Why I Teach Content Strategy

Misty WeaverUX Johannesburg

November 14, 2012

Who?

Misty WeaverTwitter @meaningmeasureLinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/mistymelissaweaver

My work is all about Communication Strategy for Nonprofit Organizations:Community Management, Social Media Marketing, Content Creation, Curation and Publishing, Website Management, Events

Masters Library & Information ScienceLecturer, University of Washington Information School

Old School

Oranviri at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

I, Cacophony [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Instead of thinking about IA as building a house, consider building a city. Full of traffic, business, art, design, community and people. Seattle is my city.

Seattle Public LibrarySeattle Public Library stands as an example of forward thinking, open design meant for community use.

We want a little of everything, art & architecture, style & use, design & display. The experience music project is both fun and functional.

We are a bit quirky in Seattle, art crops up under bridges and we like to play. www.stachesofseattle.com

New SchoolMy work is influenced by my education, the city in which I live and what I do now with community.

Talking ‘bout

• Content Strategy in Information Architecture & User Experience Design Discovery Process

• Role of Content Inventory & Audit in the Customer Journey

•

By Khammurabi Jeff Voigt

“Useful, usable content is a process, not a product. It needs people who are responsible for ongoing, editorial oversight. Set standards to inform changes and inspire growth.”

– From Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson

My Interpretation• Know your organization• Know your audience• Know your ecosystem• Know your limits

Build a holistic system

Goal: Deliver Relevant Content

Specific

AchievableMeasurable

Findable UsefulUsable

My personal goal is deliver relevant content to people (and search engines). I work up the pyramid, developing specific tactics to carry out strategy.

Assumption: Content Has a Life Cycle

Create• New Content• New Programs• New Navigation• Roles, Policies,

Workflows

Keep (Revise)• Content: Pages,

elements• Navigation,

structure• Policies

Connect• Merge• In-site links• External Links • Social Media• User generated

content• Policies

Cut • Content • Navigation• Policies

Content Inventory & You

Is Design Content’s Nemisis?

Lorem Ipsum

Designer Luke Wroblewski argues that “using dummy content or fake information in the Web design process can result in products with unrealistic assumptions and potentially serious design flaws.” He also explains how these designs usually fail when real content is added. - Death to Lorem Ipsum

Karen McGrane Defends Lorem Ipsumhttp://karenmcgrane.com/2010/01/10/in-defense-of-lorem-ipsum/

Nemisis. Louvre. Marie-Lan Nguyen (2010) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_Nemesis_Louvre_Ma4873.jpg

Taxonomy & Search both require us to prioritize content and how it is displayed

AgendaQuantitative

The Information School University of WashingtonContent Strategy

Content Inventory What

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1333418/Amazon-Christmas-rush-Picture-elves-work-Swansea.html

Content Inventory what should be

Quantitative Inventory

• How much• Where is it • What’s it called• Who owns it

The Bad News

• Click by Click • Starting with home page• Pay attention to sections • Have the experience the user does

It takes a long time and can hurt your body but you get an unparalleled experience from the user perspective (hint: staff are usually users as well.)

Are there tools for this?• Web Crawlers• Two Monitors• Robots file • Firebug

http://content-insight.com/

http://siteorbiter.com/

Xenu

Yes! They can’t do the analysis for you but they can collect data faster so that you can still experience the site just without having to stop and copy/paste.

Consistent

Cluttered

RelevantUseful

Qualitative: What to Audit

Once you have an inventory, you usually want to then audit the value of the content in an audit. These are general things I look for but audits should always be specific to your context: business goals, audience needs, resources/time available.

Content Inventory

Termite mound close to Maun, Botswana by Discott

Tells you what’s below the surface. There’s often a world of content underground.

Inventories let you scope and adjust timelines. Often a client thinks they have 300 pages but they really have 3000. I use automated tools to find the scope before I start the project and never start an audit without full discussion of expectations.

Things I’ve encountered in content inventories, audits and website visits

HALL CLOSETSThey don’t want you to open that door!

Fibber McGee & Molly

SLIMEYou know it when it hits you

by jurvetson

TUMBLEWEEDSain’t nothing to break your fall

ImperfectTommy / Edmond Meinfelder

Keywords / Subject

Quality ReadabilityLengthToneMessageNavigationSub NavigationRelevancyUse / AnalyticsValue to IAIValue to User

RecommendationsKeep/KillReviseAdd Owner / Author

Speaks to Intended Audience

SEOTitle elementsMeta descriptionH1 tagsTitle matches content Content is unique to pageTitle element includes keywords Description element includes keywords

Date Revised

Facilitates user tasks

Has Calls to Action

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brain_scan.jpg

The World of Audit options is limitless… Try to connect with your user’s psychology & needs

An inventory and audit are diagnostic tools!

An inventory is not an audit

An audit is not a taxonomy

A taxonomy is not a miracle cure

sidknee23

There is a purpose and an order

They aid us in structure and design that• Saves Customer’s Time • Builds Trust and Credibility• Develops Authority• Improves People’s Lives Online

InventoryAudit AnalysisDecision

The battle for IA has just begun

We still need to educate • Clients• Project managers• Co-workers• Users• Students

Finding ways to educate

• Don’t be afraid of repeating yourself• Carry samples• Do it where people can see it• Volunteer• Mentor• Meet Up

Finding people near & far

• Kerry-Anne Giloway @kerry_anne• Rahel Bailie @rahelab• Jonathan Colman @jcolman• Content Insight @content_insight • Kristina Halvorson @halvorson• Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane• LinkedIN, Google Groups

Thank you!

Questions?