sabrina k. chun
product content designer ⭐ ux writer extraordinaire ⭐ experience & solutions architect
introducing the power of brand voice & tone for Control Hub
This 12:15 minute video is from a small presentation I gave during our monthly team sync: a refresher and review of our Webex voice and tone and how I’ve shaped it for my products and their specific audience. Back in April 2023, I was the only content designer for Control and Partner Hubs (and later, will be responsible for three more admin platforms).
Our audience
For Control Hub
Organization admins, such as IT directors, engineers and developers, support specialists, and operation managers
For Partner Hub
Pre-sales engineers, advocates and sellers of Cisco, customer success managers, and technical specialists
The challenge
As my design manager wryly said during my second interview, “It’s the wild, wild west out there,” and only a courageous and capable content designer can wrangle all the rowdy content. Until I was hired in 2021, Control Hub and the other admin portals lacked any content direction or guidance and it showed in a very jarring and noticeable way.
Because Control Hub manages an organization’s Webex settings and features, product managers owning individual settings or features authored the microcopy, including other designers and engineers. If they’re lucky, maybe a technical writer would come in. Cisco product managers felt fierce ownership over every aspect of their product, including the copy. Despite competitor analysis and research saying otherwise, certain PMs rejected conversational language. This, among others, will prove to be an enduring challenge throughout my reign of admin portals.
The tone tenets by context and components
Spirited is positive, cheerful, and enthusiastic. But for Control Hub and its technical users, such as an IT admin looking to quickly troubleshoot, bubbly enthusiasm is reserved for new feature announcements, success confirmations after certain workflows, or onboarding.
Diligent is informative, helpful, and dedicated. This is the tone characteristic I utilize for the majority of the UI content, including but not limited to
Alerts
Confirmation and information modals
Empty states
Labels and menus
Text fields
Tooltips
Being Diligent is especially important for UI text that calls for clear, unambiguous instructions in scannable and easily digestible sections.
Approach
To shape our voice into a reflection of the entire Webex suite audience, the content team and I established four essential characteristics that align with our key brand drivers and design principles: Spirited, Diligent, Always improving, and Empathetic. Defining the Webex brand voice, aka our verbal identity, is significant because it informs the words we choose, the information we present, and how people receive what we say.
Having that content consistency only strengthens a product ecosystem. Our voice stays the same, from marketing copy to product content, stage presence to sales talks, and websites to customer support. Although the tone changes depending on the audience and situation, we still sound like Webex. With the tone table, I identified how various Control Hub components should sound like.
This screen clearly calls out the complexity of data migration and how it impacts an organization. It breaks it down in three steps, including the downtime and lack of product access.
Utilizing full-page wizards with steps, we can further break down complexities. Activating single sign-on is a very technical process that can make or break an entire organization.
Always improving provides
Clear, unambiguous solutions that doesn’t put blame on anyone
Especially for error messages — don’t add negativity if it’s a potentially frustrating situation
But we do take accountability if we made an error
Updates for new and improved services that will eventually phase out older, less efficient versions
My writing wasn’t just exclusive to admin UI content; I also authored and edited the applications and Figma files for the annual San Francisco Design Week challenge. We proudly won awards for both.
Always improving is proactive, earnest, and trying our best at all times. Think of
Alerts and banners
Warning and error messages
Empty states
Already implemented feature announcements
Empathetic is understanding, compassion, and thoughtfulness when championing for all of our users through our designs, such as
Accessibility
Other inclusive efforts that reflect that we are aware of neurodivergent, social justice, and other issues that affect our users
