Stern Design Website

Content Requirements Summary & Storytelling Persona

Skills & Competencies

Content Strategy & Planning

UX Writing & Information Architecture

Persona Development & Narrative Design

Content Requirements Documentation

Visual Communication & Brand Alignment

Audience Awareness & Tone Definition

About This Project

This project combined narrative development and content strategy to define the tone, structure, and purpose of Stern Design’s upcoming portfolio site.

I created a detailed storytelling persona, Julia Sterns, a professional designer and studio owner, then developed a full content requirements summary outlining what the new site would include, prioritize, and avoid.

Together, these pieces form a foundation for a cohesive, audience-centered digital presence.

Context & Purpose

The project aimed to translate a creative studio’s brand identity into a content structure that feels personal, professional, and intuitive.

Purpose:

Define content priorities and structure for the new portfolio site.
Create a storytelling persona to guide tone and messaging consistency.
Identify audience needs, goals, and motivations.
Develop documentation to support alignment between creative vision and usability.

Process & Methods

This project merged creative writing and structured documentation to build a foundation for effective content planning.

Steps:

Developed the Julia Sterns persona to capture the studio’s voice, motivations, and professional goals.
Created a persona card summarizing her attributes, audience, and communication style.
Outlined the site’s information architecture and content priorities in a detailed requirements summary.
Defined functional needs, exclusions, and success criteria for the future website.
Developed sensory boards and wireframes for initial site layout and branding.
Ensured accessibility and clarity across all documentation.

Findings

Combining storytelling with structured documentation highlighted how content design can bridge creativity and function.

Key Findings:

Tone and structure reinforce brand trust: Establishing a distinct narrative voice built emotional connection without sacrificing professionalism.
Clarity supports usability: Organizing content around clear categories and hierarchy improved accessibility and readability.
Defined exclusions prevent bloat: Documenting what the site would not include kept focus on the studio’s goals.
Narrative alignment aids cohesion: The persona’s story provided a unifying thread across content types and channels.

Recommendations

The Stern Design project emphasized how thoughtful planning and narrative consistency create the foundation for a strong digital presence. By connecting brand identity to structured documentation, the work showed how strategy, storytelling, and usability can reinforce one another.

01

Narrative Defines Voice

Grounding the brand in a personal story made the content feel authentic and connected.

02

Scope Creates Focus

Prioritizing essential content elements ensured a clear and purposeful structure.

03

Documentation Enables Growth

Comprehensive planning materials provided a scalable foundation for future design work.

04

Empathy Drives Consistency

Keeping the persona at the center aligned tone, structure, and creative intent.

Reflection

This project showed how structured storytelling can inform both brand identity and usability.

Defining Stern Design’s content through narrative and documentation built clarity and cohesion—turning abstract goals into actionable structure.

The result is a flexible blueprint that balances human voice with professional polish.