Presentation: Creating an effective content team

I finally made some time to play around with Prezi, and I used it to clarify my thoughts about the roles and responsibilities necessary in an effective content team.

Have a look and let me know what you think. It's my first attempt at Prezi, so I'd love to hear your comments about that. And, of course, your thoughts on the content itself.

To view the full-screen version of this presentation, click the forward arrow once, and then from the More menu in the bottom right corner, choose Fullscreen.

Creating an Effective Content Team on Prezi

User-centred design and its process

Editor's note: This is the second in a 12-part series by Theresa Putkey that discusses the intersection of content strategy and user-centred design.
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In the last post, Integrating Usability & Content Strategy: Series Kickoff, we briefly discussed what usability or user-centred design is. This post, the second in a series of posts, will give you an introduction to user-centred design and the process for approaching a user-centred design project. 

My approach is to educate those who don’t know a lot about the practice.

Clarify roles
When talking about usability, people can refer to it by many different names: usability, user-centred design (UX), user-experience design. In these posts, I use the words interchangeably and abbreviate the term with “UX”.

Those who work in UX may be known as information architects, interaction designers, visual designers, usability engineers, user-experience designers, user-experience architects, business analysts, user researchers, and content strategists. Wow, I’ve really lumped a big portion of roles into this one area. It’s important to think about what you need on the project and then find the right UX team with the right strengths. It can be confusing, but just as there are different construction contractors who focus on different types of buildings, so there are different UX experts who have different focuses.

Essentially, different roles can fulfill UX needs, depending on what you need. For example, if you need an interactive web application with some visual design, you might choose an interaction designer who can use Photoshop. If you have a content heavy site that needs some refreshing and an information layout, you might choose an information architect. If you have a content heavy site that just isn't meeting your objectives, a content strategist may be the right choice. Many UX professionals have multiple skill-sets, so you can cover multiple roles with a few people.
 
UX: One Part of an Overall Project
When talking about user-centred design, it’s important to know that this is a portion of a larger project. For example, a software company is trying to build a software product. There are a lot of stakeholders in this process and a lot of tasks. If we look at the project schedule, it would have such tasks as building a business case, doing market research, figuring out the business requirements, planning the features, doing user research and interface design, as well as lining up the developers, quality assurance, technical documentation, technical support, and sales.

Given all the tasks needed to product such a product, you can see that UX is one part of the overall puzzle. As a UX expert, it actually took me a long time to realize that my expert advice wasn’t the only aspect of the project!

The main differentiator is that the UX expert represents the user interests. In all of the tasks for producing a product, it's easy to overlook the user. While the user perspective may be considered, the project team has a lot of interests to balance. The UX expert represents the user interests throughout the project and has specialized experience or training to help them effectively understand and communicate user needs.

It can work in either a “waterfall” software development method or in an Agile environment. UX can make all aspects of the development process easier and it can also be a bottleneck!

UX: What's It Good For? 
One of the best books I’ve read that presents the business value of UX is “Built for Use: Driving Profitability Through User Experience.” It was published in 2002, but I think everyone should read it. I’ll give you one quote:

“Successful user experiences deliver a firm’s value proposition--the brand promise--to customers in the most effective and appropriate way. Usability is now linked to revenues--and profits--as never before: If customers can’t engage in the full brand experience because of usability issues, the value proposition is diminished in the customers’ mind.” (Donoghue, page xviii.)

In other words, the purpose of UX is to ensure people have a good experience with the developed product or service and to continue to refine the experience, from a user perspective.

All Well And Good, You Say, But What’s The Process?
User-centred design can take many forms, but there are some agreed-upon approaches. One of my favourite sites for introducing people to UX is the Usability.gov site. This site has a great explanation of the process and the tasks involved. Instead of reiterating process again here, I'm just going to let you check it out there. But here's one quote to whet your appetite! 

“To create a user-centered Web site you must think about the needs of your users throughout each step in the development of your site, including:

•  planning your site 
• planning your site 
• collecting data from users 
• developing prototypes 
• writing content  
• conducting usability testing with users

The Usability.gov site doesn't specifically mention content strategy, since it's a relatively new specialty. On the Design a New Site page, a content strategist would typically be responsible for the content inventory, card sorting, and writing for the web portions. But a content strategist will also get involved wherever there are content considerations.
 
