A product‑first content strategy blocked by organizational constraints
Overview
The Medavie Help Centre began as a rapid‑response project: a 90‑day initiative led by an executive task force to deliver urgent COVID‑related information. Over time, it became a catch‑all repository for content that didn’t fit elsewhere due to operational limitations.
By the time my team was asked to intervene, the Help Centre had become a fragmented, outdated, and unmeasured property. I was assigned as the lead content resource on a three‑person team — alongside a designer and a researcher — to analyze the property, develop a vision for its rework, and pitch that vision to leadership.
This is the story of a strong strategy that couldn’t be executed due to organizational constraints.
The Problem
Our analysis revealed deep systemic issues:
1. No analytics
There was no data on:
- Article performance
- Search behavior
- User needs
- Traffic patterns
The organization had no visibility into whether the Help Centre was helping anyone.
2. Outdated and inaccurate content
Many articles described flows that no longer existed. Some addressed problems that had been resolved years earlier.
3. Poor information architecture
- No search
- Pagination that hid important content
- Navigation that didn’t reflect user needs
4. No new content in years
The property had effectively been abandoned.
5. No clear ownership
Articles came from multiple internal verticals, none of which claimed responsibility for maintenance.
The Work
1. Comprehensive Analysis
We audited every article, every structural element, and every available data source. We mapped the property’s issues to root causes: governance gaps, operational bottlenecks, and risk‑averse decision‑making.
2. A New Vision: A Product‑First, System‑Driven Help Centre
Build a prioritized backlog
I created a backlog of potential articles, organized by value to users and the business.
Develop a repeatable prioritization model
Working with our researcher, we built a system to determine what users most needed to know. We pulled data from:
- Call centre logs
- Internal support tickets
- Product teams
- Operational reports
We ranked topics by potential impact. One example: clarifying e‑signature rules could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in six months.
Operationalize writing
We designed a dynamic backlog system that allowed any writer to pick up the highest‑value task at any time. This reduced managerial overhead and made content production scalable.
Plan for delivery
We outlined improvements to:
- Information architecture
- Navigation
- Content structure
- Searchability
The result was a ready‑to‑execute roadmap for a modern, user‑centered Help Centre.
Successes
Even though the project didn’t launch, the work itself was a success:
- We demonstrated a rigorous, product‑first approach to content design.
- We created a scalable, data‑driven model for content prioritization.
- We delivered a clear, actionable strategy that minimized operational overhead.
- We showed how content could drive measurable business value.
The Failure
Despite the strength of the strategy, we lacked the authority to implement it.
Leadership required that we identify the “owner” of every existing article before making changes. Because articles came from multiple verticals — many of which no longer maintained them — this became a massive, cost‑prohibitive task.
Without the ability to modify existing content, the redesign could not proceed. The project was ultimately shelved.
Reflection
This project taught me as much about organizational dynamics as it did about content strategy. It reinforced that even the best product thinking can be blocked without clear ownership and governance. It also showed me the importance of designing systems that reduce risk, not amplify it.
The strategy remains viable, and I hope it will one day be implemented. But even without launch, the work stands as a strong example of how I approach complex, ambiguous problems: with systems thinking, data, and a focus on long‑term value.