Redesigning a content library

Led a cross-functional team to overhaul the top 70 most viewed QuickBooks Payroll articles, improving content accessibility and user experience.
Intuit, QuickBooks Payroll
Content Designer
Oct 2019 to Jan 2020
Over 10 years, 2,500 QuickBooks Payroll help articles were created without a central content strategy. This result made it diffcult for customers to find the information they needed.

In the fall of 2019, I led a cross-functional team to address the content strategically, improving the performance and curation of the Payroll knowledge base. Collaborating with analytics, SEO, and success partners, we identified the top 70 most viewed articles, which accounted for 50% of all views in the Payroll help library.
Team
3 Digital Delivery Leaders
1 SEO Manager
2 Content Designers (Support)
11 Writers
1 Analytics Manager
6 Subject Matter Experts
I worked with our analytics, SEO, and success partners to pick the articles. Of the 2,433 articles found in payroll, we found that the top 70 most viewed articles accounted for 50% of total article views for all of the payroll help libraries.
Design principles
Aim for a 6th grade reading level
Our customers are smart, but not all are payroll or tax experts. Most current content hovers around a 12th-grade reading level, making it hard to understand. Targeting a 5th to 8th grade reading level ensures accessibility and clarity.
Use customer-centric language
Payroll content requires annual updates. To make future sweeps more efficient, we created evergreen content and broke down complex details into reusable snippets, reducing the need for frequent revisions.
Future-proof the content
QuickBooks’ content was often written by subject matter experts, not professional writers. As a result, many articles used jargon and complex phrasing. We simplified this by focusing on clear, direct language, like changing “How will Federal banking holidays affect my direct deposit processing?” to “How to adjust your payroll for holidays.”
A few articles from this project
Learnings
At the start of the project, we lacked key data sets and KPIs, such as escalation and contact rates, making it difficult to measure content effectiveness and track user needs. However, we made significant progress in cleaning up the content library and fostering a culture of rigor and collaboration within the team, which continues today.