The problem:
As Ancestry created a new health product, it needed a new style guide specific for that space and the language of health. That became clear in my first couple weeks at the job, as marketing would ask how we're referring to "healthcare providers," or whether we were using more technical terms like "genotype" or even whether we had a hyphen in "non-genetic."Little things, but important to be on the same page.

 

There were bigger things too. Before I arrived, the team had decided to use a made-up term, "DNA difference," to refer to DNA variants or mutations. I warned against dumbing down language for customers who were choosing to use a DNA testing product, and that using a made-up term that customers wouldn't be able to Google and might cause confusion as to what the term was supposed to refer to. As user testing began, participants found this term confusing and expressed surprise that a product based on so much advanced medical science was avoiding basic medical language. The decision was made to change this to the more precise "DNA variant." One term. So critical. That's the value of creating a comprehensive, well thought-out style guide and brand voice.

Process:

• Months of note-taking, question-asking and internalizing the messaging priorities and requirements of the legal, medical and product teams

• Applying my own expertise and our user research findings to implement those priorities into consistent, user-centered language decisions

• Creating an easy to use reference document of my recommendations, and circulating it to gather any concern or additions

• Sharing those recs out to the company as a whole for use in any materials in which the health product is referenced

Result:
One document that stores all the rules and guidelines around language. This one source of truth keeps everyone, across departments, on the same page. And as a living document, it provides a clear framework for re-evaluating past decisions, making new ones and sharing those out. It also describes who to ask about what, outlines the process for getting language approved by product owners, and provides existing language that can be used as a starting point when creating new content. Everything someone writing something for the product would need. So that most anyone should be able to create consistent, on-brand content for the product.