We design websites for users, but if we don't also have a deep and thorough grasp of the content that will be served up to those users, we're not going to be able to create optimal experiences for them. Learn how to do Content Research to augment your User Research.
27. “ Organizations invest tremendous resources on
developing the framework for a great user
experience — fabulous design, robust content
management infrastructure.
Yet when it comes to the content itself, there's
often a gap.
”
The end result is that the value proposition for
customers can't be delivered because the
content is insufficient, inadequate, and
inappropriate.
— RAHEL BAILIE
24
28. We already have
most of the content. Copywriting just isn’t
that big of a deal.
We can figure the
content out later.
We pretty much know
what we want to say.
Our marketing team is
handling the content.
Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic 25
33. Codename Logo Features Browse Our Sites About Us Sign Up Login Support
Feature Name
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit
esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla
facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui
blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed
diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh
euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad.
Find out more about:
Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name | Feature Name 28
34. IT’S TIME TO GIVE CONTENT
THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES.
29
48. CONTENT IS THE REASON
PEOPLE GO TO YOUR SITE.
Photo by zandperl 38
49. CONTENT IS
DATA + METADATA
Data is the core part of the Metadata is information about the
content content
For example: a photographic image For example:
Title: Laduree Pastries
Description: We wanted to eat them all!
Tags: macaron, macaroon, Laduree, Paris, France,
Champs-Élysées
Created by: Robert Stribley
Taken on: November 21, 2009
Taken with: Nikon D200
Usage Rights: (c) All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stribs/
4375484013/
39
53. DON’T LET THIS BE THE FATE
OF YOUR WEB CONTENT
http://www.getittogetherinc.net/images/storage%20before.JPG 42
54. • What are my business objectives?
• What do my users want to do?
• What does my brand stand for?
De te gy
sig tra
nS S
tra
teg te nt
y C on
Product Strategy
• How will users interact with it? • What do we want to say?
• How will it be structured? • Where will we get the content?
• What will it look like? • Who will maintain it?
Technology
Strategy
• How will we build it?
• Who will maintain it?
43
55. CONTENT STRATEGY
IN THE PROJECT LIFECYCLE
Discover
Discover Design Develop Deploy
Research Source Plan Maintain
Assess Organize Style Guide Monitor
Concept Taxonomy Copy Deck Respond
Voice Social
44
56. CONTENT STRATEGY
IN THE PROJECT LIFECYCLE
Discover
Discover Design Develop Deploy
Research Source Plan Maintain
Assess Organize Style Guide Monitor
Concept Taxonomy Copy Deck Respond
Voice Social
44
57. CONTENT STRATEGY
Product
Analysis Sourcing Creation Governance
Strategy
CONTENT ANALYSIS
Get the Facts Assess the Quality
_What content do you have? Is it communicating clearly?
_How is it organized? Is it appropriate for your
_What different types are there? audience?
_Roughly, how much content is Is it appropriate for your brand?
there? Is it meeting your business needs?
45
58. CONTENT ANALYSIS
IS AN ITERATIVE PROCESS
Information
An
ct
aly
lle
ze
Co
Assumptions Findings
Re
fin
rm
e
Fo
Insights
46
62. CONTENT INVENTORY
WHAT CONTENT DO YOU HAVE?
Look at (all) the pages of the site
Make choices about what content to evaluate:
_How deep do you need to go?
_How do you ensure you see examples of all the different content types?
_What are common pathways that users are likely to take?
_Can you find content that has been lost or hidden?
Assume this will be a living document you use throughout your process
50
64. Product name URL Type Type2 Packaging Caffeine Product Line Specialty
8ct Rooibos Blood Orange In Stash Tin http://www.stashtea.com/products/8ct+Rooibos+Blood+Orange+In+Stash+Tin.aspx
Herbal Bagged Caffeine Free
Black Needle Yunnan Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Black+Needle+Yunnan+Black+Tea.aspx
Black Loose
Chai Spice Decaf Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Chai+Spice+Decaf+Black+Tea.aspx?package=Bag
Black Chai Bagged
Chai White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Chai+White+Tea.aspx White Chai Bagged
Chanakara Dragonfruit Herbal Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Chanakara+Dragonfruit+Herbal+Tea.aspx
Herbal Bagged
Christmas Morning Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Christmas+Morning+Black+Tea.aspx?package=Bag
Black Bagged
Darjeeling Okayti Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Darjeeling+Okayti+Black+Tea.aspx Black Loose
Double Bergamot Earl Grey Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Double+Bergamot+Earl+Grey+Black+Tea.aspx?package=Bag
Black Bagged Premium
Dragon Phoenix Pearl Jasmine White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Dragon+Phoenix+Pearl+Jasmine+White+Tea.aspx
White Loose
Fusion Red & White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Fusion+Red+_and_+White+Tea.aspx White Loose
Ginger Peach Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Ginger+Peach+Black+Tea.aspx Black Loose
Kashmiri Chai Green Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Kashmiri+Chai+Green+Tea.aspx Green Chai Loose
Keemun Hao Ya China Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Keemun+Hao+Ya+China+Black+Tea.aspx
Black Loose
Lemon Honey Sticks http://www.stashtea.com/products/Lemon+Honey+Sticks.aspx?category=SPECIALTYFOOD Honey Sticks and Agave
Specialty Food
Licorice Spice Herbal Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Licorice+Spice+Herbal+Tea.aspx Herbal Loose Caffeine FreePremium
Moroccan Mint Green Tea http://www.stashtea.com/productitems/green+teas.aspx?filter=Bag&product=tea
Green Bagged
Orange Cranberry Herbal Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Orange+Cranberry+Herbal+Tea.aspx Herbal Loose Caffeine Free
