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richprowse.bsky.social
Rich Prowse
@richprowse.bsky.social
45 followers 69 following 25 posts
Making sense of the messy middle between user needs and organisational reality.
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richprowse.bsky.social
Let's do this! Day one of Content Strategy: Leading Change. Over a decade in the making, bringing together everything I've learned from building digital capability. It feels good to finally share it.

#ContentStrategy #ContentOps
A laptop screen displaying the cover slide for a Content Design Academy course. The slide has a bold red background with white text reading "Content strategy: leading change" and the tagline "Skills for the real world".
December 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Trying something different—an infographic.

A simple idea I keep coming back to: content strategies fail when they focus on describing better content rather than changing what produces it.

#ContentStrategy #ContentOps #Leadership #ChangeMaker
Infographic showing 3 panels: The 4 forces of content (people, process, practice, technology), why traditional content strategies fail by describing content rather than changing structures, and what to do instead. Lead change and build capability across the 4 forces to create shared content capabilities and seamless user experience.
December 3, 2025 at 7:30 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Special delivery! I love turning an illustration into a tee, and I couldn't resist with Content Strategy Boy and Luminator the cat. 🦸🏻‍♂️🐈‍⬛
A smiling bald man with a grey and white beard takes a selfie indoors. He wears a light grey t-shirt featuring a cartoon illustration of two superhero characters: Content Strategy Boy, a boy wearing glasses, a cap and a cape with arms crossed, and the Luminator, a black cat. Both characters are hovering in the air. The background shows a softly lit room with white curtains.
November 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
Happy Thursday! Content Strategy Boy is back and facing every content auditor's worst nightmare...

#ContentStrategy #ContentOps #Content
Comic title panel: 'The Adventures of Content Strategy Boy: The Audit'. Content Strategy Boy, wearing glasses, a backwards cap, and a jumper with the letter C, runs through a chaotic office. Papers fly through the air as a giant, menacing spreadsheet with an evil grin looms behind him. A startled cat runs away. The office has desks, monitors, and stacks of papers.
November 27, 2025 at 2:56 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
Question: What's your content monster? The one you defeated, or the one you're currently fighting? And what made the difference?

#ContentStrategy #ContentDesign #UXWriting #Content
Content Strategy Boy in a cape marked with 'C' hovering triumphantly above the vanquished Rot Monster. The Rot Monster is composed of a pile of papers and documents with a menacing face featuring sharp teeth and glaring eyes.
November 21, 2025 at 7:39 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Pulling a decade of lessons into a new strategy course. What actually works when leading content change (and what doesn't).

The messy middle is where real work happens. Maybe I can save you some three-hour meetings.

contentdesign.london/shop/content...

#ContentStrategy #ContentOps #Content
A collage of slides and photographs showing content strategy course materials, including definitions of content strategy, diagrams of the four forces (people, process, practice, and technology), hand-drawn sketches on whiteboards, presentation slides about content as service, and photos of meetings and workshops.
November 20, 2025 at 9:10 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Most content strategies fail because documentation can't change how organisations create content.

The problem: we focus on describing good content rather than creating the conditions to make it.

sensemakers.xyz/why-content-...

#ContentStrategy #ContentOps #Content
Why content strategies fail and what to do instead
Most content strategies fail because documentation can’t change how organisations work. Learn how to build capability through people…
sensemakers.xyz
November 19, 2025 at 9:20 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
I created Content Strategy Boy a while back, and this morning I finally gave him a story to tell. If you've ever worked on a content strategy, you might recognise this one. Hope it brightens your Tuesday!

#ContentStrategy #ContentDesign #ContentOps
Panel 2: Meeting room at TrunQd Inc. Content Strategy Boy presents a content strategy to an enthusiastic team around a conference table. Team members exclaim: 'Brilliant!', 'Finally!', 'This is exactly what we need!', 'Brilliant! Panel 3: Open-plan office. A colleague sits at their desk thinking, 'The website is a mess. No one knows what they're doing' whilst Content Strategy Boy and other colleagues work around them, unaware of this concern. Panel 4: Six months later. Someone pulls a dusty, cobweb-covered 'Content Strategy' binder from a neglected shelf, saying 'Oh yeah, we had a strategy...' as colleagues work nearby. Panel 5: The same meeting room. Content Strategy Boy stands at the front, face-palming in frustration. Behind him, the presentation screen displays an elephant logo. The team talks around the table: 'We really should create a content strategy', 'This is a mess!', 'I thought we had a strategy?' Content Strategy Boy responds sarcastically: 'Yeah, we really need one of those...
November 18, 2025 at 8:41 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Most designers ask: should I push back or let it go? Better question: which disagreements actually serve users? New essay with 3 questions to help you decide when to disagree, when to test, and when to concede.

sensemakers.xyz/knowing-whic...

#ContentDesign #StakeholderManagement #UX
Knowing which battles serve users
A framework for navigating design disagreements. 3 questions to help you know when to disagree, when to test, and when to concede. Focus…
sensemakers.xyz
November 17, 2025 at 8:14 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
I recently spoke about the importance of involving domain experts. This MIT report calls it the "GenAI Divide"—95% failure rate when you build without the people who understand the work. The fix? Stop treating AI like a tech project.

mlq.ai/media/quarte...

