A Cheat Sheet for Content Strategists
When I was the sole UX designer redesigning content-heavy websites for companies in super specific industries—think wastewater treatment and clinical research—Leah Buley’s book, “The User Experience Team of One,” was my saving grace. I was a content person transitioning (i.e., tumbling head-first) into the UX world, and her book became one of the most dog-eared, underlined books in my possession. It still is.
When I entered the UX field, the content was considered the words. The information. Just the stuff that goes into the design after the designer closed Photoshop. “Hey, you can fit that product description in two lines, right?”
Today, I get most excited about how the content and UX fields are becoming more interdependent. Content strategy and user experience design both align with my core aspirations:
Helping businesses think, talk, and act more like humans
Making things easier for people
Reducing complexity, clutter, and noise
Inspired by Buley’s simple approaches in her UX book, this post will serve as a cheat sheet for those who wind up serving as a sole content advocate on web projects.
So, if you find yourself:
Encouraging designers to test with actual words, not lorem ipsum
Asking how the content will be maintained in the long run
Bringing in content creators to work alongside technical and design teams
You might be a content advocate! And I hope we can be friends.
The most common battle you face day-to-day is ensuring content isn’t treated like an afterthought or a thing done on the periphery of design and development.
Here are some tips. I hope they’re helpful!
When: You’re helping the business talk more like a human
Questions to ask yourself and the team:
Who are the unique individuals that we are serving?
What information do they need most from us? How can we help?
Where does our value intersect with their needs, desires, and beliefs?
What is our brand voice? (How do we want users to feel after interacting with our site/app/experience?)
How will this voice be applied across different channels and communication vehicles?
Methods that can help drive answers to these questions:
Core messaging development
Tone & style guidelines
Channel content requirements
Updated personas based on research to include: the actions, information, and most common questions they need to answer
If you remember just one thing:
Show your brand value through the experience, not in marketing platitudes.
When: You need to simplify a digital experience
Questions to ask yourself and the team:
Are we designing a nav experience based on our org structure? Or knowledge about users and their circumstances/context?
How do we align, structure, and label information according to how users speak and think?
How can we group, pair, or chunk content based on similar attributes?
Is this content truly skimmable?
Is this content searchable?
How will users find this content?
Are we clearly describing what we want users to do next?
Are we creating repeatable content patterns?
How do these patterns work in tandem with design templates and technology requirements?
Methods that can help drive answers to these questions:
Information architecture audit
A/B testing microcopy
Content models
Content chunking
Content mapping
If you remember just one thing:
Design without content isn’t design. It’s containers.
When: You need to reduce clutter and noise
Questions to ask yourself and the team:
Do users need this information to make a decision or perform an action?
Is our content prioritized based on user tasks?
What content is “fringe” and only necessary for a small subset of users (Are there other methods to communicate this information? Do we need all this information on the website/app/portal?)
How will this content be managed and updated over time?
Who will own removing or updating this content?
What is the authoring workflow?
Do content owners understand when, how, and why they update, delete or add content?
Methods that can help drive answers to these questions:
User interviews
Analytics analysis
Content inventory
Content audit
Content governance creation
Content calendars & editorial planning
Authoring workflows
If you remember just one thing:
The same rules of good storytelling apply, “Show. Don’t tell.” And my favorite, from William Strunk, “Omit needless words.”
If all else fails, ask just one question, “Does this information, word, label, or category deliver meaning?”
Organizations are still figuring out how to structure content teams within product teams, and every business is different, as is every project. The exciting news? You don’t need permission to be a content advocate! All you need is a user-centered mindset and the willingness to ask questions.
I’d love your thoughts. What other tips would you add to this cheat sheet to help folks advocating for the importance of language and content?