Meta quest
Ux writing and content design
Meta's acquisition of Oculus created a content design challenge that went deeper than a rebrand. The Meta Quest notification system had inherited a generic, device-centric voice—headlines that literally read "Device"—that left users disengaged and headsets gathering dust. My job was to turn that around.
I wasn't just a writer on this project—I was the editorial gatekeeper. Every notification, email, and in-headset message reaching millions of Meta Quest users required my review, revisions, and final approval before going live. I also hosted weekly office hours to advise, workshop, and refine messaging and experiences across channels for writers and marketers across Reality Labs surfaces—functioning as the de facto content design lead for the broader team.
The context:
UX writing for the future of VR
Meta Quest users were receiving notifications that told them almost nothing. No context, no relevance, no reason to pick up the headset. The notification open rate reflected it. The system was built for function, not for the person on the other side of it
Before — generic device-centric copy:
Title: Device
Body: You have a new update.
After — Entice Model: context-aware, reason-to-act first:
Title: Explore the best of 2024
Body: As the year ends, we're looking back at the top titles of 2024. Check out the best of the best.
Title: Get $30 promotional Quest cash
Body: Refer Meta Quest to friends and score some rewards. Terms apply.
The before copy told users nothing. The after copy gave them a reason, a reward, or a cultural moment—something worth picking up the headset for.
The challenge:
Not enough reasons to pick it up
I started with a hypothesis: users weren't disengaging because of notification frequency—they were disengaging because the content gave them no reason to engage. I needed to test whether personalized, context-aware copy could change behavior.
I designed the experiment in Figma—mapping the content flow, defining the test variants, and establishing measurement criteria before a single word went live. I developed four headline approaches, ranging from game-specific recommendations to social triggers ("your friend just joined"), all built around what I called the Entice Model: headlines that sparked curiosity, body copy that delivered genuine value.
The variants ran against the generic control across a subset of users.
My approach:
A hypothesis, not a hunch
Within 8 weeks, the Entice Model notifications achieved nearly 20% of Meta Quest's annual click-through target. The highest-performing notifications shared three characteristics: they were specific to the user's in-app history, they named a friend or a game the user had already engaged with, and they delivered the value proposition in the headline rather than burying it in the body.
The results:
Nearly 20% of the annual target. In 8 weeks.
The test results became the foundation for a set of content design guidelines I wrote for the broader org. The guidelines covered:
Notification anatomy:
How to structure headlines, body copy, and CTAs for each surface (app/push, email, in-headset)
The entice model principles:
What makes a notification feel personal versus generic
Anti-patterns:
The generic approaches that consistently underperformed and why
Examples across game recommendation, social, and re-engagement notification types
The guidelines are now used across the Meta Quest team, giving writers and content designers a shared framework for building notification experiences that respect users' attention and earn their engagement.
The framework:
The most important part
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