Selected work in content design, editing, content marketing, UX writing, copywriting, and journalism.
The goal
Introduce YML’s artificial intelligence services to B2B decision-makers via an easily navigable, personalized landing page that can be leveraged in digital ad campaigns.
The process
I first helped to define what we were capable of offering, what content’s role should be, and how we could use AI on the landing page itself to “show, not tell” users that we were serious about AI-assisted design and development.
The output
We conceived of a page where the meat of the content—the factual information—is consistent across all iterations of the page. Those iterations would not be predetermined, but rather AI-generated when the user indicates who they are (or whom they’d like to be) at the top of the page. In the background, an AI prompt then translates the page’s content into the tone and voice of the person(a) indicated.
Projected outcome
Personalized landing pages that speak to leads in a relevant, meaningful way can lead to dramatic increases in qualified leads. While the personalized versions of the AI services page will not go so far as to deliver a different value proposition by industry, they will provide enterprise users a delightful, playful, un-scary way to engage with AI-as-a-service.
While working with Huge, I helped Google redesign the portal for businesses who want to show up in shopping search results—a free service that is a gateway to paid advertising on Google. Users didn’t understand the value proposition of the Merchant Center or what its tools did. So I reorganized the page hierarchy and rethought each module to speak to users’ biggest needs. Zooming out, I recommended a reconfigured information architecture and navigation structure of the Merchant Center’s parent site, Google for Retail, to forefront user intent. Once realized, these changes resulted in making solutions more understandable and discoverable.
Good Deeds is a platform unlike any other — combining ecommerce, charitable giving, and discounts — so demands a novel approach to user questions. Users need to understand certain moments in order to support an understanding of the platform. Here, we continued the user journey begun in onboarding by allaying uncertainty, showing a benefit, and adding just the right amount of friction, just when it was needed.
Beta testers for the Good Deeds app were having a hard time figuring out how the platform worked. Using terms that the testers had used to discuss their confusion, I translated the basic functionality of the app into a concise onboarding slideshow. I then revamped moments throughout the UX that had contributed to the confusion, not only revising or creating elements like buttons and tool tips, but also pursuing strategic business goals by encouraging certain paths within the UX.
I rewrote and pared down the copy on this page to reduce drop-off from sellers who were accidentally entering an experience misaligned with their needs.
Sellers lacked confidence in eBay's ad rate guidance, so I worked with my UX research and design partners to reimagine the guidance experience, giving users insight into the rationale behind our ad rate recommendations.
We noticed that buyers were extremely interested in shopping other sponsored items in sellers' stores, but they were using a hard-to-find link to get there. The large recommendation module that shoppers could have been using to find those items was simply misnamed. The renaming increased purchase-through via that module by 40%.
I was instrumental in launching a first-of-its-kind platform that acts as a highly curated marketplace for in-depth consulting and mentoring partnerships. I worked with the founder to establish the voice of the brand, determine its market differentiators, and create a user experience that speaks to its mission of democratizing access to top-tier consultants.
I helped the founder of a new online events platform find the voice of the brand, articulate the value proposition, and determine how to bring it to market. I also created foundational copy (tagline, product walkthrough, etc.) that introduces Mixily to the world in a simple, meaningful way.
Leading a group of seasoned journalists from across the worlds of 3D printing, tech, and design, I produced a publication that shaped a new aesthetic and voice in the 3D printing industry. Bringing a cultural and lifestyle-driven approach to a formerly technical, niche discipline through over 400 pieces of original content per year, I leveraged Shapeways Magazine to drive customer growth and double user engagement onsite.
I was the founder, editor in chief, and frequent contributor to Shapeways Magazine. The magazine featured original content that engaged and celebrated designers, artists, tinkerers, and innovators.
More at https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/author/angela-linneman
Working with manufacturing partners, I crafted stories that elevated both Shapeways’ and our partners’ journeys from 3D printing experimentation to groundbreaking large-scale additive manufacturing.
I created narratives of innovation and enablement that bolstered Shapeways’ position as a thought leader in the additive manufacturing space.
By reimagining the copy and content around the B2B customer experience, I helped drive dramatically higher response rates for Shapeways’ sales team.
I worked in partnership with the Shapeways product and UX teams to craft a new homepage and navigation experience that leveraged the evolved brand voice and tone while directly responding to both community feedback and data indicators to better serve user and business needs.
I created a new evolution of the existing brand voice and tone, carried forward by a style guide that helped my freelance writers understand and implement the new direction. The guide also served as a resource for other UX and marketing copy projects, ensuring consistency across touchpoints and positioning the company as a more inclusive platform.
