The Ministry of Content - Empathy, Empowerment, Economics
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As content practitioners, we commit ourselves to make life easier for people whom we do not know. We do not know in what state of mind (stress, joy, illness, celebration, disaster) they try to find information they need. So, Empathy gets even more important when we plan content for its audience. We have the power to make the audience feel empowered to make a decision. Our goal is not only to address audience concerns and needs, the content should comply with the organization’s ROI goals.
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The Ministry of Content - Empathy, Empowerment, Economics
- 1. The Ministry of Content Empathy. Empowerment. Economics. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 2. Some decisions are difficult. Our Customers Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 3. Their decisions. A few are complex. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 4. Few others are really complex. Our Customers Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 5. Not only to design search and transaction. We Get Paid Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 6. Customer Success. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore We Get Paid for
- 7. Customer Delight. Our Rewards. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 8. We have unaccounted choices. Not Accountable. No License! Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 9. Nobody questions. We Do Not Need License. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 10. Landing pages. Emails. Support. Bias. We Make Fake Promises. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 11. Our fake promises. “You can find a doctor, and make an online appointment.” Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 12. We Make Fake Promises.Customers. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore Confused. Disappointed.
- 13. Empathy. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore Designing content on evidence.
- 14. Empathy. Peers Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore Shared Understanding. Strengths in Constraints.
- 15. Empathy. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 16. Absorb the Brand Voice Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 17. Technical Content – An Extension of Brand Message Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 18. Empowerment.
- 19. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 20. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore Empowerment.
- 21. Transformation. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 22. Transformation. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 23. Content for Economics. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 24. Content Viability for Economics Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore Products – Pivot. Grow. Merge. Expand.
- 25. Content for Sustainability Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore Economics
- 26. Empathy. Empowerment. Economics. The Ministry of Content Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 27. Decisions are Complex but Informed. Vinish Garg, of vhite | LinkedIn tcworld India 2019, Bangalore
- 28. About Me.
Editor's Notes
- We invest in content processes and we own these for content utility, content ROI, and content scalability. Product teams design content driven experiences for specific audiences who have some job to do. How often we ensure that our content investments are solving real-world problems for people who are fighting their own battles? Does our content empower them? Does our content position our brand as an empowering brand? Does it make a difference? And finally, does our content ensure viability for with the business economics for its sustainability goals?
- We contribute to designing experiences and even when the teams design products for user research, for right user stories, and we are on target… we may never know that for the customers, making decisions when on a screen can be really complex. We can anticipate the use cases, but we cannot cover the base for the context – they may be in transit, in a hospital, or they may be challenged. One day they may be celebrating and next day, they may be in a shock. In all cases, it is not only about onboarding and making them use what we have designed, it is helping them fight their distractions.
- Their own battles.
- Sometimes, it is much more than merely booking tickets, or sharing a document. It is the context – and the urgency… and the stakes. The message in that moment can make or break a customer’s network. And their hopes. And their lives.
- We are not paid to design *search*, or *instructions*, or the *CTA message*. Going by timesheets, we are paid to reduce the support calls, and our job is well done if NPS indicates so. However, as I said that customer interactions can be complex, our rewards go far beyond that pay cheque in our bank accounts.
- We get paid for customer success. The moment when they feel that their investment is worth their time and worth their attention. We often say that we can see only bad design, and good design is invisible. Likewise, customers’ feeling of a good experience – “Thank God, the payment is through.” They have nothing to do with the product, they are concerned about the outcome. That is our reward.
- To enable them to celebrate something… is our real reward.
- Well, if everything seems so simple and easy, why bad products happen? Why so man broken experiences are being tweeted every hour. I do that so many times, even for relatively mature brands including Paytm, MakeMyTrip, or LinkedIn. This is because we are not really accountable for our work. Nobody certifies us that we are capable to do a good job, and nobody validates if we are doing a poor job. Designing is not as subjective as it is positioned to be.
- Our state gives us a license to drive a motor vehicle. But to drive a product where the stakes may be even higher, we do not need a license. So, we can afford to design invalid forms that annoy patients when they fill their details when in a hospital. We are not really liable to any penalty, sometimes not even a pep-talk.
- It means that we continue to make false promises. When we say *“Yes, you can find a doctor and make an online appointment.”, our customers do not know that they may stuck in complex online forms, or among unconfirmed messages, and in an unguided tour on their journey. Just as a reindeer feels when its horns are entangled in bushes. They struggle, but they cannot penalize us.
- It means that we continue to make false promises. We assume that saying *“Yes, you can find a doctor and make an online appointment.”, should serve the purpose. Our customers do not know that they may stuck in complex online forms, or among unconfirmed messages, and an unguided tour on their product journey. They struggle, but they cannot penalize us.
- What we should do!
- Empathy to fight assumptions. We should design on evidence and not on assumptions. We should write on evidence. Empathy enables us to package our skills and thoughts on evidence.
- Empathy for peers: Empathy is so important for a collaborative, productive, and functioning relationship. (source: https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/collaboration-begins-with-empathy/) Empathy for peers leads to co-create and co-own culture, for a shared understanding of common goals.
- Take an example of Tom Shoes. They are a for-profit selling shoes and they plan campaigns to improve lives – can they do it without empathy in their product culture? Even if specific functions own such campaigns in Tom Shoes, all content aligns itself for the message, and for voice and tone. It includes technical content.
- See how Away Travels positions itself. We as content practitioners including technical communicators should align our efforts for the brand message and voice.
- As technical communicators, this may not please us. But when you look at the big picture brand positioning, for they connect with their audience to sell, the technical content should move out of conventional Help Center instructions to match the brand voice. Customers need unified voice across all use cases and context. Empathy.
- People look forward to brands who empower – empower society and communities. For example, look at this *LikeAGirl campaign by Always*…. The brand empowered a segment. Now imagine the role of content in the campaigns.
- Content is the face of empowering brands.
- Content inspires trust, it builds brand trust. The instructions in the steps to cancel an order can be the difference between repeat customer or customer churn. Look at the stakes.
- Empowering brands bring transformation!
- Examples are – Reformation, and Away Travel.
- There are times when products designed by mature design teams do not scale. Content driven design gets traction, and NPS looks favorable. However, the products need to pivot, or they don’t scale. This is because content did not ensure economic viability for the organization. Will the current process scale?
- We invest in massive content systems – pre-sales, product, post-sales. What happens when the products pivot, or a merger happens, or in case of rebranding and expansions. What happens if a new extension or integration happens to a running product suite. Does it call for restructuring the content framework? Vocabulary? Does content scale when the design system scales?
- Scalable content systems add sustainability to an organization.
- The organization looks at us to solve their business problems. The product teams look at us to solve their design challenges where content has a role to play. We should keep an eye at the organization goals and the other eye at the customer success goals, to map out scalable and sustainable content systems, around the three core pillars – Empathy. Empowerment. Economics.
- If we channelize our content processes around empathy, empowerment, and economics, we may not always solve all the problems of our customers, but we can join their success and celebrations. We can join them in fighting their battles. Their decisions may still be complex when on a screen, but they can make more informed decisions, they may feel empowered and it can accelerate the transformation that the brand aims for. A win-win for all.
- Find me on Google!