Architecting the language systems and AI narratives that define the modern user experience.

Creating Levels of Engagement For content design

Challenge
As Zillow’s Content Design team expanded, managing workload distribution and setting clear expectations for engagement became increasingly complex.

Content designers were stretched across multiple projects, often without clear alignment on how deeply they should be involved. This led to misaligned expectations with partners, unclear prioritization, and inefficient resource allocation.

Solution
As one of my earliest managerial efforts, I developed our Levels of Engagement, a scalable framework that clarified how and when content designers should engage in projects, based on scope and strategic impact.

This model created a shared language between Content Design and cross-functional partners, helping teams:

  • Prioritize competing demands and allocate resources efficiently

  • Set clear expectations for content involvement at project kickoff

  • Align engagement levels with business priorities

The framework includes four levels of engagement:

  1. Leading – Content Design owns the strategic direction and is the primary stakeholder

  2. Co-designing – Content Design partners closely with UX and research to shape solutions

  3. Standard practice – Content Design provides limited, targeted support for XS/S projects for teams without embedded content designers

  4. Unsupported – Content Design doesn’t engage due to capacity constraints, lower strategic priority, etc.

To ensure adoption:

  • Piloted the model with RentalsXP in Q1 2024, refining it based on feedback

  • Created training materials and completed roadshow presentations to align manager partners

  • Rolled out the framework across all Zillow product verticals by Q2 2024, with support from Content Design and DesignOps leaders

  • Integrated the framework into a larger DesignOps program for standardized working norms

Impact

  • Content Design can now prioritize high-impact projects with a deeper prediction of overextending

  • Project intake and planning discussions are streamlined and faster

  • Product and design teams now understand what level of support to expect or solicit from Content Design

  • Gives Content Design stronger influence on how they can best engage new initiatives where solutions are unknown

This framework operationalized content design engagement at scale, ensuring the team could focus on the highest-impact work while maintaining sustainable workloads. It also strengthened Content Design’s role as a strategic function within Zillow’s UX organization.