#tcworldIndia17Sarah O’Keefe
Future-proofing your content
#tcworldIndia17
Future-proofing requires flexibility.
#tcworldIndia17
The text cycle
Hillesund,Terje. "Reading Books in the Digital Age subsequent to Amazon, Google and the long tail"
First Monday [Online],Volume 12 Number 9 (3 September 2007). Retrieved on June 30, 2011.
reading writing
production
storingrepresentation
distribution
content
#tcworldIndia17
Written content
(once upon a time)
reading writing
production
storingrepresentation
distribution
#tcworldIndia17
Printed content, 1450ish
reading writing
production
storingrepresentation
distribution
#tcworldIndia17
Desktop publishing, 1980s
reading writing
production
storingrepresentation
distribution
#tcworldIndia17
Digital text content
reading writing
production
storingrepresentation
distribution
#tcworldIndia17
Digital audio/video/graphical
content
reading (consumption) writing (authoring)
production
storingrepresentation
distribution
#tcworldIndia17
• Content storage and
representation are often tied
together. Exceptions:
• Text-to-speech
functionality
• Animation with layers
• Need the ability to separate
audio and video into cycle
components
Use of audio and video limited by
development process.
#tcworldIndia17
How do we future-proof each phase?
reading writing
representation
distribution
storing
production
#tcworldIndia17
Reading or consumption
reading
#tcworldIndia17
Marketing funnel
#tcworldIndia17
Customer journey
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Buy
Customer
journey
Buy
#tcworldIndia17
• Content matters before Buy
decision
• After-sales content doesn’t
matter
Don’t care.
Content strategy

in the marketing funnel
Buy
Care
#tcworldIndia17
Pre-sales and post-sales content
#tcworldIndia17
#tcworldIndia17
Pre-sales versus post-sales
• Persuasive
• Product overview
• Advertising
• White paper
• Factual
• User documentation
• Training materials
• Knowledge base
#tcworldIndia17
Content strategy 

in the customer journey
Buy
Care
Care
Care
Care
#tcworldIndia17
Convergence
• Persuasive
• Factual
• Advertising
• Product overview
• White paper
• User documentation
• Training materials
• Knowledge base
#tcworldIndia17
• Pay attention to reader
requirements
• Focus on the entire
customer journey, not just
“pre-sales”
Reading or consumption
reading
#tcworldIndia17
Distribution
distribution
• Personalized
• Dynamic
• Various media
• Push (email, docs in the box)
• Pull (web site)
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
#tcworldIndia17
Your reputation affects
content distribution.
@sarahokeefe
Customers who say their retailer understands
them.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
37%
The Customer Conversation report: https://econsultancy.com/reports/the-consumer-conversation/
#tcworldIndia17
• What are people saying
about your content and your
product?
• Listen to them.
Distribution
distribution
#tcworldIndia17
Representation or visual appearance
representation
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation - bullet and image
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation - bullet and image
#tcworldIndia17
• Reader controls which
device is used
• Reader can modify visual
presentation
• Accessible, adaptable content
is key
Representation or visual appearance
representation
#tcworldIndia17
Production
production
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Collaboration workflow
#tcworldIndia17
• Where does information
originate and where does it
go?
• How do I align those
systems?
• “Single source of truth”
Production
production
#tcworldIndia17
• Information is encoded with
the information needed to
support reading, distribution,
and representation
requirements
• Semantic tagging
• Metadata to enable filtering
Storing
storing
#tcworldIndia17
Today, XML is the best
available option for storage
of complex content.
#tcworldIndia17
<note>
<pitch>
<step>G</step>
<alter>1</alter>
<octave>5</octave>
</pitch>
<duration>2</duration>
<voice>1</voice>
<type>eighth</type>
<accidental>sharp</accidental>
<stem>down</stem>
<beam number="1">end</beam>
<notations>
<slur type="stop" number="1"/>
</notations>
</note>
Complex notation
flickr: pfly
#tcworldIndia17
• Content creators must
understand downstream
requirements and plan for
them
• Tag variants
• Flag info for personalization
• Localization
• Reuse
Writing
writing
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
XML?
Markdown?
Forms?
#tcworldIndia17
Personalization
#tcworldIndia17
• Hand-copied books
• Generally commissioned
• Often customized for the
buyer
• Gutenberg Bible
• 42 lines of standard
printing
• Customized illumination
Customizing content, then and now
#tcworldIndia17
Personalization in
the Luttrell Psalter
(circa 1320–1340)
Geoffrey Luttrell
#tcworldIndia17
Personalization today
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
#tcworldIndia17
• Tone and voice
• Language
• Distribution
• Encoding
• Delivery
Content facets
#tcworldIndia17
Contemporary tone means content
ages fast
#tcworldIndia17
Slang is specific to culture and locale
#tcworldIndia17
Slang is specific to culture and locale
#tcworldIndia17
Slang is specific to culture and locale
#tcworldIndia17
A strong voice adds
personality to your
content.
#tcworldIndia17
A strong voice may
limit geographic
reach.
#tcworldIndia17
What do customers
care about?
#tcworldIndia17
Minimum viable content
#tcworldIndia17
Content strategy
flickr: Candie_N
#tcworldIndia17
Map content approach
to business goals
flickr: Candie_N
#tcworldIndia17
• Writing standards
• Media standards
• Information architecture
• Content model
• Systems and software
Content strategy
#tcworldIndia17
Localization strategy
flickr: ruthbruin
#tcworldIndia17
Map localization efforts to
business goals
flickr: ruthbruin
#tcworldIndia17
• Content for localization
• Localization options
Localization strategy
#tcworldIndia17
• Our world is connected
• Globalized
• Mobile
• Context-aware
flickr: stevendepolo
The world
#tcworldIndia17
Content must adapt.
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation - bullet and image
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
#tcworldIndia17
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation - bullet and image
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation - bullet and image
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation - bullet and image
#tcworldIndia17
• Human translation
• Machine translation
• Transcreation
Choose your method wisely…
#tcworldIndia17
• Machine translation
• Machine translation with post-editing
• Tiered localization strategy
Use of machine translation is increasing
Wikimedia: D J Shin
#tcworldIndia17
Human versus machine
#tcworldIndia17
• Humans understand tone,
style, and nuance.
• Machines excel at
terminology and predictable
language.
Human versus machine
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation
Flickr:wolfgangstaudt
#tcworldIndia17
• Ideal for custom messaging
• Requires significant planning
• Planning happens during
source language planning
• Highly effective, but very
expensive
Transcreation
#tcworldIndia17
• Partner with local market
experts
• Convey intent and approach
• Collaborate on targeted
messaging
• Always test locally before
deploying
Transcreation
#tcworldIndia17
Translation workflows
Flickr: ironypoisoning
#tcworldIndia17
• Waterfall
• Parallel
• Agile/iterative
Translation workflows
#tcworldIndia17
• The type of translation
informs content and product
design
• The type of workflow
informs project and release
schedules
• Find the best combination to
maximize value
• Keep corporate culture in
mind
Your choices matter
• Body Level One
• Body Level Two
• Body Level Three
• Body Level
Four
• Body Level
Five
#tcworldIndia17
Transcreation Human translation MT plus PE raw MT
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
#tcworldIndia17
• Focus on customer journey
• Look at all components of
the text cycle
• Content strategy
• Localization strategy
Summary
reading writing
representation
distribution storing
production

Future-proofing your content