Can we stop arguing over whose job is more important? Web design requires creative collaboration across multiple disciplines. Arguing whether content or design is more important is like arguing whether the composer or performer is more important. It's a bogus question: without both, there is no music.

1. Which Matters More:
Content, Design or Technology?
Sophie Dennis
UX & Content Strategy
@sophiedennis www.sophiedennis.co.uk
Exeter Web Meetup, 25 Oct 2012

2. <rant>

3. Can we stop arguing
about whose job is
most important?
Photo © Peretz Partensky (CC BY-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifl/3926001309/

4. she says
“Content First”

5. he says
“But design is important too”

6. Well, duh?
v
Cennydd Bowles, ‘What bugs me about “content out”’
http://www.cennydd.co.uk/2011/what-bugs-me-about-content-out/

7. The problem with first
Photo © velkr0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/606993270/

8. Waterfall
says
Project Management
comes before
UX Design
comes before
Visual Design
comes before
Development
comes before
Content
Photo © familymwr (CC BY 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/familymwr/6234646694/

9. Waterfall
says
Project Manager
is more important than
UX Designer
is more important than
Visual Designer
is more important than
Developer
is more important than
Content
Photo © swan corner (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/swan_corner/7818833836/

10. Can’t we all just get along?
Photo © Sharyn Morrow (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/1923984297/

11. Like a film, websites don’t happen
without collaboration
Photo © Jason Ilagan (CC BY-ND 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepen/2227370320/

12. But it’s still…

13. a
Sophie Dennis
film

14. The web is more like music

15. Co-ordinating specialist teams
Photo © B. Baltimore Brown (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbaltimore/5710451171/

16. First among expert equals
Turtle Island String Quartet, © anyjazz65 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/49024304@N00/280608840/

17. Multi-disciplinary, agile, pivoting
Photo © Scott Thomas (CC BY-ND 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsthomasphotography/3738932632/

18. Rare, lone genius
Richard Thompson at Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2008 © Andy Robinson (all rights reserved)

19. J.S Bach
Cello Suite No.1
Prelude
Content
The abstract markup of the musical score
http://www.music-scores.com

20. Steven Isserlis
Bach: The Cello Suites
Hyperion Records
Design
The performer who interprets it
Photo © Tom Miller http://www.performances.org/press/1112/Isserlis.shtml

21. Which Matters More?
Bogus question. Without both there is no music.
♫ Listen at http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67541/2

22. Duty Calls http://xkcd.com/386/

23. maybe I should just spend less time reading LinkedIn Groups

24. Who’s
Queen?
As UX guy, I
should get the
final say on Project Manager But without me,
everything, you have
ever NOTHING!!
Designers
suck
Designers Developers
Developer Did you all not
s suck see I have
STRATEGY in my
job title now?
“Content is
King” my a**s
Content
but we still need
less of this

25. Designer Developer Content Project Designer Developer Developer Content
Manager
Team Team
You’re so
smart I made
cake
I love your
work
Group Project UX Visual Front-end Back-end Content
hug? Manager Design Design Developer Developer
Team
and
more of this

26. we should
Share The Vision
Photo © Attila Magyar (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) http://www.flickr.com/photos/magyaatt/7402399364/

27. </rant>
Sophie “I Have Strategy in my Job Title” Dennis
@sophiedennis
http://www.sophiedennis.co.uk