Cancer Research UK is the UK’s largest charity and a highly reputable brand. Its website attracts over 4 million visitors each month. Cancer Research UK hired me to deliver content strategy. Over 5,000 pages of information on cancer and treatments needed a user-centred revamp. Over 9 months, I worked as part of an agile team of 14 writers, nurses, medical experts and a product owner.

Together we delivered restructuring, rewriting, migration and updating of complex technical and medical content. I developed and supervised the implementation of tone of voice, engagement and style guidance. The content needed to be authoritative, trusted and friendly. I was responsible for proofreading and quality assurance. No content went live until I had signed it off.

We did a lot of user research, SEO research and user analytics. We learned that patients and other visitors to the site wanted to find reliable information on their own situation, but not more than that. They wanted control over seeing side effects and survival rates, for example.

We used text and videos to show them what their hospital scan would be like. We created user experience (UX) designs with accordeons to display and hide content. We put the user in charge.

Having cancer is stressful for patients and their loved-ones. I know: my own father was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer a year later and made a full recovery. I was able to point him to the new Cancer Research UK website for no-nonsense, plain English advice.