Empathy for the Author: UX Design for Forgotten Content Managers

Think Beyond the Typical Design Process

A good UX and UI design process starts with personas and ends with hierarchical, effective, coherent page templates and elements. As it should! But what happens when that new design gets pushed live, and the content author on the back end (perhaps you have experienced this first-hand) can’t easily build pages, populate components, or easily review and approve changes?

Front-end UX/UI design is only one part of the full user experience. And while it’s all too often neglected, a newly designed website will never be fully successful if content authors and managers resent entering content or are confused by how to use the CMS from the jump.

“Author empathy,” as we think of it, is all about applying UX thinking beyond the front-end experience, to improve the back-end experience for content authors, reviewers, and managers. 

For instance, User empathy focuses on personas’ wants and needs. We validate our designs with techniques like journey mapping and usability testing.

By contrast, Author empathy is about how the website will need to be managed and maintained over time. To ensure we’re understanding our clients’ needs in this domain, we will use techniques like content mapping, requirements documentation, CMS structuring, and governance planning.
 

Find Ways to Apply Author Empathy

The content, designs, and functionality that end users encounter are all powered by client-facing systems that internal teams will ultimately be responsible for keeping up and interacting with. So thinking through how to apply author empathy in each and every domain of a CMS build allows for a more thoughtful UX process from start to finish.

Let’s explore the applications of author empathy through three real use cases of our own work: content, design, and documentation. 

Content

We recently engaged with a health system on a prioritization exercise for new digital tactics, when we noticed inefficiencies in their process for drafting, reviewing, and publishing content, such as blog articles or press releases. To respond to this, we designed a streamlined content workflow within the content management system (CMS) with features like collaborative editing, version control, and automated approval. Simplifying content creation for our client’s team members helped them save time and effort while also relieving frustration.

Design

We’ve also undertaken multiple projects in the pharma space recently to update a client brands’ digital identities. We have repeatedly seen the need for more flexible and holistic design elements and systems, and so we’ve revamped page templates to allow for more modular page-building and component layouts to support diverse client needs, better than a standard page template. Applying author empathy to design promotes consistency, scale, and efficiency in content delivery.

Documentation

Finally, content authors often rely on agency documentation to understand how information will be entered, organized, and maintained throughout an authoring experience. When we’ve introduced stakeholders to an updated authoring workflow for content like press releases in the past, it has often proved overwhelming. So we always make sure to deliver them alongside comprehensive training materials–as well as personalized onboarding sessions as needed–to address specific needs and pain points.
 

Create Real, Lasting Impact with Author Empathy

Author empathy strengthens client relationships, sets clear expectations for using the system, and sets projects up for future success across phases and initiatives.

We need to use author empathy to remove the guesswork for our clients using proactive decision-making with a system mindset.

By embracing author empathy, we create more intuitive, scalable, and efficient experiences—not just for end users, but for the content teams who keep digital platforms running. When we design with content creators in mind, we strengthen client relationships, streamline workflows, and set projects up for long-term success.
 

Let’s move beyond just user empathy and start designing with a front- and back-end, full system mindset. If you want to hear more from Joi or are just looking to connect about this topic, contact us here!