Putting user needs at the heart of content design | Abby Rudland | December 2014
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Presentation by Abby Rudland from the Local Direct Programme on putting user needs at the heart of content design covering: - starting with user needs - evidence and data - tips for writing good content - continuous improvement Presented at Really Useful Day: Improving user journeys in Durham on 12 December 2014.
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Putting user needs at the heart of content design | Abby Rudland | December 2014
- 1. Putting user needs at the heart of content design
- 2. GDS* Paul *Sarah (ex)GDS 1. Start with user needs 2. Evidence and data 3. Tips for writing good content 4. Continuous improvement
- 3. GDS* Paul *Sarah (ex)GDS 1. Start with user needs
- 4. Defining the user need “As a _______ I want to ________ so that I can ________”
- 5. Defining the user need “As a self-employed person I want to file my tax return so that I can avoid nasty fines.”
- 6. Who’s the audience? What’s the action? Why do they want to do it?
- 7. “As a self-employed person I want to file my tax return so that I can avoid nasty fines.”
- 8. GDS used user needs to prioritise content when creating GOV.UK
- 9. GDS* Paul *Sarah (ex)GDS 2. Evidence and data
- 10. GDS* Paul *Sarah Data from your call centre & other channels Data from existing sites Data from Google & other online tools (ex)GDS
- 11. GDS**Sarah (ex)GDS Data tells you the language to use Holiday entitlement Annual leave
- 13. GDSLana Gibson
- 15. User journeys should be based on: •evidence of how users actually behave •not on how you think they behave •and definitely not on what policy teams or members want to tell them
- 16. GDS* Paul *Sarah (ex)GDS 3. Tips for writing good content
- 17. The purpose of any page or tool on your site should be to meet a specific user need as efficiently as possible
- 19. • Front-load sentences with the important stuff • If it’s not essential, leave it out • Break it up - use: - short sentences / paragraphs - sub-headings - lists
- 20. Present things in the order that will make sense to the user.
- 22. Write content in plain English… But take into account official language
- 26. GDS* Paul *Sarah (ex)GDS 4. Continuous improvement
- 27. GDS* Paul *Sarah (ex)GDS •User test •Learn •Improve
- 28. GDS*Sarah User research doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive (ex)GDS
- 29. GDS*Sarah (ex)GDS GDS Service Design Manual An introduction to user research techniques: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-des User research tools: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-des
- 30. GDS*Sarah (ex)GDS LocalGov Digital Council website usability dashboard http://council.usability-test.org.uk
- 31. GDS*Sarah (ex)GDS Carolyne Mitchell – South Lanarkshire Council http://www.slideshare.net/carolynemitchell/building-per
- 32. GDS**Sarah Start with user needs Base on evidence & data Design specific, simple content Continuously monitor & improve (ex)GDS
Editor's Notes
- Everyone here is at a different level of knowledge so I’m sure some of you will know about the techniques I’m going to talk about. But I hope there’ll be enough nuggets that you won’t mind listening to me! Most of this advice is from GDS.
- Louise has already talked about how important it is to put the user first. But what is a user need? And how do you work out what the needs of your users are?
- Gov.uk use a simple formula which we really like
- These 3 simple lines help you think about 1 who the user is 2 what the action is 3 why the user wants to do the action
- This is the piece of content on GOV.UK which meets that specific need. Note – it’s not meeting the need “I need to find out if I have to do a tax return” or “I need to set myself up to do a tax return” or “I need to know the deadline…” etc This is a focused piece of content to meet a specific need. Other related bits of content that meet some of those other needs are linked to on the right.
- How did GOV.UK decide what user needs they needed to fulfill? They did a massive needs analysis. They looked at Directgov and Business Link (the two websites that were merged to form GOV.UK), read each page of these two websites, wrote down user needs from each page and looked at stats for the sites. Some pages had 5 or 6 user needs answered on one page; some pages had absolutely zero user needs answered! They put all these user needs onto pieces of paper and put them into a database called the Needotron On GOV.UK, each page answers a specific user need GDS used the Needotron to make them focus on the user need. Anything that didn’t directly answer a user need was left out. It was a great way of stripping away the stuff that didn’t matter and only leaving the essential stuff.
- When you're assessing needs, you don't want to make assumptions. Instead, find out what people actually want to do and how they want to do it. Use data to drive your understanding. Looking at evidence and data is key to getting it right. There’s a wealth of evidence and data out there - much more than I can show you.
- Call centre – what are most frequently asked questions? Is this because that answer isn’t clear enough on your site? What are the most visited pages on your site? Do people engage with the pages? (ie stay on the page for longer than 5 seconds) What are the most searched for things on your site… and on Google?
- Let’s look at what people are search for around holiday entitlement… What language should you be using?
- Further down the page, you can also see related searches – searches using similar words and how popular they are.
- £40 per month
- So in summary… Use evidence and data to back you up in arguments!
- You’ve identified your priority needs, now you need to write good content that answers them. From what we know about how people consume information, here are some good tips.
- Remember that bit of content for logging in and filing your tax return…?
- This is why you need to make your content as efficient as possible: F-shape reading pattern People don’t come to your site to read your content, they come do complete a task, get out, and get on with the rest of their day. - This is from Nielsen Norman Group research, it shows how vital it is to provide key info up front.
- F-shape reading
- This guide to council housing is split into 6 sections, starting off with how to apply for a council home and finishing with ‘buy your council home’. But also, one of the first pieces of information this article gives is: “you can apply if you’re 18 or over” – ie if you’re under 18, you don’t need to waste your time reading the whole of this article.
- Name-check the official language, because some people will search on that.
- What language should you be using
- Not enough to make changes and then forget about your website. You need to be continuously thinking about what works well and what doesn’t.