Strategies for writing customer focused web content

Strategies for Writing Customer-focused Content

A workshop presented by

Carol Barnum, Ph.D.

Director,User Research

Me About me

• Director, User Research• Professor Emeritus,

Southern Polytechnic• Author, 6 books, 50+

articles• Trainer, content

strategy, UX, technical & professional writing, global strategies

For the next 2 hours . . .

• 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

• Focus on your user• Engage in conversation with your user• Design structure for conversation• Transform content to conversation

Our agenda – first hour

Who is your user?

GoalsAttitudesExperience

City of Atlanta Innovation Delivery Team

How to start the conversation?

• 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

People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!

Harvard Business School marketing professor Theodore Levitt

• 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 . . .

Your site visitor =

the other side of the conversati

on

Your site = you one

side of the conversati

on

What’s the conversation?

City of Atlanta Innovation Delivery Team

What’s the problem with this form?

I am writing this content so that ____________ (who?)

can ________________ (what?).

Start with your purpose

• Experience, expertise • Key phrases/quotes• Emotions• Values• Technology • Social and cultural environment, language• Demographics

Things to think about "who"

What’s the conversation?

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

• 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

• 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

Two books tell you more

The key resource for this workshop! When you’re ready to test the content

• Contact carolbarnum@uxfirm.com• Visit our website www.uxfirm.com

For more conversation. . .