projects
2020 – 2022
Writing for the Hardest Moments
Quit For Life: a digital smoking cessation program built around behavior change science
Every word in a smoking cessation experience carries weight. I led content strategy and UX writing for Quit For Life at Rally Health, grounding each interaction in evidence-based behavior change principles and building scalable systems that reached 250,000 members across 13 UnitedHealthcare clients.
5.9 Million
People have quit or reduced tobacco use through the program
95%
Satisfaction rate via multi-channel support
9.5 Million
Members Reached
5x
Improvement vs going it alone
AT A GLANCE
ROLE
Senior UX Writer
COMPANY
Rally Health, San Francisco Bay Area (Remote)
DURATION
May 2020 – March 2022 (2 years)
PLATFORMS
Web · iOS · Android · Text & phone coaching · Email · Marketing
PROGRAMS
Standard 5-call · 10-call pregnancy · Mental health · Native American · Individual services
SKILLS
UX writing · Content strategy · Voice & tone · PHI compliance · Behavior change · Scalable systems
OVERVIEW
The work
Quit For Life is a digital smoking cessation program offered through employer health plans. I joined Rally Health as a UX Writer and quickly progressed to Senior UX Writer, owning the complete member content experience across enrollment, coaching interactions, milestones, notifications, and marketing.
The work spanned five distinct program variations, each requiring tailored voice, terminology, and content logic while maintaining the clinical integrity and regulatory compliance required for a health behavior change product at enterprise scale.
CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY
Words that meet people at their hardest moment
THE ASK
Smoking cessation is one of the hardest behavior changes a person can attempt. The content couldn't just be clear, it had to be clinically sound, emotionally resonant, legally compliant, and genuinely useful at the exact moment someone was trying to quit.
Add five distinct program populations, an enterprise migration at scale, and a platform launch with 13 health plan clients. Additionally, the content system needed to do all of this without breaking.
THE OPPORTUNITY
"Ambivalence is often a confidence problem, not a motivation problem." This insight from collaborating with behavioral health expert Etta Short reframed everything.
The opportunity was to write content that didn't lecture or moralize, but instead met members where they actually were. Building confidence, not guilt. Paired with a rigorous content system (style guide, PHI protocols, terminology mapping), this approach could scale across populations and time.
STRATEGIC APPROACH
Five steps from science to scalable system
My approach was to create a framework moving from clinical grounding through execution by building the content infrastructure needed to support hundreds of thousands of members across diverse populations.
01
Clinical Grounding
Collaborated with behavioral health expert Etta Short to embed behavior change science into every content decision. Key insight: ambivalence is a confidence problem, not a motivation problem. This reframed tone across the entire product.
02
Voice & Content System
Created the Rally Coach style guide defining 20+ terms with usage rules and legal guidance. Established warm, encouraging tone principles that balanced clinical credibility with genuine human warmth.
03
Personalization Design
Developed distinct content experiences for five member populations: smokers, vapers, dual users, pregnant women, and those with co-occurring mental health challenges. Each track required tailored language, pacing, and content logic.
04
Execution Across Touchpoints
Designed comprehensive UX writing across enrollment flows, the quit continuum, milestone prompts, coach interactions, notifications, and post-enrollment touchpoints on web, iOS, Android, email, and marketing materials.
05
Scalability & Systems
Built systematic content foundations such as terminology guides, PHI compliance protocols, and legacy-to-new platform language mapping to enable 1,000+ client migrations and platform expansion without content redesign.
KEY OUTCOMES
What the work achieved
Launched Quit For Life to 13 UnitedHealthcare clients at MVP, reaching approximately 250,000 members across web, iOS, and Android platforms.
Enabled 1,000+ client migrations to the Rally platform through systematic content infrastructure such as terminology guides, PHI compliance protocols, and legacy language mapping.
Created scalable content systems supporting five distinct member populations, each with tailored voice, pacing, and content logic without rebuilding core architecture.
Grounded all design decisions in evidence-based behavior change principles through direct collaboration with behavioral health experts such as Etta Short.
Developed the Rally Coach style guide defining 20+ terms with usage rules and legal guidance, establishing durable tone standards across the product.
Progressed from UX Writer to Senior UX Writer within one year, and recognized for clinical rigor, content system thinking, and cross-functional collaboration.
Assets
A glimpse into the work
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Let's Build Something
Worth Remembering.
Eve D’Onofrio, Ph.D.
Raleigh, North Carolina
eve@evedonofrio.com
Whether you're building a design practice from the ground up, scaling an existing team, or shipping a product that needs to earn trust at every touchpoint, I am a design leader who will get you and your business there faster.