Once you look at this site, you can start searching the web for more information. I've provided some links at the bottom of this article to get you started.


Problems
I might have gone out on a limb earlier by saying there are “agreed-upon” approaches. The UX field is still “gelling” and establishing itself as a valuable service to an organization. As I mentioned, there are numerous roles able to represent the user interests on a project. When hiring a UX expert on a project, make sure you know what skills you need and that this person fits the bill.

There are almost as many UX job descriptions as there are usability experts. When thinking of becoming a UX expert (or if you are looking for a focus), market to your strengths. If you like information organization, move towards information architecture and content strategy. If you like design, move towards interaction design and visual design. If you like analysis, move towards business analysis.

Resources for Learning More
When I was first learning about usability, I read “Built for Use,” a great book on the business value of user-centred design. But there are a bunch of resources! Here are some of my favourites:

• Books: Keep On Learning
• Blogs: 10 UX Blogs You Should Be Reading  

Websites: 

• Use It  
• User Interface Engineering  
• Information Architecture Institute 
• Interaction Design  
• UX Matters 
• UX Magazine

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About the Author
 
Theresa Putkey is an information architect consultant living in Vancouver, BC. With a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, she focuses on integrating user needs into website and software design projects. She's currently doing her online Masters of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University. You can find out more about Theresa at www.keypointe.ca, or follow her on twitter @tputkey.

Integrating Usability & Content Strategy: Series Kickoff

Editor's note: I'm excited to present the first in a 12-part series by Theresa Putkey. Once a month, Theresa will share her perspectives on usability and information architecture to help us see why they're so important to content strategy. I hope this will start some conversations about how to integrate these disciplines to create even better solutions for businesses and end-users. Please add your thoughts as comments below. ___________________________________________________________________

In the last 10 years, we’ve heard a lot of talk about usability and user-centred design. Given that the idea has been around for a while now, you’d think that people would have a good idea of what usability is. Not true! As a usability expert and user-centred designer, a lot of my work involves educating clients on the value and purpose of user-centred design and the tasks that go into making a usable technology product, such as a website, intranet,or mobile phone interface.

What is “usability” anyways?
User-centred design is a way of designing a product so that it meets the needs of those using it. Usability refers to how easy it is to actually use that product. 

When a company designs a product, it does so because it sees a business need for that product. However, there are many many details that go into making a product that are not answered by the business need that drives it. One way to answer these questions is to talk to the people who will be using it. This is where the “user” in “user-centred design” comes into play. We find the target product users and ask them what their current problems are, what would make their lives easier, observe them at work or play, and then create a design that integrates more seamlessly into their lives.  

If the product fulfills the business need and is easy-to-use, then the user will likely find this product more valuable. This person will use it more, recommend it to friends, and help contribute to the success of the product. But using a product isn’t always by choice. Sometimes employees in a company are required to use certain products, such as an intranet, to do their work. The faster they can access the information they need on the intranet, the more efficient and effective the employee will be. Usability improvements add to the company’s overall success. 
 
What does usability have to do with content strategy?
If people can’t find information or understand what they’ve found, then that content isn’t usable. User-centred design and usability testing helps you discover the information that your end user is looking for and how they want it delivered. It also helps you validate that your messages are being perceived in the way you want them to be, and highlights opportunities to improve.
 
This series
In this 12-part series, I hope to shine some light on usability and user-centred design. My approach is to educate those who don’t know a lot about the practice. In this series, I’ll go over:

• User-centred design and its process
• Information architecture
• Deliverables
• Kickoff, Collaboration & Reviews
• User interviews and personas
• Site maps
• Wireframes
• Taxonomy and metadata
• Usability testing
• Wrap up

Resources to get you started
Usability.gov has a great overview of the user-centred design process. Although I’m an expert in usability, I still refer to this site for information! You can also look at this article, “The Five Competencies of User Experience Design,” to give you a good understanding of the various roles in the usability arena. 
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About the Author
 
Theresa Putkey is an information architect consultant living in Vancouver, BC. With a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, she focuses on integrating user needs into website and software design projects. She's currently doing her online Masters of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University. You can find out more about Theresa at www.keypointe.ca, or follow her on twitter @tputkey.

