Content design what it is and what it isn't
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Presentation by Steven Proctor at NUX Newcastle on Thursday 23 March 2017.
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Content design what it is and what it isn't
- 1. Content design What it is and what it isn’t
- 2. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
- 3. “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as if it were a nail.” – Abraham Maslow
- 8. “Content is anything that provides information” – Me
- 11. Not just words
- 12. Words are the building blocks
- 14. Approximately Block Close of play Deliver Endeavour Evidence Impact In order to Key Procure Transform Utilise
- 15. Do whatever meets the need
- 22. Great content is essential
- 23. “I use websites for their cool animations, pop ups (and unders), scroll jacking, banner ads and hover effects.” – Nobody ever
- 24. Easy to find
- 25. Easy to read
- 27. “The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable Foods.” – State of Maine
- 28. Accessible
- 29. click here Use the menu on the right Click the red button Don’t, can’t, won’t Metaphors, Latin and idioms Subtitles and transcripts
- 32. For the person reading it
- 33. “...involuntary exclusion from the world of work” – Teesdale District Council’s Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report for the Local Development Framework Core Strategy
- 34. “This is just the way council reports are written, and if you want to be a councillor then you need to understand that. If you go to France, they speak French. Here in the council, we speak like this.” – Councillor Newton Wood
- 36. Hi Steven, We just wanted to let you know that your booking has been taken care of. All the details are listed below, so please just take a moment to check that everything is tickety-boo, just in case. This is just your confirmation, mind. Don’t mistake it for a ticket. You need to bring a valid ticket with you on the day, or you won’t be going anywhere.
- 39. “Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.” – Jeffrey Zeldman
- 40. Thanks
Editor's Notes
- 0 to 3500 government sites in about 8 years Everything went online, in whatever format Typical process: Someone writes something Gives it to their web team They may suggest changes, they may not Everything gets signed off by someone – policy, legal User needs are not considered 3 types of people: IT, communications, people who fancied giving it a bash
- IT people see the web as a technology problem Communications people see the web as a communications, marketing or branding problem People who give it a go tended to see it as a mixture of both
- Government went for plain English standards and writing for the web principles They were not enforced No authority for central departments or web staff Accused of “dumbing down”
- Convergence Directgov and Business Link were to be supersites, one for people, one for businesses No authority to close original sites led to massive duplication
- Closed 685 government sites including Directgov and Business Link 1.8 million page redirects 11 million visitors a week £74.5 million saved in transition Statistics from 2014 About 300 sites left open Birth of the content designer
- Content is more than the body content
- Learn 5,000 common words when you’re aged between 6 and 9 Or the first words you get taught when English is your second language More recognisable – letters, rather than word shapes Easier to understand
- Alternative words: About Stop 5pm Achieve Try Prove Effect (noun), Affect (verb) So Important Buy Change Use
- Not what the organisation wants to say
- Have to be careful with images – they may not be universally understood
- Social media Talk like the people who talk to you
- Particular set of skills First thought: What is the least amount of content I can give to meet the need?
- May understand HTML, but aren’t a developer May be able to add up, but not an accountant You may be able to write, but you might not be a content designer Most people write from their point of view and knowledge (the curse of knowledge) and find it difficult to put it in simple English
- For the people who read it
- Most important thing first Headings Simple words Short sentences Short paragraphs Front load Spacing, line height, margins
- Plain English 5,000 words Natural language Their vocabulary “Impossible to misunderstand”
- For the want of a comma after “shipment”, a dairy would have saved $10 million
- Click here: links are red out of context Use the menu on the right: location may not be known Red button: may not be able to perceive red Contractions: much harder for people with dyslexia to read, or people with lower reading ages, they are less common Metaphors: can be taken literally Latin: we aren’t Romans, use simple English not things like “de minimis criteria” Idioms: not universally understood Subtitles and transcripts: must be on videos for people who are deaf or hard of hearing
- Do not hide things behind other elements Make sure all elements can be focused by keyboard
- This error message will be read out by a screen reader as: There has been an error dot blank One of the fields you have entered contains invalid characters Please click back and re-enter using only a z 0 9 dot at
- Not the person writing it
- Content on Virgin Trains
- “Tickety-boo” “, mind”
- This is not content for the person reading it This is marketing to demonstrate how delightful and fun Virgin Trains are
- Lorem ipsum should never be used Not even in wireframes