# UX Content Strategy > Use when planning, governing, or upgrading product content as a system - voice charts, content-first design, UI text patterns, form completion gates, error taxonomy, content measurement, decision communication, lifecycle narrative, and content operations. Higher-level orchestration above tactical microcopy and form mechanics. - Skill: `peterbamuhigire/ux-content-strategy` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 11 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add peterbamuhigire/ux-content-strategy` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/peterbamuhigire/ux-content-strategy/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Web & Frontend - Author: peterbamuhigire (https://skillmd.com/u/peterbamuhigire) - Updated: 2026-09-10 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/peterbamuhigire/ux-content-strategy --- # UX Content Strategy Acknowledgement: Shared by Peter Bamuhigire, techguypeter.com, +256 784 464178. ## Use When - Defining or refreshing product voice, tone-shift rules, and content principles for a product or feature family. - Designing a flow where content drives layout (onboarding, recovery, churn-risk, premium upgrades, complex forms). - Establishing a content measurement framework tied to completion, comprehension, error reduction, conversion, trust, and support deflection. - Communicating a content decision to skeptical stakeholders or capturing agreement after debate. - Planning a 30 / 60 / 90-day content operation across multiple surfaces, locales, or teams. ## Do Not Use When - The task is a single string of microcopy with an established voice and clear pattern - use `ux-writing` directly. - The task is form layout, field grouping, input types, or validation mechanics - use `form-ux-design` directly. - The request is a one-line stakeholder reply that needs no decision rationale capture. ## Required Inputs - Product purpose, audience segments, and the user state(s) the content must serve (first use, mastery, error, churn-risk, win-back). - Existing voice or content guidance, brand constraints, regulatory or legal copy requirements, locale list. - The surface(s) involved (screen, form, email, notification, system message) and the metric the content is expected to move. - Stakeholder map: who decides, who reviews, who has veto. ## Workflow - Read this `SKILL.md` first. Pull only the references you need for the current decision. - Decide whether the task is **strategic** (voice, measurement, lifecycle) or **tactical** (a string, a field, an error). If tactical, hand off to `ux-writing` or `form-ux-design`. - For any new flow: write the **content brief before the wireframe**. Layout decisions follow content, not the reverse. See `references/content-first-design-workflow.md`. - For any new product or sub-product without a voice chart: build one before approving copy. See `references/voice-chart-construction.md`. - For any UI text decision: pick the pattern from `references/ui-text-patterns-library.md`, not from instinct. - For any error: classify (system / user / environment), then apply the recovery formula in `references/error-state-taxonomy-and-recovery.md`. - For any form: apply input reduction and engagement gates from `references/form-completion-gates.md` before writing labels. - Set the metric and baseline using `references/content-measurement-framework.md` before content ships, or the change is unmeasurable. - Communicate the decision using the framing in `references/design-decision-communication.md` and capture explicit agreement. - For lifecycle content (onboarding through win-back), apply the narrative arc and peak/end placement in `references/product-narrative-arcs.md`. ## Quality Standards - Every content decision names: the user state it serves, the metric it moves, the voice principle it enforces, and the alternative it rejected. - Voice attributes are observable in the copy. If a stakeholder cannot point to the word that proves "warm" or "expert," the chart is decorative. - Tone shifts by user state, not by writer mood. Same product, different moments, predictable shift. - Errors tell the user what happened, why, and the next move - in that order, in user language, without blame. - No content ships without a measurement plan: baseline, target, time window, sampling rule. - Stakeholder agreements are recorded in writing with the date, the alternatives considered, and the trade-off accepted. ## Anti-Patterns - Writing copy onto a finished wireframe and calling it content design. - Voice charts that list adjectives nobody can disprove ("friendly," "professional," "human"). - Apologetic system errors that hide cause and offer no next step. - Form labels rewritten in isolation while the field still asks for data the business does not need now. - "We measured engagement" used as a substitute for completion, comprehension, error rate, or trust signals. - Carrying a content debate by seniority instead of by evidence, then