At Etomon, I worked as a UX writer and Content Strategist intern to write UX copy and create strategic communication materials for the company’s launch. The company's mission is to democratize educational opportunities with a fully interactive virtual classroom connecting students in China to teachers around the world.
Overview
Role
UX Writer Intern
Duration
7 months and counting
Tools
Figma, Sketch, InVision, Google Docs, Whiteboard, Markers
Skills
Website Copywriting, Marketing Copy, UX Copy, Branding, Marketing Strategy, Research, Interviews, Usability Testing, Affinity Analysis, User Flow, Wireframes, Cross-functional Collaboration
The project
My project was to redesign the homepage with brand voice and tone in 2.5 weeks, and 1 month before Etomon's official launch. The existing homepage had low engagement by primary users, included a lot of dead ends and bugs, and had an inconsistent content strategy.
The goal
My job was to redesign the homepage to grow the student user base. It will be supported it with audits, a content strategy, information hierarchy, and measurement plan for success.
The team
UX Writer (Me)
UX Designer
UX Director (Manager)
Developers (Front end- and back end-)
Etomon
Etomon is a global education platform using technology to increase knowledge and skills with no time and location limits. The goal is to improve other people's life and innovate toward a globalized education system by providing equal learning opportunities for students who do not have access to traditional tutoring/academic education. The unique value of Etomon is the Teaching Room where students can meet instructors on-video for face-to-face practical learning.
Beginning summer 2019, I interned as the only writer on staff. I participated in weekly stakeholder meetings to develop the marketing strategy and content for the website and the product. I used copywriting principles to create marketing copy on the two homepages for the students and instructors, respectively. I collaborated with UX and graphic designers to create content and microcopy for the user experience to guide, entertain, and remove obstacles for users to reach their goals. I would collaborate with UX designers to finalize hand-off to developers.
Project: Redesign the home page
Duration 2 1/2 weeks
Team Fozia Akter (me), Yue Zhang (UX Designer), Helen Tang (UX Manager)
Problem
Our research shows that people leave web pages in 10-20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people's attention for much longer. At Etomon, we have 200+ instructors signed up, but we have very few students. During preliminary user research, it was revealed that content prioritization is a major problem where user have expressed being overwhelmed by the amount of "benefits" posted on the homepage.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, there appeared to be a 5-30x spike in online tutoring downloads in China. I was tasked to redesign the homepage in 2.5 weeks because Etomon was aiming to launch in March 2020.
Hero Image (Before)
Update brand voice and tone
The hero image banner was the most important element and had to do heavy lifting to motivate users to search and sign up. After a/b testing we realized we needed to prioritize simple language over marketing-speak.
BEFORE (Navigation Bar)
AFTER (Navigation Bar)
Simplify navigation bar
The navigation bar (after login) contains confusion word choice revealed during user research.
Create content strategy & information hierarchy
The content strategy for the homepage redesign must
(1) capture the users' attention,
(2) informs users about Etomon,
(3) be easy to understand,
(4) accessible and localized,
(5) directs new and returning users to top tasks.
The information hierarchy must be based on research (competitor audit) and the content strategy to include design that's familiar and builds trust.
Strategic Process
I developed a writing process that involved phases of research, writing, editing, and testing. I had daily check-ins with my mentor and CEO of the company. I also participated in morning meets every day with the design team and developers.
UX Research
Audit—
a) I conducted a competitor audit to evaluate what worked, what didn’t, and business opportunities.
b) I gathered these insights and measured them against team meeting insights about metrics for measuring success on a homepage.
c) I drafted recommendations for a new content strategy.
Content strategy, content mapping, & information hierarchy—
a) Content strategy: My first step is to do a complete content audit on the old website. Before jumping into writing, I read user responses from interviews and testing. I outlined how voice and tone could support clarity. I created a list of words to use to highlight Etomon’s unique Teaching Room feature without confusing our target users in China and India who may have limited English speaking skills. The questions I ask are: Who are we writing for? What, specifically, do they struggle with (need or desire)? What action do we want them to take that’s going to help them with that need/desire?
b) Content mapping: Using post-its and whiteboard, then Figma, I created a content map to tailor content to different user journeys for both new and returning users.
c) Information hierarchy: The team and I restructured the information hierarchy so that it is based on research and highly engaging to grow student user base.
Brainstorming
Content Mapping
User Stories
Design Team Collaboration—
The next step was to use the content strategy to identify user needs and company goals. We sketch and wireframe the user flow, narrowing options to create simple terminology. For example, the banner went through multiple revisions from incorporating available courses to simplifying CTAs.
Fine-tune voice and tone—
Now, it’s time to write. I focus on writing short, clear words at first. That they are useful and get the job done. Then, the focus is on creating conversation with the words through brand-appropriate voice and tone brings humanity and clarity to the words. At Etomon, our branding voice is an “everyman” or “regular guy” personality that makes every user feel a sense of belonging and trust.
Other focuses are to make sure the copy is scannable, mobile-friendly, and actionable. The content is edited based on many rounds of testing for each element.
Scalable editing—
I edited multiple iterations of the homepage headline in 5 phases to ensure the headline is:
a) Purposeful
b) Concise
c) Conversational
d) Clear
e) Includes brand voice
Launch, test, measure—
I ran usability tests with ESL student users to measure success. Users expressed that they understood Etomon's unique value from the headline and structure of the home page. After finalizing the content, I created a plan to measure user engagement.
Outcome
The impact of this project reduced user bounce rate leaving the homepage from 40% to 31% (Google Analytics, Aug 2020).
Final Iteration
For the web, I put into action some of the best UX writing practices, including:
Include brand voice and tone
Write scannable copy
Revise headings, subheadings, and bullets to be benefits-focused
Use drop-down for users to preview courses
Localize content by limiting punctuation and literary elements
Include clear CTAs