For Shapeways’ 2017 holiday campaigns, I worked with the UX team to create modular design components that allowed me to easily create and scale seasonal marketing content across the site, email, and ads.
At Shapeways and eBay, I created the marketing and UX copy and content that defined and fleshed out seasonal marketing campaigns and new product releases.
Leading cross-functional teams of UX designers, performance marketers, and business stakeholders, I have built content strategies that have included landing pages, long-form content, and site copy, driving record-breaking results for marketing organizations at innovative SMEs and large enterprises.
Also check out:
Shapeways x Valve Games landing page and associated content
eBay Collective landing page and linked pages
As ebaytreasureseditor, I wrote and edited stories about important artworks, rare discoveries, and all that is collectible.
As ebaycollectionseditor, I created and shaped inspiring, beautiful, and aspirational stories centered around the tastes and lifestyles of our users.
As ebaytecheditor, I helped tell the stories of the interesting, historic, cutting-edge, and otherwise cool technology available on eBay.
As ebaystyleeditor, I provided context for new and vintage fashions through histories and lifestyle pieces that captured the spirit of style.
As ebaymotorseditor, I unearthed the fascinating histories of automakers, iconic classic models, and custom car cultures that enliven eBay's vast motors community.
As ebayhomeeditor, I surfaced narratives around the designers, movements, and aesthetics that inspire eBay users.
eBay needed a warmer, more accessible way of describing its signature Money Back Guarantee. I worked with senior management to give the legalese a more human feel.
At eBay, I crafted the voice, tone, and copy for an initiative that introduced eBay to a new, higher-end designer market segment. Along the same lines, I also created the voice, tone, and copy for eBay Wine, a destination for wine lovers and connoisseurs.
To read more, visit: https://www.headcount.org/author/angela-linneman/
To read more, visit: https://www.headcount.org/author/angela-linneman/
Selected work from my time at ART NOT WAR, a cultural impact firm specializing in data-driven creative for progressive movement-building.
We enlisted the help of Civil Rights-era hero and Georgia Congressman John Lewis to remind Americans of the sacredness of the right to vote. Recalling his own struggles alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he asks MoveOn members to join the battle against voter suppression—and empower a new generation of voters.
When MoveOn.org decided to mobilize members to protest a Mitt Romney fundraiser at David Koch's Hamptons home, my Creative Team went to work. We devised messaging, signage, and actions that dominated the news cycle, generating millions of dollars in earned media — and influencing the public conversation in our favor. We appeared on the cover of the digital New York Times, and the signage we created for the action went on to win a Reed Award in Political Advertising.
For more about the event, visit partner agency Art Not War's site: http://artnotwar.com/portfolio/mitt-romney-has-a-koch-problem/
For MoveOn.org's Stand Up for Us campaign, I produced a series of videos in which Americans who depend on safety net programs to survive asked their members of Congress to stand and deliver.
I acted as MoveOn liaison and associate producer or producer for more than half of Art Not War's 100 projects with MoveOn.org in 2012. Overall, our team's work earned 8 million views, 10 award nominations, 7 awards, and $15 million in earned media.
Through cross-functional collaborations, I shepherded projects and related content from ideation to execution — making sure that we were bringing new, relevant products and services to Shapeways’ million-strong community of creators.
While Managing Director of HeadCount, I engineered the voter engagement organization's largest sponsor relationship to date. With a shared mission of evangelizing democratic participation to a millennial audience, HeadCount and civic technology company iCitizen partnered to create activations at dozens of music festivals — all tied to a comprehensive multi-channel social media campaign.
Working with DataKind on a weekend-long DataDive, my team set out to help Crisis Text Line improve its services to teens in urgent need. Using anonymized data associated with text conversations between CTL volunteers and teens, we were able to identify deficits in data collection and ultimately improve vital services.
I helped develop the crowdtweeting platform #SoundOff to connect ordinary citizens with their congresspeople — and organize campaigns to influence policy. I also recruited our pilot partner, MoveOn.org, who used #SoundOff for a multi-channel campaign in support of immigration reform.
HeadCount needed help reaching a greater share of voters online. To get us there, I worked with civic engagement platform Vote.org to expand the functionality of HeadCount's site with an integration of Vote.org’s Bullwinkle absentee ballot ordering tool. Together, we also established a new Google AdWords program that would leverage our shared knowledge of the voter engagement and information space.
