Case Study: WhatsApp Content Quality Program
Content skills
- Content Audit
- Content Strategy
- Technical Editing
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Process Documentation
Tools
- Figma
- Proprietary Content Management Systems
- Project Management Applications
- Cloud Collaboration Platforms
- Internal Wikis
The project
We launched a comprehensive rolling content quality improvement initiative for help center documentation across multiple channels. Driven by engagement and performance metrics, we systematically addressed content top down, noting and improving inconsistencies and user experience barriers. Our cross-functional efforts engaged team members from privacy, legal, integrity, product, design, operations, engineering, localization, and more.
Content audit framework
- Grammar
- User Interface Accuracy
- Readability
- XML Structural Integrity
- Metadata Tagging
Since content audit changes required collaboration and approval from different departments and required translation into as many as 30 languages, it was important that each change follow a prescribed and agreed-upon workflow.
Using the help center style guide wiki, we identified and categorized content issues across five critical dimensions:
Audit process
- Create MVP review table of help center articles
- Develop side-by-side error analysis documentation
- Prioritize issues into low-, medium-, and high-priority categories
- Establish targeted review workflows for different error types
The audit process included creating review documentation with a side-by-side analysis of what errors existed and what style- and business-approved fixes were appropriate. Once the audit and editing were complete, I scored the content. Highest-priority issues received immediate attention, while the scaled help team added other issues to the appropriate backlogs.
While I can’t share improvement metrics, the pilot was successful enough to become a program. We were able to successfully complete the review and optimization project for thousands of pieces of content both in the help center and available through different cross-channel experiences, from in-app to email.
My role
- Review, audit, and optimize thousands of content pieces with traceable documentation
- Improve internationalization workflow for multilingual content updates
- Develop process documentation for future content optimization
- Designed workflow automation recommendations
As a Flex Scaled Help Content Strategist on a contingency contract, I did not make strategic decisions but contributed to them with data, experience, and collaborative input. I also delivered an in-depth presentation to upper management on ways to optimize the current workflow for quality audit updates.
The workflow: I received audit spreadsheets from data analysts and handed off scored and completed reviews to stakeholders and subject matter experts for sign-off before sending for translation and ultimately publishing the updates.
In the role that I continued to improve, I audited the content, edited it where applicable, and then created a workflow for review. Different types of errors require different reviews. For instance, a user interface error needed to be vetted by the product team, while a grammatical mistake by the scaled help content strategists. Retaining the attention of each across a sprawling global organization takes persistence and humility (especially as a contingent worker).
I worked on this project from inception for more than 12 months. During that time, I conducted quality review checks, created process optimizations with the full-time project managers, and delivered in-depth workflow and automation opportunity presentations to higher management.
My process documentation will continue to drive future optimizations, such as automation, after my contract. My training documentation is also central to the onboarding workflow the team will carry on after my contract is complete.
- Grammar: Adherence to style guide and rules of grammar. Are there spelling errors or comma splices? Does the content adhere to the in-house headings capitalization style?
- User Interface: Do the steps laid out in the article actually work, and are they accurate? Has an icon or a label changed? Is the functionality different?
- Readability: How long are the sentences? Do they adhere to the in-house readability requirements?
- XML: Are content components correctly populating? Are the headings tagged correctly? Do the icons have alt text? Are the bolds bolded and not emphasized?
- Metadata: Are there keywords applied correctly? Is the article using the right tagged template?
The impact: Scalable content improvement framework
We were able to successfully complete the review and optimization project for thousands of pieces of content both in the help center and available through different cross-channel experiences, from in-app to email.
As a content strategist and designer, this was an enriching experience. I learned a new content framework from a powerhouse tech firm and am able to integrate new ways of content optimization into my current workflow.
- Enacted high-volume internationalization workflow for the world’s largest messaging app to ensure all edits were translated into the appropriate languages and published.
- Collaborated with legal, privacy, and integrity to audit for clarity, accessibility, and consistency on high-volume, cross-channel help center content.
- Audit and analyze content models and component-style modules that allow for reuse and customization based on the platform.