Creating a Castle from Content Building Blocks

There are so many decisions that need to be made when creating content. To make that process efficient and effective, you need a system. Here's one of the easiest tricks I've found for wrestling messy content into shape: Think about all of the content-development decisions as building blocks. If you wanted to create a castle out of building blocks, you'd choose different blocks than if you wanted to build a truck. And if you wanted to build a bridge, you'd put the blocks together in a different way again. And so it is with content. You can pick and choose different elements (or building blocks) to use to create different effects, and to engage different audiences.

Trying to consider all of these elements whenever you create a new piece of content may seem daunting, but it really isn't. Your resources will dictate some choices, your audience some others. As you get used to making content decisions in this way, it builds a repeatable system that's efficient, and results in content that has both variety and consistency. The variety will keep your customers engaged and extend your reach, while the consistency will create a predictability which your customers will appreciate and learn to recognize. This reinforces your brand. You'll see patterns develop, and you'll learn that certain building blocks go together well and get good responses from your customer, and that other ones just don't.

Every company has different content requirements, but here are some of the building blocks that I typically think about. This is just a list. It's certainly not the list. Use it as a basis to brainstorm which building blocks are relevant within your organization and for your customers.

Content Goals

Stick to one primary goal for each piece of content. For example, the primary purpose of your content may be to:

• Engage
• Inform
• Educate
• Advise 
• Persuade 
• Inspire

Content Types
For instance, is your content essentially:

• An opinion
• An analysis
• A description
• An overview
• A how-to
• News
• A story
• Tips & tricks
• Wayfinding

Content Source
Where does, or should, the content come from?

• A dedicated content team
• Marketing
• Key contributors within your company
• Your executives
• Your subject matter experts
• Your staff
• Your customers
• The public

Content Voice
The voice of your content should be distinct and recognizable. Even an overall corporate voice is made up of a tapestry of individual voices. So, is a specific piece of content best served by the voice of:

• A specific individual
• The "company" voice, and if so does the tone vary based on purpose or different customer segments?
• Your customers
• The public

Content Topics
These are completely driven by your business, but you'll likely have different topics that you frequently speak about relating to your areas of expertise, your customers needs and motivations, and your community actions or involvement.

 

Content Format

This is all about how you're communicating your content. For instance, as a:

• Blog
• Video
• Webinar
• Article
• Image
• Diagram
• Interactive tool
• Checklist
• Interview
• Call-to-action
• Presentation
• Newsletter

Content Placement
Where is this content best published and presented? It could be:

• On your website. If so, where on your website?
• Your blog
• On YouTube, Facebook, or other social networking platform
• External to your company

Content Promotion
What's the best way or ways to promote your content? Through:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Website links
• Presentations

If this list seems overwhelming, then trim it down. Just try to think about the key decisions that are part of your content development process, and then create building blocks that you can keep coming back to. That way, you learn how to build a castle, or a truck, or a bridge, whenever you want to and your customers won't have to look at the pile of content on your site and wonder what the heck it's supposed to be.

Where does your organization fit in the content process maturity model?

Almost every organization creates content, but only a few value their content enough to invest in it. Which, of course, creates a Catch 22: Not valuing your content creates content of no value.

Where does your organization fit in this maturity model? And what are your excuses for not climbing higher up the quality-content ladder?

I’ve adapted the table below from JoAnn Hackos’s “Information Process Maturity Model”. If you’d like a more in-depth look at this model, or almost anything to do with document product and project management, I highly recommend her excellent book, Information Development: Managing Your Documentation Projects, Portfolio, and People.

Thanks for the inspiration, JoAnn!

(If the image below is too small to read, just click on it and then enlarge the image.)

How to add content activities to your UCD process

Are you part of a UCD or Customer Experience team that's recently had a eureka moment and realized that you need to pay attention to content? You know that quality content needs to be part of your process if you're ever going to create really great customer experiences, but what does that look like?

Here's a simple diagram that shows various content-related activities that can be done throughout the various project stages. Some of them reflect traditional UCD activities, just be sure to include a content component in each of them!