Content Design & Systems for SaaS
Words that scale
with your product
Your product is growing, but the content isn't keeping up. I fix the words that are confusing your users—then I build systems so they stay fixed.
Find out what's driving the quiet drop-off
When SaaS products grow quickly, it's easy for the words to grow inconsistent and misaligned when there isn't one person owning content across the product. Users can't figure out how to actually use your product when a feature has three different names and the instructions are more confusing than helpful. And if people don't know how to use the product, they'll just stop using it and you may never know why.
I've seen this happen a lot, so I built specific services based on my experiences to help solve your content problems.
How I fix your product's content
Diagnose the problem
Content Experience Audit
A comprehensive audit of your product's words to find where you're losing users.
More about this service →Build rules to fix the problem
Content Standards & Systems
A source of truth for voice, tone, vocabulary, and message patterns so your team can keep building.
More about this service →Improve your AI outputs
AI Content Design
I design what your AI features say and how they say it, so your users actually want to use them.
More about this service →Make a better first impression
Onboarding & Activation Flow
A new onboarding strategy — lifecycle emails, first-run screens, and empty states — built around your product's actual value.
More about this service →Get embedded content support
Content Design Retainer
I'll work with your teams for launches, features, and everything in between — for a fraction of a full-time hire.
More about this service →“Vern is exactly the kind of content designer that every switched-on tech leader needs in their team. He can flex in every direction without losing a beat in delivering high quality or velocity.”
“Vern is the kind of collaborator who becomes the steel thread across projects — generous with his time, genuine in his partnerships, and an absolute pleasure to work alongside. Any team that gets to work with Vern will feel the difference from day one.”
“Vernon is super approachable and easy to jam with. He's a genuinely people-focused person who makes work enjoyable, and he's also comfortable jumping into the design tools, which made collaboration feel so much more seamless. He's such a vital teammate, thoughtful and generous with his thinking, and an absolute expert at what he does.”
“Vern brought an exceptional level of craft and care to his work, keeping the customer at the centre of everything he did and thoughtfully shaping every piece of messaging to ensure it's clear, purposeful, and high quality. He's also very good at taking the lead on strategic initiatives, collaborating with an insane amount of stakeholders — he really is a team on his own.”
I'm a UX content expert with experience in complex, regulated industries
I've been a professional writer for over 12 years, with the large majority of that focused on UX writing. I worked on energy efficiency products in the utility industry, navigating complex industry jargon and strict compliance requirements. I've worked on large-scale B2B SaaS products, building these content systems and standards from 0 and extending them across 4 separate apps. My work has driven real impact, with one email program driving clarity and behavior change at a utility with over 1 million households.
I've solved the content problems you're experiencing at companies like Atlassian and Oracle. I'm ready (and excited) to solve yours next.
How it works
- 1
Intro call
20–30 minutes to go over your product and the problems you're experiencing. I'll give an initial assessment of the content experience and tell you honestly if content is the problem.
- 2
Proposal
I send a proposal with the fixed scope, timeline, and price within 48 hours so you'll know exactly what to expect from me and when. If the proposal doesn't work for you, we'll work on one that does.
- 3
Work
I'll work with your teams and ship in your tools, and show progress at regular checkpoints so you have full visibility into what I'm working on.
- 4
Handoff
Documentation and rationale for the work handed off in a live session with your team. And for any systems work, an AI governance agent so the standards outlive the engagement.
Let's find out where your content is breaking
Tell me about the problems you're experiencing and I'll give an initial assessment of the content experience. No fees or commitment required.