important than ever.

What a night!

Managing stakeholders can be a hard task in itself.

Especially in legacy organisations. When processes are dated. And when you’re split across multiple projects and one product manager needs everything yesterday.

We spoke about the reality of:

➡️ Joining a company where no one knows (or cares) about design
➡️ Navigating rigid hierarchies while still getting meaningful work done
➡️ Adjusting to multidisciplinary product teams and new ways of working
➡️ Managing stakeholders who are equal parts curious, demanding, and time-poor

One theme stood out: Stakeholder management is not a soft skill. It's a strategic capability essential for success.

Stakeholder management is about:

✅ Building stakeholder maps and understanding goals before jumping into solutions.
✅ Tailoring communication — product wants delivery clarity, designers want thinking, business stakeholders want outcomes and metrics.
✅ Reading between the lines — because people don’t always ask for what they actually need.

Throughout the night, we talked about how we can win over stakeholders with evidence, testing, working with data analysts to show the why, not just the whay and learning to speak business — not because design needs to justify its existence, but because impact lands harder when it’s understood.

We also talked about:

🟡 Knowing which battles to fight
🟡 Protecting your time when priorities compete
🟡 Staying anchored to product vision when stakeholders don’t agree with each other
🟡 Being proactive so that content designers are brought in early, not as an afterthought.

One thing that struck me? We don’t teach this enough. (Maybe that’s an opportunity)

Early-career designers often fall into the theory trap — explaining process beautifully, but struggling to influence the room. Managing stakeholders is a craft in itself. One built through listening, alignment, and making people feel heard.

And that’s the shift. It’s not about “winning” stakeholders over. It's about forging strong relationships so our work succeeds and makes an impact.

We had an open table discussion about the future of content design — and design more broadly — and one thing became clear very quickly: We’re moving faster than our thinking.

Here’s a rundown of what was covered.

➡️ Businesses are leaner. Timelines are tighter. Shipping is relentless - and sometimes discovery is compressed (or skipped entirely), and the result: broken experiences, fragmented journeys, and teams left wondering what we actually learned once something went live.
➡️ Have we over-engineered design with frameworks and models — sprints, diamonds, cycles — to the point where the process is louder than the purpose? Are we still making space to reflect after launch, or have we quietly accepted that learning comes second to speed?
➡️ We talked about principles — and whether we’ve accidentally buried them under job titles. UX. Product. Content. Interaction. Instructional. Service. Different labels. Different outputs. But at the core? The same intent: help people understand, decide, and act.
➡️ Impostor syndrome — how blurred roles and shifting expectations can make even experienced designers feel like they’re somehow “doing it wrong”.
➡️ Then there was AI. Not seen as a threat. Or a shortcut. But as an assistant, one that still needs structure, judgment, and humanity.
➡️ Using AI for first drafts, then humanising it with content design
➡️ Prompting as a real, emerging skill — especially for content designers
➡️ AI as a huge opportunity for usability, accessibility, and clarity (that we’re not talking about enough)
➡️ We use AI, but we don’t fully trust it yet — and that trust gap is where content design really matters

❇️ After all of those discussions, I think we landed on something simple, but grounded:

If a user can’t find something, you’ve got a UX problem. If a user can’t do something, you’ve got a content problem. (I can’t remember who coined this term)

Different outputs. Shared responsibility.

Last night was a great set of conversation, which is exactly what the future of this craft needs more of.

Our final London Content Design Meetup of the year, hosted by Eleanor Dean, Sarah Lin Bhatia, and me (Jas Deogan) wasn’t just a book chat — it was a room full of sharp minds exploring what shapes content design and UX.

From Laws of UX to Writing is Designing, from Beautiful Evidence to Strategic Content Design, the conversation moved far beyond titles and into the real work we do:

➡️ Design psychology
➡️ Content audits
➡️ Making the case for content design inside complex organisations
➡️ Breaking silos
➡️ Challenging assumptions

We also touched on people's experiences with brands' user experiences, both good and bad, and that they recall bad design far longer than good design.

We also explored:

➡️ We spoke about how UX is far bigger than many expect
➡️ How content design is still misunderstood outside our discipline
➡️ How early web design chased visual chaos, while today users demand clarity, consistency, and calm
➡️ And how collaboration only works when we understand the language each team speaks

I am always blown away by the conversation at these meet-ups. And I always come away feeling inspired and energised.

Yesterday was a clear example that we weren’t just talking theory. We were talking and sharing our knowledge of Content Design and UX practice, our experiences, and honest reflections - learning from one another.

Also, Huge congratulations to Anisha, who won a copy of Strategic Content Design by the brilliant Erica Jorgensen — a fitting end to a night focused on elevating our discipline.

This meetup marked our final event of the year — but we’re not slowing down.

We’ll be back next year with more conversations, deeper thinking, and an even stronger community.

What. A. Night.

Last night’s London Content Design Meet-up, in collaboration with the brilliant folks at Hippo, was buzzing with energy, ideas, and connection.

A huge shout-out to everyone who joined us, and to the incredible speakers who lit up the room with knowledge, humour, and heart. Here’s a brief overview of what was shared:

⚡ Tracey M showed us how SEO, content design, and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) can work hand-in-hand to make content findable, accessible, and human-first.

Her takeaway?

“Keep designing content that works for humans — but that machines can learn from.”

