---
title: "Communicating the value of content design - The Intercom Blog"
description: "In her talk at Write the Docs Prague, Kelly O’Brien demystifies content design, a discipline coined by Sarah Richards that focuses on structuring and presenting information. She compares the hidden depth of content design work to an iceberg, where only the surface copy is visible. To communicate the value, she introduces a house-building metaphor: the foundation is the product system, walls and doors are interactions, and the roof is surface copy. Without early involvement at the foundation level, teams may discover conflicts and ambiguity late in the process, leading to frustration and ineffective copy. O’Brien advises content designers to build relationships with designers and product managers, join early meetings, and sell the win-win: early involvement saves time, improves quality, and makes everyone happier."
---

# Communicating the value of content design - The Intercom Blog

[Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom) · Oct 12, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

In her talk at Write the Docs Prague, Kelly O’Brien demystifies content design, a discipline coined by Sarah Richards that focuses on structuring and presenting information. She compares the hidden depth of content design work to an iceberg, where only the surface copy is visible. To communicate the value, she introduces a house-building metaphor: the foundation is the product system, walls and doors are interactions, and the roof is surface copy. Without early involvement at the foundation level, teams may discover conflicts and ambiguity late in the process, leading to frustration and ineffective copy. O’Brien advises content designers to build relationships with designers and product managers, join early meetings, and sell the win-win: early involvement saves time, improves quality, and makes everyone happier.

## Approach / What changed

Use the house-building metaphor to communicate the depth of content design work: foundation (product system), walls and doors (interactions), roof (surface copy). Advocate for early involvement by getting into meetings, building relationships with decision-makers, and showing that early work improves the final copy and saves time.

## Takeaways

- Content design is often brought in at the last minute because its deeper work (system mapping, interaction design) is invisible; this leads to frustration and poor copy.
- The house-building metaphor explains the layers: foundation (product system), walls/doors (interactions), roof (surface copy); each layer requires content design involvement.
- To get earlier involvement, build relationships with decision-makers, get into early meetings, and sell the benefit that early work improves the final copy and saves time.

## FAQ

### What is content design?

Content design is a product discipline focused on how to structure and present information. It varies by organization but aims to make unclear concepts clear, often practiced by product designers, UX designers, content strategists, and others.

### Why is content design often brought in too late?

The visible output of content design (the copy) is only a fraction of the work. The deeper work like system mapping and interaction design is hard to grasp, so teams think they just need a little copy at the last minute, leading to conflicts and frustration.

### How can content designers get involved earlier in the product process?

Use the house-building metaphor to explain the layers of work. Build relationships with designers, product managers, and marketing by buying coffee and getting into early meetings. Show that early involvement makes the final copy better and saves time.

**Tags:** [Content Design](https://yomu.fyi/topic/content-design), [Product Design](https://yomu.fyi/topic/product-design)

- Source: [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/communicating-value-of-content-design)
- Source URL: https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/communicating-value-of-content-design
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-12T18:00:27.539Z

[Read original post](https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/communicating-value-of-content-design)