From this concise and extremely handy guide to content design:

Instead of thinking about what we want to say, we research what a user needs to achieve their desired outcome. What they want and what they need can be different. It’s a content designer’s job to figure that out. Once we have researched user needs, we determine what sort of content will meet those needs.

I'm aware that I talk about content design a lot on the blog and in the newsletter. That's because writing in clear language is in large part about understanding who you are writing for and what they need. And that's crucial to content design.

But I am also conscious that there are many people who write in clear language and do not work in content design. This one-page content design overview is from Shelter's style guide and a brilliant place to start.

If you want to dig deeper, I recommend the handily-titled Content Design, written by Sarah Winters and Rachel Edwards.