Natalie Shaw

Principal-level content designer with 14+ years of experience designing complex digital products, services and systems across big tech, government, startups and scaleups. Specialist in trust & safety, AI-enabled systems, accessibility, behavioural design and large-scale service ecosystems. Experienced leading work across product, platform and policy teams — translating ambiguity into scalable, user-centred experiences.

Track record of shaping high-impact products used by billions globally, building cross-functional design practices from the ground up, and leading work at the intersection of content, systems and service design.

Content design principal - Freelance

(2022-08)

I partner with startups, scaleups, public-sector organisations and consultancies to solve complex product, service and systems challenges

• Clients: Feeld, Stripe, ZOE, Headway, Sidechat, Projects by IF/Google, Content Design London, Public Digital, Delib, Integrity Institute
• Focus areas: AI interaction models, trust and safety, taxonomies, content modelling, behavioural change, cross-functional alignment, ethics

Content design principal - Meta

(2016-03 - 2022-08)

Focused on product experiences relating to content moderation across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, tackling some of the biggest issues across the internet and society - with hours spent tackling trade-offs.

• Created a design system adopted by 15+ teams across Meta, reducing duplication and accelerating moderation tooling development.
• Built and led cross-functional teams across design, policy, engineering and operations to redesign moderation experiences used by millions globally.
• My work directly led to behavioural change (global reductions in hate speech), million-dollar savings, improvements in perception of fairness and new industry standards.
• Led content design for v0 launches of Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories and Spark AR Studio.
• Led accessibility content design and scaled new responsibilities to the whole content team to ensure Meta products are accessible to people with visual and motor impairments.
• Rapid prototyping and testing solutions with continuous iteration.

Product manager and content design lead - Citizens Advice

(2015-06 - 2016-02)

• Managed a team to transform content on consumer rights, reducing 950 articles down to 30 and increasing utility, SEO and clarity.
• Drove an overhaul of immigration content for advisers in bureaux around the UK, helping volunteers navigate their way to answering questions.
• Responsible for unblocking teams, scoping and helping teams prioritise work, sprint planning, validating user needs and commissioning research.

Content/service designer - HM Revenue and Customs

(2015-01 - 2015-06)

• Founded and built up a design team of 5, bringing design to the forefront of HMRC's digital transformation.
• Focused on business tax transactions - on onboarding, service blueprints, research methodology, journey maps, microcopy and help text.
• Built up a community of practice and strong working relationships and sharing practices across the design disciplines.

Senior content designer - Government Digital Service

(2012-12 - 2014-12)

Part of the award-winning team that won the Design Museum's Design of the Year 2013 and black and yellow pencils in the D&AD Awards 2013.

• Drove development of user experiences crucial to millions of people in the UK - including passports, Child Benefit, Universal Credit, State Pension, parole, divorce, driving, intestacy and setting up a business.
• Represented GDS design on various service assessments and helped develop the service standard itself.
• Pioneered the concept of content design patterns, which is now an industry standard and part of many content designers' day to day.

Various - Freelance

(2007-08 - 2012-11)

I worked variously as a music journalist, copywriter, product manager, editor, producer, researcher and community manager.

Laws LLB - University College London (2004 - 2007)