Designing how AI systems communicate — not just what they say.
The most important content decisions in AI products aren't about what a product says in a given moment. They're about how the system communicates overall — how it interprets intent, handles ambiguity, expresses confidence, and earns trust. That's the work I do. And I think it's the future of the discipline.
"Content design asked: What does the user need this interface to say? Content model design asks something harder: How should this system communicate?"
Content design, as we've practiced it, is over.
Writing strings and polishing UI copy isn't enough in a world where products generate language dynamically. The work has changed.
Today, content design is about shaping model behavior — designing the prompts, structures, and systems that determine how language is produced, not just how it reads.
I approach content as a system, not a surface. My focus is on making AI-driven experiences understandable, trustworthy, and useful at scale — by defining how they work, not just what they say.
"More and more, the work is about shaping the systems that generate communication, not just refining the output after the fact."
"It's the work of shaping how AI systems communicate with people: how they create understanding, reduce friction, build trust, and make a product feel coherent, useful, and safe."
A year ago, I wrote that content engineering was the future of content design. I still believe that — but it doesn't go far enough. We're not just engineering content systems. We're designing model behavior. This essay is about what that shift means for the discipline, why naming it matters, and what content model design actually looks like in practice.
I've spent my career at the intersection of words and systems — starting in journalism and creative writing, moving through UX writing and content strategy, and arriving somewhere that doesn't have a clean job title yet. I've been calling it content model design: the practice of designing how AI systems communicate, not just what they say.
I've led content design teams at Thumbtack, Square, Pinterest, Meta, and Microsoft. I care deeply about the discipline — about elevating what content designers do, creating space for craft, and making sure teams aren't just shipping strings but doing genuinely impactful work.
When I joined Pinterest as a Senior Content Design Manager, the team was underwater — requests ad-hoc, no prioritization framework, designers churning out strings. In my first six months:
Reach out via email or LinkedIn — I'd love to hear from you.