Walmart Health & Wellness: Building a Content Practice
"I have no idea how to write this copy—can you help?"
As Principal Content Designer for Walmart Health & Wellness, I often heard this question from talented visual designers who lacked the foundation to create content for meaningful health experiences.
The Challenge: Designers created health content in isolation, resulting in fragmented user experiences with inconsistent voices and medical clarity across online and in-store touchpoints. This inconsistency could undermine user trust in health experiences.
The Solution: I developed a hands-on workshop with 30+ visual designers, product managers, and business partners to co-create content principles for health experiences. I showed how value-driven UX content differs from marketing copy through real writing exercises.
I also established guidelines for using AI in content development, ensuring the responsible integration of AI tools while maintaining our quality standards and authentic voice.
The Impact: Visual designers transformed from asking for copy help to confidently presenting content-driven designs to leadership. We created a self-service ecosystem that scaled quality health content across all Walmart Health & Wellness touchpoints.
Enterprise-Wide UX Content Principles
Generic content principles weren't sufficient for health experiences where trust and clarity can impact someone's wellbeing. I developed health-specific content principles that addressed medical accuracy, patient privacy, and the unique emotional weight of health decisions.
Health & Wellness Content Principles
Instead of reviewing every piece of health content individually, I chose to multiply its impact through education. Working with Health & Wellness design leadership, I developed content principles for this highly regulated space, ensuring alignment with user needs and compliance requirements.
Value-Focused Content: What it Is
The "aha" moment came during hands-on writing sessions when I showed designers how to transform accurate but dry copy into content that leads with value. Instead of "Find locations and information," we learned to write copy that immediately clarifies the value for the user.
Value-Focused Content: What it Does
In health experiences, leading with value isn't just better UX—it's ethical. I focused content workshops on writing copy that immediately shows users what's in it for them, rather than burying benefits, making health information and services instantly understandable and actionable.
Content Transformation: Before
This "before" version of directional health content exemplifies what designers might create independently. While the copy is factually accurate and precise, it doesn't lead with the value that matters most to users, missing opportunities to apply value-focused content principles that make the benefit immediately apparent.
Content Transformation: After
This before-and-after demonstrates the power of value-focused thinking. The revised version addresses user concerns—"safely delivered" and "no wait times"—making the benefit immediately clear while maintaining medical accuracy and building user confidence.
Health & Wellness DIY Content Design Hub
Rather than writing every piece of health content, I built the infrastructure for scalable content creation. This comprehensive system includes medical terminology guidelines, tone recommendations for sensitive health topics, and pre-approved legal language, enabling the team to create trustworthy health content independently.