Designing Content or, how web designers can stop worrying and learn to love content strategy Sophie Dennis ● @sophiedennis web design and development consultants
Jan 27, 2015
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 [email protected]
twitter@sophiedennis
zer.ply/sophiedennis
linkedin/in/sophiedennis
www.cayenne.co.uk