Content design at IBM
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Role
Content designer
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Company
IBM | Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) | CIO Design
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Team
UX designers and researchers, content strategists, copy editors, visual designers, illustrators, project managers, and stakeholders
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Company background
The Office of the CIO owns IBM’s IT strategy and provides workstations, devices, infrastructure, and tools for more than 300,000 IBMers to do their jobs every day.
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Problem
The CIO Design group’s mission is to make work better for IBMers by improving the quality of their tooling and work environment. CIO Design leads with design, and with a particular focus on user experience.
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Opportunity
As a CIO Design content designer, my goal was to create content that made technology more human and accessible, contributing to experiences that empower users and advance organizational objectives.
CIO TV
This image shows a script with content plus an illustrator’s sketches, demonstrating the next step and collaboration involved in the process.
Served as the lead content designer on CIO TV, a digital communication platform serving as the organization’s virtual storefront to deliver strategic information and resources to employees across the enterprise.
Project overview and objectives:
Strategic communication hub: Created content for an innovative internal video platform designed to transform how organizational IT information reached employees, moving beyond traditional communication.
Performance-driven content: Developed scripts with focus on improving employee engagement and driving measurable productivity improvements through accessible information delivery.
Employee-centric approach: Crafted messages that prioritized clarity and utility, ensuring organizational updates and resources were presented in digestible, immediately applicable formats.
Key responsibilities and collaboration:
Script development: Authored concise, purposeful scripts that balanced informational content with engaging presentation, optimizing for video.
Creative partnership: Collaborated extensively with motion designers and illustrators to ensure seamless integration between written content and visual storytelling elements.
Stakeholder alignment: Worked closely with senior stakeholders and design teammates to maintain brand consistency while achieving communication objectives for each video.
Content strategy: Applied strategic thinking to determine optimal messaging approaches, considering audience needs, organizational priorities, and engagement goals.
Skills demonstrated:
Video scriptwriting and multimedia content creation
Strategic internal communications
Cross-functional creative collaboration
Performance-focused content development
Stakeholder management and brand alignment
This PDF shows an in-progress CIO TV script, demonstrating the early stages of my process.
IBM Design on Medium
Within CIO Design, I led content development and editorial oversight for IBM’s design-focused blog on Medium, serving as both an original content creator and collaborative editor to showcase design thinking and expertise across the organization.
Content creation and publishing:
Original content development: Researched, wrote, and published blog posts on design topics, trends, and insights, contributing to the organization’s design narrative.
Editorial voice: Developed a consistent writing style that effectively communicated design concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Publishing management: Oversaw the complete content lifecycle from initial concept through final publication, ensuring quality standards and timely delivery.
Cross-functional editorial leadership:
Collaborative editing: Partnered with designers from within CIO Design and across business units (BUs) to refine and enhance their original content contributions, providing editorial guidance while preserving individual voice and expertise.
Quality assurance: Implemented comprehensive review processes to maintain editorial consistency and brand alignment across all published materials.
Skills demonstrated:
Content strategy and editorial management
Cross-departmental collaboration and relationship building
Design communication and thought leadership
Editorial oversight and quality control
Content publishing and project coordination
Mentorship and collaborative editing
Overall impact:
Enhanced my organization’s design community visibility while fostering knowledge sharing and professional development across multiple teams and departments.
Find a couple of examples of my blog posts for IBM Design:
CIO Magazine
This internal magazine for IBM’s Chief Information Office was created to foster organizational unity, celebrate team achievements, and advance the CIO’s mission of continuous IBMer experience improvement across our global workforce.
I served as a key content contributor, writing easy-to-digest articles on in-depth projects for a global audience and collaborating with visual designers, stakeholders, and content craft leads on final stories.
Key responsibilities and impact:
Content creation: Authored comprehensive yet accessible articles that translated complex, technical project initiatives into engaging narratives for a diverse international readership spanning multiple BUs and levels of technical expertise.
