Uxau09 More Content Quality B

Design rationale, content quality and UX integrity

David More

This talk is about content quality

How it contributes to quality of user experience

What IA & UX professionals can do to improve it

Joe Shlabotnik

Relevance

Accuracy

Clarity

Consistency

Freshness

Appropriate detail

Familiar terminology

The right voice

Findability

Navigation

Accessibility

Learnability

Usability

Credibility

Engagement

Loyalty

What would encourage increased internet use?

Preferred channel of contact with governmentInternet Telephone In-person Mail

Proportion of people who prefer this channel

% % % %

44 34 16 2

Areas to be addressed for each group

Usability 28 18 16 19

Better content and features

12 9 7 11

Interacting with Government: Australians’ use and satisfaction with e-government services (AGIMO, December 2008), Figure 68

Usability

Better content and features

Areas to be addressed 19.78%

9.68%

Total

Roland Huziaker

If UX is the takeaway, who’s doing the cooking?

Not whoever who wrote the menu

Or designed the decor

The website team provides the service

Content owners run the kitchen

Subject-matter experts prepare the food.

Content ownersare easily overlooked, yet their support is often critical to making a new site structure work, and to keeping it working long after the IA specialist has left the scene.

Content ownersare the managers responsible for policy success and effective action. They want results. Under budget.

They’re not visionaries, designers, communicators, information strategists, social media evangelists, enterprise architects, or whatever.

activity scenarios

business analysis card sorting content review ethnography

industry standards

personas search logs

thesaurus usability priorities

Content model

Controlled

vocabulary

Topic structure

Navigation design

SEO keywords

Case study: website for a large government agency

Case study: website for a large government agency

Project goals were endorsed

at top level

Project goals were endorsed

at top level

Little practical

engagement lower down

Little practical

engagement lower down

Agency was a cluster of separate divisions

Agency was a cluster of separate divisions

Silo managers were used to having the last word

Silo managers were used to having the last word

Our problem: to drill down to

the decision makers

Our problem: to drill down to

the decision makers

Our problem: to drill down to the decision makers

Our problem: to drill down to the decision makers

We needed an appropriate strategy for stakeholder engagement

We needed an appropriate strategy for stakeholder engagement

When content owners come…We give them the activity scenarios that drive the IA

We give them the activity scenarios that drive the IA

Ask them to walk through the tasks in the scenarios

Ask them to walk through the tasks in the scenarios

Comment on the grouping, ordering & terminology

Comment on the grouping, ordering & terminology

Tell us what’s missing or wrong or about to change

Tell us what’s missing or wrong or about to change

Decide what must be written, updated or archived

Decide what must be written, updated or archived

Discuss their business goals & online strategy

Discuss their business goals & online strategy

A.Aruninta

Discussions are often intense.

Do…Get high-level buy-in to the process

Listen to the content owners

Get people writing comments

Pass on user feedback

Keep track of who says what

Make appointments (you’ll be busy)

Get local help

No…Telling people what they ought to do

Explaining or defending the IA

Pushing your process

Changing the IA on the spot

Becoming the ‘secretary’

Forgetting the users

Getting tired & hungry

So…You have practical buy-in…

...early enough to make success possible

in time to head off problems

You’ve improved the quality of the IA, too

You’ve made useful contacts.

Someone has to write this stuff

Joe Shlabotnik

Plan A: find an all-rounder who:Knows their stuff

Has time to write

Knows what to write, for whom

Can write for the Web

Plan B: build a team

Plan C: work with available subject-matter experts

Plan A: find a competent all-rounder

Plan B: build a well-rounded team

increase capability & confidence

reduce the skill & effort required

Plan C: make the best of what we’ve got

Reduce the skill & effort required

Recipe for web authors

Increase capability & confidenceProvide better knowledge &

instructions

Give encouragement & support

Skills will improve with experience

Simplify the tasks involved

Provide useful tools & processes

Case study: website for a major financial institution

Case study: website for a major financial institution

Content is extremely technical

Content is extremely technical

Over 50 specialists with

tight focus on their own areas

Over 50 specialists with

tight focus on their own areas

Our problem: to get useful

content from non-professional

authors

Our problem: to get useful

content from non-professional

authors

No budget for professional writers or editors

No budget for professional writers or editors

Page Brief

Uses information from the design stage to

deliver practical content specifications to subject-matter experts so

they can produce useful web content

(even if they’re not natural communicators).

Specifications

What do we know about a page before it’s written?What it’s about

Who it’s for

What those people will use it for

What we want them to do

What they probably know already

How much detail to include

What other content it can link to

What layout the page will have

What actions we want to enable

Instructions

What do we know about how to write it?How to write for the web

Marketing & communications strategies

Branding guidelines

Editorial style guide

Experience from feedback & research so far

What’s in a Page Brief?

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

What’s in a Page Brief?

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

Specification

s for each

page

Key questions

& with

examples

Practical, not

theoretical

Specification

s for each

page

Key questions

& with

examples

Practical, not

theoretical

What’s in a Page Brief?

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

Specification

s for each

page

Key questions

& with

examples

Practical, not

theoretical

Specification

s for each

page

Key questions

& with

examples

Practical, not

theoretical

Guidelines

on writing

With checklists

and usage

Emphasising

verbal

expression

Guidelines

on writing

With checklists

and usage

Emphasising

verbal

expression

What’s in a Page Brief?

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

What we

want the SME to

do

Their role

Their tasks

A deadline

Specification

s for each

page

Key questions

& with

examples

Practical, not

theoretical

Specification

s for each

page

Key questions

& with

examples

Practical, not

theoretical

Guidelines

on writing

With checklists

and usage

Emphasising

verbal

expression

Guidelines

on writing

With checklists

and usage

Emphasising

verbal

expression

Support

arrangement

sBuddies and

mentoring

Put confidence

before ‘quality’

Support

arrangement

sBuddies and

mentoring

Put confidence

before ‘quality’

Do…Smooth the path

Address with respect

Inspire confidence

Focus on the opportunity for the SME

Stay practical

Stay matter-of-fact

No…Talking down

Standards, criteria or judgements

Pushing your values

Abstract stuff

‘Nice-to-have-s’

Begging for favours

So…We create structures and relationships

for...

Ongoing collaboration

Constructive criticism

Continuous improvement

Realistic planning

Content quality is vital to quality of user experience

Engaging content owners is possible, practical, and really pays offIncluding subject experts in the web team is a logical step that promotes ongoing collaboration and improvement

Design rationale, content quality and UX integrity

David More@david_more

www.optimalexperience.com

With thanks toAlinta ThortonElisa BondChris RannStephen Cox