Organic Assam Banasphati Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Organic+Assam+Banasphati+Black+Tea.aspx
Black Loose Organic
Organic Chai Black & Green Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Organic+Chai+Black+_and_+Green+Tea.aspx?package=Bag
Black Chai Bagged Organic
Organic Earl Grey Black & Green Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Organic+Earl+Grey+Black+_and_+Green+Tea.aspx?package=Bag
Black Bagged Organic
Organic Merry Mint Green Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Organic+Merry+Mint+Green+Tea.aspx?package=Bag
Green Bagged Organic
Organic Pomegranate Agave Sticks http://www.stashtea.com/products/Organic+Pomegranate+Agave+Sticks.aspx?category=SPECIALTYFOOD Honey Sticks and Agave
Specialty Food
Organic Red Tea (Rooibos) http://www.stashtea.com/products/Organic+Red+Tea+(Rooibos).aspx Herbal Loose Caffeine FreeOrganic
Silver Beads White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Silver+Beads+White+Tea.aspx White Loose
Silver Needle White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Silver+Needle+White+Tea.aspx White Loose
Silvery Needles with Jasmine White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Silvery+Needles+with+Jasmine+White+Tea.aspx
White Loose
White Christmas White Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/White+Christmas+White+Tea.aspx White Loose
Yellow Kuan Yin Black Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/Yellow+Kuan+Yin+Black+Tea.aspx Black Loose
YMY 1690 Jasmine Green Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/YMY+1690+Jasmine+Green+Tea.aspx?package=Bag Japan
Green China & Bagged
YMY 1690 Pu-erh Tea http://www.stashtea.com/products/YMY+1690+Pu-erh+Tea.aspx?package=Bag China & Japan
Black Bagged 52
65. WHY DO THIS?
When is it useful?
_To understand the story the site is trying to tell
_To get a sense of the range of pages that need to be designed
_To determine the range of content types the site will support
_To decide what content to eliminate or migrate
When is a content inventory unnecessary? Why not do this?
_You can learn 80% of what you need to know by sampling representative
content
_When the site is too large for a full inventory
_Consider automated tools to index the site
53
66. CONTENT ORGANIZATION
HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?
Look at:
_Navigation, main channels of content
_Subsections within those channels
_Distribution of content across sections
54
70. WHY DO THIS?
_To evaluate whether people can find the content they’re looking for
_To make decisions about a new navigation structure and content model
_To decide if content needs to be migrated to a new section
_To find gaps in the content where needed information is
underrepresented
56
71. CONTENT MODEL
WHAT DIFFERENT CONTENT TYPES ARE THERE?
Look at:
_Content formats: Article? Video? Audio? Image?
_Content structure or purpose: Recipe? Product Review? Blog post?
_Content assets: PDF spec sheets? Spreadsheet data?
How will this impact the design of the CMS?
57
75. WHY DO THIS?
_If you’re doing a redesign
_If you’re launching a new CMS
_If you’re merging content from one site into another
_If you’re migrating content from one format to another (for example, from
PDF to HTML)
60
76. OTHER FACTORS TO CONSIDER
SEO
_Does the content follow best practices for titles, descriptions, keywords,
and URLs?
Accessibility
_Does the content conform to guidelines for accessibility? See the W3C’s
Web Accessibility Initiative for more info.
Functional Requirements
_If there are new features that have to be supported by metadata, does
that metadata exist?
61
78. CONTENT QUALITY
HOW GOOD IS THE CONTENT?
Ask yourself:
_Do you have all the content that needs to be there?
_Is the content up-to-date? Are the examples presented fresh?
_Is it communicating clearly?
_Is the content relevant to its intended audience?
_Is the tone and style appropriate for your goals and reader? Is it
appropriate for your brand?
_Is it meeting your business needs?
There is no overall definition of content quality—only quality within your
business and user context.
63
91. WHAT DECISIONS DOES THIS
HELP YOU MAKE?
_ To identify gaps where content is missing or inadequate
_ To create or source new content
_ To edit your existing content, or delete it altogether
_ To identify the page types or templates you will design for
_ To identify the fields and structure for a new CMS
_ To assign ownership of content for ongoing governance
Most important:
_ To define or refine how your editorial and messaging strategy creates
business value
73
93. charitywater.org/sxswater/
Many people in the developing world,
usually women and children, walk more
than three hours every day to fetch water
that is likely to make them sick.
Editor's Notes
www.bravermangallery.com
Fairy Tale Fantasy, Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany , WallpaperMe.com
The cartoon is by Hugh Haynie of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Courtesy Princeton University Archives
Researchers started evaluating people’s expectations for the space, and planned how people would navigate
But what about the art?
But what about the art?
Chose the paint colors
Planned where all the descriptive cards would go
Identified typefaces
But what about the art?
Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic
Defining frames and mattes, choosing how the
They were very careful to choose frames of lots of different sizes,
What about the ART?
What about the ART?
What about the ART?
Defining frames and mattes, choosing how the
They were very careful to choose frames of lots of different sizes,
Chose the paint colors
Planned where all the descriptive cards would go
Identified typefaces
Researchers started evaluating people’s expectations for the space, and planned how people would navigate
Kristina Halvorson, Brain Traffic
How many of you have ever moved to a new home or apartment?
Any content that doesn’t meet these needs is just getting in the way.
Avoid wasting money on designing, creating and maintaining unnecessary content.
The types of decisions and outcomes that will be influenced by this information – why did we go through all of this?