Cross-functional collaboration: Partnered closely with visual design teams, stakeholders, and content craft leads to ensure editorial alignment with organizational messaging and brand standards.
Editorial process management: Participated in end-to-end story development, from initial concept ideation through final publication, ensuring content met both editorial quality standards and strategic communication objectives.
Skills Demonstrated:
Technical writing and content simplification
Stakeholder management and collaborative editing
Global communication
Strategic internal communications
Project storytelling and narrative development
The article embedded on this page represents one of many I contributed to CIO Magazine. Additional samples of work include:
IBM Spark Design Festival
As a volunteer project, I participated in the development and execution of the organization’s company-wide IBM Spark Design Festival, a groundbreaking global conference that established the company’s first comprehensive platform to build community, professional development, and cross-functional collaboration for designers.
Event overview and impact
Pioneering initiative: Helped with communications around the launch of the company’s first enterprise-wide design conference, creating a scalable framework for ongoing designer engagement and community building across global offices.
Comprehensive programming: Supported a multi-day hybrid event featuring peer-reviewed presentations, expert panels, hands-on workshops, rapid-fire lightning talks, poster sessions, and networking activities designed to foster professional growth and cross-team collaboration.
Global reach: Contributed to an event that engaged thousands of designers worldwide, establishing new standards for internal professional development and design community engagement.
Role evolution and responsibilities
Year 1: Communications strategyMulti-channel campaign management: Executed comprehensive communication strategies across email and Slack platforms to drive event awareness, registration, and ongoing engagement throughout the festival planning, execution, and follow-up phases.
Audience engagement: Developed targeted messaging to reach designers across different disciplines, experience levels, and global locations, ensuring inclusive participation and maximum event impact.
Year 2: Content and brand leadership committeeStrategic planning: Advanced to leadership role on the brand committee, contributing to high-level decision-making around event positioning, messaging strategy, and overall attendee experience design.
Content design: Collaborated on developing cohesive content, session descriptions, and promotional materials that aligned with both the festival’s mission and broader organizational design values.
Cross-functional coordination: Partnered with stakeholders across multiple departments to ensure seamless integration of communications, logistics, and content delivery for thousands of global attendees.
Skills demonstrated:
Large-scale event communications and marketing
Cross-functional leadership and committee collaboration
Content strategy and brand development
Global audience engagement and community building
Strategic planning and program development
Multi-channel campaign execution
This poster detailing the planning and success of the conference’s first year demonstrates the overall impact of the efforts.
“Chelsea is a true professional. Her ability to take on multiple projects, have clear direction, and produce high-quality work really sets her apart. I’ve had the privilege of working closely with her on many high-priority projects and the work was always that much better thanks to Chelsea and her leadership. Chelsea is a top-tier content designer, leader, and co-worker.”
— Christianna Wilbert, product designer, Cisco | former IBM colleague
“I have had the pleasure of managing Chelsea as a Content Designer in my design organization for close to 4 years now and am delighted to provide a glowing recommendation for her exceptional work in championing great content design and content strategy. Chelsea’s dedication, professionalism, and outstanding communication skills make her an invaluable asset to any organization.
Her unwavering commitment to accuracy, clarity, and conciseness sets her apart. Chelsea consistently delivers high-quality work, collaborating effectively with others to create compelling, informative content that resonates with target audiences. She is adept at handling multiple projects with clarity and producing exceptional outcomes.
Chelsea’s impact extends far beyond her content design expertise. She fosters a collaborative and supportive team environment, going above and beyond to ensure the success of her colleagues. Her professionalism, knowledge, and skill shine through in her interactions with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
I wholeheartedly recommend Chelsea for any role that demands high-quality content and strong attention to detail. She is a consummate professional and an invaluable addition to any content design team.”
— Marc Wisniewski, Head of Design, IBM CIO AI, Automation & Data Platform