#ContentDesign #ContentStrategy #GenAI
mlq.ai
November 11, 2025 at 9:27 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Excited to be running our Working with GenAI course this Wednesday alongside Clare Reucroft. A few last-minute places still available – join us!
contentdesign.london Content Design London @contentdesign.london · Nov 10
Final places: 2-day GenAI course starts Wednesday

Join us this Wednesday, 12 November for our intensive GenAI course. Only a few places remaining at £695 inc. VAT.

Learn to harness generative AI effectively in just two days.

buff.ly/9uI2d0f

#ContentDesign #UXWriting #GenAI
Last-minute opportunity: GenAI course places available. £695 inc. VAT. Book now.
November 10, 2025 at 8:37 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
The secret’s out — our Winter Content Design Academy starts in January! Early bird pricing is live (but you didn’t hear that from me). 😉 contentdesign.london/courses

#GenAI #ContentDesign #UXWriting #ContentStrategy #ContentOps #MIMO
A graphic with the words "Build skills in content design and UX writing, content strategy and GenAI."
October 17, 2025 at 7:59 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Still time to register for Digital Leaders AI Week! I’ll be speaking at 3:30 pm (UK time) about why your content team is the key to GenAI success.

aiweek.digileaders.com/talks/why-yo...

#ContentDesign #ContentStrategy #GenAI
AI Week 2025
A Talk by Rich Prowse
aiweek.digileaders.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:53 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
We've built the Content Design Academy - a pathway from fundamentals to leadership. Standalone courses that stack as you grow. GenAI woven throughout. Small groups, hands-on practice, no videos.
More: contentdesign.london/blog/introducing-the-content-design-academy

#ContentDesign #GenAI
Introducing the Content Design Academy
We work with organisations, big and small, to transform their content and help them succeed.
contentdesign.london
August 6, 2025 at 10:04 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
Content designers aren't writers. They can spot when a process needs redesigning—not just better copy. If we only ask them to write, we’ll miss these solutions.

sensemakers.xyz/content-desi...

#ContentDesign #ContentStrategy #UXWriting
Content designers aren’t writers
At the centre of user-centred design lies a simple principle: we start with the user. Without this principle fulfilled, we betray not only…
sensemakers.xyz
July 20, 2025 at 12:51 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
Yesterday's first Content Conversation in Cardiff was brilliant! Amazing to see so many passionate about the messy middle to create products that work for people. Big thanks to our speakers, attendees, and my team who organised it. Can't wait for next! 🎉 #ContentDesign #ContentStrategy #UXWriting
Adrián Ortega stands at a wooden podium with vertical slats, holding a microphone and speaking to an audience. Behind him is a large screen displaying "Small actions, long ripples: Design as care and quiet change" along with speaker details. The audience members are seated at tables, with several people visible from behind listening to the presentation.
July 18, 2025 at 8:00 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
On my way to @contentdesign.london’s first Content Conversations in Cardiff.
Excellent lineup of speakers. Looking forward to some honest talk.

(And yes, that’s the Prince of Wales Bridge. Sometimes the journey to events is worth documenting too.)

#ContentDesign #ContentStrategy #UX #UXWriting
A view from the roadway of a cable-stayed bridge with two tall concrete towers and numerous white suspension cables radiating outward against a cloudy grey sky. The road stretches ahead with white lane markings and metal barriers on either side.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
July 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
Content problems are organisational problems in disguise.
To fix bad content, don't start with the content.

sensemakers.xyz/the-worst-ke...

#ContentStrategy #SystemsThinking #UserExperience
The worst-kept secret in content: Why bad content isn’t actually about content
I’m going to let you in on a secret. You probably know it already. It’s the worst-kept secret in our industry, so badly kept it hides in…
sensemakers.xyz
July 15, 2025 at 7:11 AM
richprowse.bsky.social
We've turned GenAI into the ultimate binary debate.

While we're shouting about extremes. The real work— thoughtful implementation, actual user impact— gets drowned out.

My latest essay explores why binary thinking is dangerous and offers a way.

sensemakers.xyz/the-battle-o...
The battle of the binary: Why GenAI isn’t an either/or debate
We’ve turned GenAI into the ultimate either/or debate. Scroll through LinkedIn, and you’d think we’re choosing between utopia and…
sensemakers.xyz
July 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
I've been thinking about this quote today. Sometimes when the work feels hard, it's worth remembering you're in good company.
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." — Steve Jobs
July 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM
richprowse.bsky.social
Just launched Sensemakers, a new essay series on Medium.

If you work in the messy middle (between what organisations think their users want and what they actually need), this is for you.

medium.com/sensemakers/...

#Leadership #UX #ContentStrategy #ContentDesign #UXWriting
Welcome to the messy middle: An introduction to Sensemakers
I’ve been putting off writing this introduction. Not because I don’t know what to say, but because what I want to say isn’t the neat origin…
medium.com
June 29, 2025 at 7:53 PM