what are words for?

What Are Words For?A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO CONTENT & LANGUAGE ONLINE

Erika Hall@mulegirl

#wordsfor

Introduction

Who I amWhat I’m Talking About

Why It Matters

CriticalIntentional Effective

The Old Days

1998

“Delightfully Hostile”—The New Yorker

Let Go Take Charge Work Together

Letting Go

Baggage

Baggage

Content is text.

Baggage

Content isn’t text.

Baggage

Content isn’t text. Anyone

can write.

Baggage

Anyone can write.

Content isn’t text.

The Web is a

publication.

Baggage

Anyone can write.

Content isn’t text.

The * is a

publication.

“Content Creation”

WritingComposingIllustrating

FilmingCommenting

Curating

“Content Consumption”

ReadingViewing

WatchingListeningExploring

“Be specific.”—William Strunk

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Anyone can write

$399

The Writer’s Tool The Designer’s Tool

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“People rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page.”

—Jakob Nielson, 1997

“People don’t read on the web.”

Idiocracy (2006)

I hate orange.

Publishing?

Interconnected and complex.

“Murder your darlings.”—Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

Cambridge Lecturer (among other things)

The Result

Content Strategists Alone in the Wasteland

“No other part of a UX project necessarily involves the implementation of long-term organizational practices.”

- Erin Kissane

Tending the Content

Thinking of Content Over Context

Business problem?

Pour some content on it.

Taking Charge

Content Strategy

Brand Strategy

Business Goals

Product Quality

“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.”

— George Orwell

Working Together

— Jason Fried Getting Real, 37 Signals

Mind Your Ps & Qs

PurposeProcess

ProblemsPractice

QuestionsQuality

Purpose What is the goal Process How is that done Practice What do you bring to it Problems What is getting in your way

Questions What to ask Quality What to fight for

Purpose Informing An informational website Enabling A tool/application Pursuading A marketing website Vending An online store

ResearchStrategyDesign

Implementation

Requirements GatheringStrategy Definition

Voice,Tone, & StructureCopywritingGovernance

Business Process Research

Competitive Analysis

Brand Attributes

Style Guidelines

Sample Content

Usability Testing & Results

Workflow Recommendations

Personas

Content Map

Nomenclature

Stakeholder Research

Wireframes

Will neglecting design confuse your users?Visual

Designer WriterInteraction

DesignerInformation

ArchitectDesign

Strategist

User Experience Design Roles

Discovery Concept Design Maintenance

DesignStrategist

Business Process ResearchCompetitive AnalysisPersonas

InformationArchitect Workflow Recommendations Wireframes

Nomenclature

Stakeholder Research

Usability Testing& Results

Writer Style GuidelinesContent MapVoice & Tone

VisualDesigner Brand Attributes Style Guidelines

Meet the Meerkat

Meet the MeerkatSuricata suricatta

Be the Meerkat

Be the MeerkatA group of meerkats is called a“mob”, “gang” or “clan”.

SCOPE CREEP!

WAFFLING!

STRATEGY SHIFT!

Common Pitfalls1. Poorly Defined Goals

2. Lack of Process3. Subjectivity

In Conclusion

Strategy is Leadership

It doesn’t matter how good the wine is.

What “content” means, how to handle it, and who should be doing what follows from the WHY.

It is very different in all of these contexts.

Start from the big why

Be specific about the what

Clarify goals and roles

Stick to your story

Be open to change

Thank You!

Erika Hall @mulegirl | erika@muledesign.com