#digpen V - Designing Content: or how web designers can stop worrying and learn to love content strategy

Designing Contentor, how web designers canstop worrying and learn to lovecontent strategy

Sophie Dennis ● @sophiedennis

web design and development consultants

Content

Appropriate, compelling content is vital to any site’s effectiveness. Should you need assistance preparing content for your website, we provide a range of content development services including copy editing and proof-reading, creating complete site copy from scratch, and sourcing original photography and illustration. If you would be interested in these services, please get in touch to discuss your requirements and likely costs.

Cayenne Website Proposal Boilerplatec. April 2005

Main Heading

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enimad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi utaliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillumdolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Designing in the absence of content leads to bad design

10px Arial

What the designer saw?

“Content precedes design.

Design in the absence of content is not design,

it’s decoration.”

- Jeffrey Zeldman, 5 May 08

http://twitter.com/#!/zeldman/statuses/804159148

zeldman.comhttp://www.zeldman.com/2012/05/18/web-design-manifesto-2012/

not a project processa design process

“content first”

The Content Tragedy Life-Cycle

Design the site using “lorem ipsum”

Demand that the client supplies all the content before you start work

Give them a new content management system

Bully the client into hiring a copywriter

Pray the final content fits

Still waiting…

Is it really a technology problem?

Rinse, repeat

How I learned to stop worryingand love spreadsheets

How I learned to stop worryingabout the sitemap

Learn to love the Content Inventory / Audit“A Mind-Numbingly Detailed Odyssey Through Your Web Site” – Jeff Veenhttp://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/doing-content-inventory

Page Templates #FTWExample from Alpha.gov in Extracting the Content, Relly Annett-Baker http://24ways.org/2011/extracting-the-contentSee also Content Templates to the Rescue, Erin Kissane http://www.alistapart.com/articles/content-templates-to-the-rescue/

a Content Strategist is a

Managing Editor for your website

use smart deliverables toget to the content conversation

integrate

designing with content delivers both better design and better content

iterate

great user experiences need bothgreat content and great design

collaborate

Sophie Dennissophie@cayenne.co.uk

twitter@sophiedennis

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www.cayenne.co.uk