This document summarizes a workshop on writing customer-focused content presented by Carol Barnum, Ph.D. The workshop will focus on strategies for understanding users and engaging them in conversation through well-structured content. Attendees will learn to focus on their users, engage in conversation, and design the structure for that conversation. They will also apply strategies like considering the user's perspective, answering their questions clearly and concisely, and using design elements like space and formatting effectively. The agenda involves forming teams to redesign example content areas and then sharing results to review common strategies.

1. A workshop presented by
Carol
Barnum, Ph.D.
Director,
User Research

2. Me About me
• Director, User Research
• Professor
Emeritus, Southern
Polytechnic
• Author, 6 books, 50+
articles
• Trainer, content
strategy, UX, technical &
professional
writing, global
strategies

3. For the next 2 hours . . .

4. • Learn strategies for writing customer-focused
content
• Use these strategies with current content
• Apply strategies to create content that is:
– User friendly
– Efficient
– Goal-oriented
– Useful, usable, desirable
Our goals

5. • Focus on your user
• Engage in conversation with your user
• Design structure for conversation
• Transform content to conversation
Our agenda – first hour

6. Who is your user?

7. City of Atlanta Innovation
Delivery Team

10. • It starts with your site visitor
• Users want to grab and go
• Many sites are "virtual file cabinets"
"Rummage around because we assume
you are looking for documents"
Content = Conversation

11. Harvard Business School marketing professor Theodore Levitt

12. • Understand conversations your visitors want
to have
• Engage in the conversation to keep them
interested
• Meet their goal . . . and yours
To create great web content . . .

13. Your site visitor =
the other side of
the conversation
Your site = you
one side of the
conversation
What’s the conversation?

14. City of Atlanta Innovation
Delivery Team
What’s the problem
with this form?

15. I am writing this content so that ____________
(who?)
can ________________ (what?).
Start with your purpose

16. • Experience, expertise
• Key phrases/quotes
• Emotions
• Values
• Technology
• Social and cultural environment, language
• Demographics
Things to think about "who"

17. What’s the
conversation?

18. Follow these guidelines
– Create consistent patterns
– Align elements on a grid
– Keep active space in your content
– Beware of false bottoms
– Don’t let headings float
– Don’t center text
Think of space as a design element

19. • Think about your user’s questions
• Answer your user’s questions
• Break text into short sections
• Use clear headings
• Start with your key message
• Write short sentences and paragraphs
• Use lists and tables
• Write meaningful links
Apply these writing strategies

20. • Part 1 – 30 minutes – writing teams form
– Business and Residents tabs
– Checklist of strategies to redesign content
• Part 2 – 30 minutes – teams present results
– Share strategies for redesign
– Review commonalities
Our agenda – Workshop

21. Two books tell you more
The key resource for this workshop! When you’re ready to test the content

22. • Contact carolbarnum@uxfirm.com
• Visit our website www.uxfirm.com
For more conversation. . .