Plain language training

Results

• 4 dozen product designers transforming complex content into plain language 
  
• 100% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they:
  • felt more confident about writing in plain language
  • would recommended this training to other designers
• Feedback that most commonly described the activity as "fun" 🥰

Problem to solve

In 2022, I joined a large design team at Klaviyo (a marketing automation software platform). The product was originally designed by a developer and the language was technical and verbose.

Since 2021, the design team that had grown from a few very senior product designers to a large team that included dozens of junior product designers. As the product grew, similar-looking content continued to propagate across the platform.

My role

To scale clearer and more accessible product content quickly, I proposed to train our entire design team on how to write in plain language.

• Product content audit to identify key phrases and experiences where language could be more clear, concise, and accessible.
• Reviewed source materials from plainlanguage.gov and WCAG 3.0 to synthesize plain language principles our designers should keep in mind.
• Brainstormed with content design team members on how to structure and pace the interactive portion of the training.
• Mapped out each principle we wanted to highlight, and created an exercise with original content to practice rewriting. 
• Tested the training with product designers to ensure the content and activity were clear and engaging.

Solutions

I designed and ran a 5-minute training  followed by hands-on learning:

• plain language principles
• examples of how to apply plain language inside our product
• key phrases to avoid in our product
• a toolkit of plain language resources to use during the activity
• an interactive breakout activity to practice plain language writing
  

Feedback

"The session was a great reminder of how to practice inclusive copy writing"

"The activity was super fun and helpful for reinforcing the lesson"

"Loved the breakout to apply the content and loved the fun context of the activity"