⚡ Josh Healey took us into the world of AI prompting, showing how clarity, context, specificity, and constraints can transform outputs

His key takeaway

“A good prompt is like a good brief: thoughtful, human, and focused.”

⚡Serina Dom reminded us of the power of the humble content audit, and how turning insight into design decisions can make content more inclusive, measurable, and scalable.

⚡Sarah Lin Bhatia wrapped things up with a round-up of AI resources for content designers, from Stanford’s Human-Centred AI Institute to Nicole Henning’s GenAI news.

Massive thanks to our amazing partner Hippo, and especiallyEmma Thornton, for making last night possible

And of course, my brilliant co-hosts Eleanor Dean, Sarah Lin Bhatia and me (Jas Deogan) the dream team behind every LCD (London Content Design) meet-up that keeps this community learning, laughing, and levelling up together. I really think that last night was the first step towards our vision, London Content Con...

For the folks that came, what stuck with you most from the talks? Let’s keep the conversation going.

Photos, highlights, and speaker links coming soon!

But in the meantime, keep a weathered eye on the horizon for our next meet-up, which I’m so excited about. More to come on that soon

I really do LOVE the energy these meet-ups bring.

We didn’t just talk AI. We challenged it. (But AI wasn’t the only thing we talked about)

From trust and tone to structure and strategy, here’s a quick recap of what went down:

➡️ AI: Sink or Swim?
Is AI a surfboard… or a tidal wave? We debated whether we’re adapting or just feeding our own obsolescence.

➡️ Human Content vs Machine Content
AI can write. But can it build trust? We think empathy, lived experience, and clear tone are our secret weapons for the future of design. I think building trust in an AI-fuelled world is our biggest advantage.

➡️ AI Search & Information Architecture
Structure still matters. “AI will eat your nav if you don’t feed it well.” Enough said.

➡️ Brand Voice: Conversational or Confused?
Should we all sound like bots? Or still sound human? The room said: tone with confidence, not corporate monologue.

➡️ User Testing & Prompt Crafting
We chatted about how AI doesn’t mean skipping the fundamentals. Clean research questions still matter. So does testing with the right people. And crafting prompts? Sure, it’s a skill, but some asked: “If it takes that long to prompt, maybe we should just do the job properly?” - which is a great question to be asking.

➡️ PDF: Still the Villain
Untrackable. Inaccessible. Could AI finally help us ditch it for good? Who knows

➡️ Roles & Titles
Copywriter? UX writer? Content designer? Whatever the label, one thing’s clear: strategy is the job.

➡️ Designing with Empathy
Golden tickets, onboarding magic, and real lived experience. Let’s design with, not just for, our users.

Whether you're dreaming of brain bots or dreading brain rot, one thing remains clear to me: Content design isn’t going anywhere. It’s just levelling up.

“We can’t control how fast AI evolves – but we can control the standards we uphold.”

Another brilliant evening with the London content design crew! Hosted by Eleanor Dean and me (Jas Deogan)

Here’s a not-quite-linear summary of what we covered:

➡️ AI in entry-level roles
We discussed how AI is transforming the content landscape, not just content, but especially for those just starting out. Is AI replacing junior roles, or are we just redefining what “entry-level” means?

➡️ Learning on the job & building your craft
AI aside, we all agreed that doing is still the best way to learn. The job is the course. The team is the textbook.

➡️ Mission statements & product vision
How do we align our content strategy with product missions and lofty company visions?

➡️ So many job titles, so little clarity
Are we UX writers? Content designers? Content strategists? Technical writers? Word wizards? Did we inadvertently create a taxonomy that no one understands?

➡️ European Accessibility Act is coming
And e-commerce is in the crosshairs. We dug a little into what these guidelines mean for inclusive design.

➡️ AI, search, and prompt crafting
From SEO to GEO (Generative Search Optimisation) and how AI is reshaping how users find content, and how we write it. Also: "prompt crafting", and how we’re leaning into it.

➡️ Measuring the value of content
Ah, yes, the eternal question: “How do we prove our work is working?” We explored which metrics matter and when to use them.

➡️ Advocacy & community
We heard great stories of how content designers are building advocacy within their teams, making space for user-centred design and ethical approaches to AI.

Last night at our London Content Design meet-up, Eleanor Dean and I (Jas Deogan) set aside the buzzwords and bravely asked the real questions:

❓What does AI really mean for us as content and product designers?

🛠️ How do we use it well, without losing what makes our work human?

🔮 And what role should we, as designers, play in shaping the future of this technology?

We weren’t just discussing AI as a tool. We were having a conversation about responsibility.

💼 We explored how AI is already showing up in our workflows - summarising workshops, speeding up admin, and analysing tone of voice.

⚖️ We unpacked the tension: curiosity vs. scepticism, empowerment vs. unease.

🌍 We questioned the ethics: whose voices are being reflected in AI tools? Are we building for the world or just for the few who trained it?

What stood out to me was how many of us are holding space for both optimism and doubt.

🚫 We're not blindly adopting AI; we're interrogating it.

🌱 We're not replacing ourselves; we're expanding our impact.

🧭 And we're asking: how can content designers help make AI more ethical, usable and human-centred?

AI is here to stay. It needs our voices at the table.

It needs designers who understand systems and stories. Who care about clarity, inclusion, and trust. And it needs us now, before the decisions are made without us.