Building the foundation for scalable content

Creating consistency across platforms with a unified content system

Context
Scotiabank's digital content was all over the place. Product, comms, and ops teams used different tones, CTAs, and writing styles, creating friction in the design process and confusion for users.

The problem
Scotiabank's digital content was all over the place. Product, comms, and ops teams used different tones, CTAs, and writing styles, creating friction in the design process and confusion for users.

What I did
I initiated and led the creation of the Scotia Digital Style Guide, a centralized library of CTAs, tone principles, and UI content patterns used across journeys.

To keep it evolving, I launched a Content Community of Practice (CCoP), where contributors from five business lines help maintain and govern the system.

How I made it work
• Ran working sessions across five business lines to align on voice and tone, while resolving conflicting stakeholder needs
• Designed the guide around real product examples—not theory—so teams could apply it without training
• Introduced a governance model with monthly syncs, version control, and update intake from active projects

When one business unit resisted changing CTA structures, I mapped their language to user confusion patterns, helping shift the decision from branding to clarity.

Replaced scattered Figma and Word comments and last-minute rewrites with a system that let writers and designers work in parallel with confidence.

The results
• Faster production timelines using reusable components across teams
• Visible reduction in tone and style inconsistencies across journeys
• Now used across product, design, and comms, with governance handled through ongoing CoP rituals

Why it matters
We didn't write rules, we built a system people actually wanted to use. When consistency is easier than improvising, that's when a content system really works.