Defining UX writing at the fastest growing startup of all time
November 2023 – Present
I joined the Deel team as their very first UX copywriter back in winter 2023. This leadership position is split 50-50 between day-to-day content design, and bigger picture content and operational strategy.
Particular resources I’ve defined and executed include:
– Our overall content design strategy
– Methodology, pillars and principles
– UX writing guidelines
– UX writing cheatsheet
– Word bank
– Design system/component-level guidelines
– Ongoing workshops, mentoring and onboarding sessions
– AI-empowered resources and tools (see below)
Watching our tone
Alongside the foundations of the department, I have driven for more accessible, customer-facing content that speaks to and for the user. Rather than at them.
Colloquial tone, action-orientated language, simple and straightforward vocabulary, questions instead of directions, tooltips that support rather than distract. These are the foundations of our new product language, and have marked an instrumental shift in our content and user experience over the last two years.
In my time at Deel I’ve delivered on a number of landmark projects and releases. These have included our mobile app, Anytime Pay feature, vendor management system, expense cards launch, client onboarding journeys, performance management platform and Deel IT.
AI-empowered workflows
Most recently I’ve designed and built a number of AI-powered content design tools, to better serve our product design teams, drive efficiency and improve overall quality and output. This initially started with a Gemini Gem with specially tested and designed prompt and guidelines, as well as a Claude skill.
We also designed and built a dedicated AI copywriting assistant, a Figma plugin that slots seamlessly into Product Designers’ existing workflows.
Smarter notifications
At the end of 2025 I transitioned into the Growth team as part of a newly-formed Growth-led design squad. Here I defined and built our notifications content strategy, across email, push, Slack and other communication channels.
A landmark project from this time is Smarter Notifications, a more powerful, intelligent take on notifications. This project was built on preemptive insights, before-it-happens insights and tangible data, rather than typical, reactive updates.
Joe West Stevens 