Content Design Leader

Jody
Allard

Designing how AI systems communicate.

I came to this work through journalism and poetry — before UX writing was a job most companies had. What those years taught me still shapes how I think: language is never neutral, systems have voices whether you design them or not, and the most consequential decisions happen upstream of the copy. In AI products, that's never been more true.

Jody Allard

"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 designing how they work, not just editing their output.

"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."

Content Design is Dead.
Long Live Content Model Design.

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.

Read the essay Follow on Substack
Content model design Prompt engineering LLM evaluation frameworks Content strategy UX writing Content systems design Team leadership Voice & tone User research

Content designer.
Content model designer.
Team builder.

Most of my recent work has been in what I've been calling content model design — shaping how AI systems communicate at the system level, not just the surface. At Thumbtack, that means building prompt engineering frameworks, designing LLM evaluation systems, and creating internal tools and guidelines that help the whole company work with generative AI. It's a practice I've been helping to define as much as execute.

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.

Creative writing & journalism Poetry, short stories, essays, op-eds, managing writers and freelancers, launching verticals
Technical writing & content marketing First steps into structured, audience-first writing
UX writing & content strategy Product content, design systems, voice and tone frameworks
Content model design Designing how AI systems communicate — the patterns, rules, structures, and quality standards that shape language over time

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:

Launched a goals process and engagement model to help content designers scope and prioritize work
Created a content design operating model clarifying how content works with other functions
Launched a content quality program and office hours for under-resourced teams
Built a content product review process to improve consistency and give leadership visibility into what was shipping
Crafted company-wide inclusive terminology guidelines in coordination with ERGs, Legal, PR, and DEI
Transparency Empathy Advocacy Coaching for impact Aligning people with passions Respect
A few other things —
📚 Insatiable reader — lover of em dashes 🎭 Theater nerd 🐶 Dog mom ✌️ Proud Swiftie 🌿 Defender of cilantro

Let's connect.

Reach out via email or LinkedIn — I'd love to hear from you.

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Email
allardjody@gmail.com
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LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/jodyallard
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