re-litigating it three sprints later. - Treating onboarding as the only narrative moment and ignoring recovery, mastery, and win-back. ## Outputs - Voice chart with tone-shift table, content principles, and worked examples per user state. - Content brief(s) preceding wireframes, with success metric, voice principle, user state, and copy boundary. - UI text decisions traceable to a pattern in the library. - Error taxonomy with recovery copy formulas and escalation paths. - Content measurement plan: metric, baseline, target, instrumentation, review cadence. - Decision log entries (decision -> reason -> evidence -> alternatives -> trade-off -> agreement). - Lifecycle narrative map with peak/end moments identified per persona. - 30 / 60 / 90-day content operations plan when scope warrants. ## Evidence Produced | Category | Artifact | Format | Example | |----------|----------|--------|---------| | UX quality | UX content strategy and voice chart | Markdown with voice principles, UI patterns, and audience rules | `docs/ux/content-strategy.md` | | Correctness | UI text QA checklist | Markdown checklist covering buttons, labels, errors, empty states, and confirmations | `docs/ux/ui-text-qa.md` | | Performance | Form completion gate | Markdown or CSV with friction, validation timing, and completion metrics | `docs/ux/form-completion-gate.md` | | Release evidence | Content measurement plan | Markdown plan with metrics, owners, review cadence, and change log | `docs/ux/content-measurement.md` | ## References - `references/voice-chart-construction.md` - deriving voice attributes and the tone-shift table. - `references/content-first-design-workflow.md` - content brief template and the content-first protocol. - `references/ui-text-patterns-library.md` - rules for label, button, error, empty, loading, confirm, notification. - `references/form-completion-gates.md` - input reduction logic, gradual engagement, inline validation copy. - `references/error-state-taxonomy-and-recovery.md` - error categories, recovery formulas, escalation copy. - `references/content-measurement-framework.md` - metrics tied to content goals, baseline-to-target. - `references/design-decision-communication.md` - rationale framing, objection handling, agreement capture. - `references/product-narrative-arcs.md` - lifecycle stories, peak/end moments, persona-aware narrative. - Use `ux-writing` for tactical microcopy execution once strategy is set. - Use `form-ux-design` for form mechanics, field selection, and validation behavior. Derived from Metts and Welfle (2020) *Strategic Writing for UX*, Wroblewski (2008) *Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks*, Greever (2020) *Articulating Design Decisions*, 2nd ed., and Parrish (2020) *Storytelling in Design*. ## When To Invoke Companion Skills | Situation | Skill | |---|---| | Voice exists, you need a single button or empty state string | `ux-writing` | | Form layout, field count, input type, validation behavior | `form-ux-design` | | New product, new sub-product, or voice drift across teams | this skill, then `ux-writing` | | Error rate or completion rate is the target metric | this skill, then `form-ux-design` and `ux-writing` | | Stakeholder has rejected copy three times | this skill - see `design-decision-communication.md` | ## Decision Gates - **Voice gate:** No copy ships for a new product surface until the voice chart and at least one tone-shift row exist. - **Content-first gate:** No high-stakes flow goes to visual design until a content brief is approved. - **Measurement gate:** No content change is "done" until baseline, target, and review date are recorded. - **Decision gate:** No revisited debate is reopened without new evidence; the decision log is the source of truth. - **Narrative gate:** No lifecycle program ships without identifying its peak and end moments per persona. ## Operating Cadence ## Inputs | Artifact | Produced by | Required? | Why | |---|---|---|---| | Product purpose, audience, and critical flows | Product brief or research | required | Anchors voice and content priorities | | Current interface copy and performance evidence | Repository and analytics | optional | Reveals drift and measurable failure points | ## Capability contract Read and search current product copy and approved research first. Editing requires authorisation; do not publish copy or alter production content without explicit approval. ## Degraded mode If product copy, research, or metrics are unavailable, return a provisional brief, list needed evidence, and avoid claiming that decisions are validated. - Weekly: review content tickets against voice and pattern library; flag drift. - Monthly: review measurement dashboard against targets; retire content that fails to move its metric. - Quarterly: refresh voice chart only if evidence shows the audience or product purpose has shifted; otherwise leave it alone. - Per release: confirm error taxonomy coverage for new failure modes introduced by the release.