Case study
How a two-week sprint helped Discord
connect with their community
Discord was refining the way it spoke to its power users, so we supported the team by helping them hone their language and create an extensive library of educational content designed to help the people using Discord every day.
2-week sprint
The brief
Figure out a way to speak that felt on-brand & internet native yet also right for neurodivergent readers
Discord has one of the most “online” audiences on the internet. They’re fluent in memes and culture and also completely allergic to anything that sounds corporate, salesy, or try-hard.
At the same time, we weren’t writing social, brand banter messaging. We were figuring how to write content that kept users safe, reduced online abuse and grew the Discord moderator community and also write for their large neurodivergent audience.
The challenge here wasn’t just sounding like Discord. It was: how does Discord write in a way that feels native to the community, while also making everything explicitly clear and easy to follow especially for neurodivergent readers?
Inclusive writing
& niche references
We knew that the Discord users love nerdy references, so treated clarity and inclusivity as our first job (AKA, making everything super accessible for neurodivergent readers) and then added in nerdiness on top.
Clarity-first
writing
We focused on short sentences, clear verbs and one big idea per piece. We cut our “clever” lines that hid the point and focused on writing content that was immediately understandable.
Scannable &
inclusive
We focused on making sure everything had strong headings, clear formatting and could be understood from a quick skim. (Because, alas, most people skim rather than read.)
Practical advice
> vibes
Lots of guidelines and content falls into cheerleader parody, full of vague encouragement. We pulled out, added and focused on practical steps each user can take.
Modified the
Discord tone
We dialled back the niche jokes and references and focused on cognitive ease/process fluency. (We did, however, find space for a Nic Cage & SpaceBalls reference.)
Leaving the team with tools to write clear, inclusive, on-brand content
Because this work needed to scale (and stay consistent across loads of formats), we focused on creating reusable tools as well as one-off deliverables.
Clarity-first writing rules
A simple set of rules that kept everything scannable, explicit and easy to follow — especially for neurodivergent readers.
Reusable content structure
Repeatable patterns for headings, formatting and flow, so the team could ship helpful content fast without reinventing the wheel.
On-brand, “Discord” lines
A bank of approved phrasing and examples that kept things internet-native (without slipping into try-hard, salesy, corporate energy).
Talk to us about your brand's project
If you're an ambitious ecommerce of FMCG brand and your copy and messaging isn't doing your product justice, let's talk.
Grab a 30-minute slot on our calendar and we'll get clear on what you're trying to achieve, what's not working and suggest the best next step.
If we're a good fit, we'll follow up with a simple plan, timeline and costs. If not, we'll tell you straight up (and point you in the direction of someone who can help).
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