In the support & maintenance division, edits are often purely functional and extremely urgent.  One thing I try to do with my clients is suggest small improvements above and beyond the standard maintenance requests, and emphasize how easy it is to keep the request affordable.  Almost everyone wants to “do it right,” but clients often have a boss ready to veto 30 hours to redesign and rebuild the entire products section.  However, customers may not realize that significant improvements can be made despite limited time and budget:

• 1-2 hours for an information architect look at a problematic page that frequently elicit customer complaints
• ½ hour for a copywriter to punch up the language on a flat homepage promotion
• 2-3 hours for a designer to restyle a confusing chart so that users can get critical product information “at a glance”
• 3-4 hours for a developer to automate a task that normally takes the client 1-2 hours to accomplish using a content management system (CMS) several times weekly
• 15 minutes to create a Google Analytics account and add the code to a landing page to make sure a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign is effective

Affordable suggestions like these introduce clients to expertise that normally only get tapped during large-scale projects. They also remind them that we really do have their best interest in mind and that we are as frustrated by the “bubble gum and duct tape” add-ons to their website as they are. It’s important for everyone to remember that while a full-scale website redesign might not be possible during tough times, these “small victories” in key places (i.e., where customers often identify difficulty) can happen on a regular basis, and often have a big impact. The focus and frequency of these changes can draw attention to improvements that might have otherwise gotten lost during an overwhelming, large-scale redesign, and show users that your company strives to be responsive.  Innovation, intelligence, and creativity in small doses can still be enough to inspire customer involvement and loyalty.

1.  Be brief.

Most visitors come to your website to accomplish a specific task, and they do not want to spend a lot of time reading irrelevant copy. Write clearly, concisely, and assertively. Use better nouns and fewer adjectives.

2.  Make your content easy to scan.

To help impatient or hurried readers grasp what you’re trying to say, make your page easy to scan by breaking long copy into paragraphs of 150 to 200 words each, defined by meaningful subheadings (and don’t try to be cute or clever). The goal is to tell the essence of the story using only the subheadings, supported by the body copy.

Bulleted lists and the judicious use of bolded text can help readers scan the content.  Be sure bolding does not conflict with established standards for links and visited links.

3.  Use the inverted pyramid.

The “inverted pyramid” format presents a summary at the beginning of a story with subsequent paragraphs revealing more detail. It’s used in news and press releases to help readers grasp the important idea by reading the first paragraph. The readers can then decide whether the topic is of sufficient interest for them to read further.

4.  Use keywords to stay on topic.

Focusing on keywords and phrases can help you stay “on topic” and use terms that customers care about. If the list of keywords you want to include in the page copy is excessively long or diverse, consider creating separate pages. Using keywords and phrases in standard HTML headlines and subheadings (H1, H2, etc.) gives added weight in search engine rankings and makes the page easier to scan (see number 2).

5.  Consider page length.

To scroll or not to scroll? It depends on the page level and depth of information. On higher-level pages, which tend to guide users to more detailed pages, less scrolling is usually better. At the lower-level detail pages with longer content, assume the reader is interested in the subject matter. Scrolling is preferable to breaking the content into multiple pages.

6.  Avoid excessive cross-linking.

Too many highlighted links can distract the reader and clutter your content with multicolored links. Avoid linking to pages that are not related to the main topic.  If you want to cross-sell, make it clear that you are leading the reader to a different topic, for example, “You may also be interested in …”

7.  Use technical terms consistently.

Establish a guide to branded terms and industry terms and use them correctly and consistently to avoid confusion. Define any terms, abbreviations, and acronyms that are not familiar to the reader. If you use acronyms to save space, be sure to spell out the full name the first time it appears on each page.

8.  Write for an international audience.

Remember that your audience may come from non-English speaking countries. Keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Always include the country in mailing addresses, and format it appropriately.
• Do not refer to toll-free telephone numbers that cannot be accessed internationally; make sure you provide a means of making contact from outside your country.
• Avoid references to politics, race, nationality, religion, or lifestyle.
• Do not use the term “domestic” to refer to your local country, or “foreign” to refer to the rest of the world.
• Avoid cultural references, e.g., “American spirit,” or “German engineering.”
• Avoid abbreviations; they rarely translate correctly.
• Avoid jargon, slang, and idioms that are meaningless to other nationalities.
• For measurements, include both metric and American units if possible.
• Do not use #, `, or “to indicate pound, foot, or inch in American measurements.

9.  Avoid overly self-referential copy.

It’s good to imagine your web page as a “first date.” Limit “we” or “our” statements to a bare minimum (keep count).  Companies that talk about themselves a lot are often compensating for a lack of insight into what their customers want and need.

10. Don’t forget the call to action.

It’s amazing how many times this is forgotten. Most people come to your website to accomplish a task, so be sure to give them something to do. Better yet, give them a range of choices. Don’t rely on the general “Contact Us” link on every web page.

Here’s a quick look at other people’s briefs. No jokes, please.

The Creative Brief
Ad agencies produce a Creative Brief at the earliest possible point in the project. The brief serves as an important internal document that helps the agency’s account teams and creative teams work together more effectively. It’s important to note that the creative brief doesn’t propose any creative approaches. In fact, the creative team is usually not involved in the drafting of the creative brief. The purpose of the creative brief is to give the creative team a reference point for developing a solution.

The Organizational Brief
I came across this post recently and thought it offered a lot of valuable insight. The author, MJ Braide, has developed (and trademarked) the Organizational Brief as a method for companies to align their organizations to their brand strategies. A website redesign can trigger a lot of questions about an organization’s core business models, product lines, and go-to-market strategies. This is especially true for companies that have experienced a recent merger or acquisition: the pressure is on to upgrade the website, even if the organization is still be taking shape (or shaking out).

The Experience Brief
Braide follows up with another good post about the Experience Brief as a tool for effective brand management. Like a Creative Brief, an Experience Brief can foster a better working relationship between client, agency, and team members. In our business, I think a tool like this could help our clients think in terms of “designing a user experience” rather than “designing a website.”

We can tailor an Experience Brief to inform all aspects of Experience Design, including Information Architecture, Content Strategy, User Research, Nomenclature, Visual Design, and Application Design. Because so many disciplines are involved in designing the user experience, there has to be a common point of reference for everyone. Having a brief in hand can prevent the gradual drift away from the original goals as individual interpretations and small variations build one upon the other.

Brand Agencies (and consultants like Braide) usually equate “User Experience” with “Brand Experience” and rely on brand attributes and messaging to define the user experience. From the Interbrand Brand Glossary:

Experience: This is when consumers have been exposed to various brand attributes. A successful brand experience happens with exposure to a brand’s most positive aspects, and this can happen in a store, through advertising and websites, or through word of mouth. The critical aspect is to have the experience match or exceed the customer’s expectations based on promises made in communications.

Messages set expectations; content satisfies expectations. At a strategic level, the Experience Brief balances the user’s needs and expectations with the company’s messages and brand attributes. It also provides a tactical framework for making decisions about content, navigation, and design at every phase of the project and serves as a benchmark for evaluating the outcome.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise if a client grows impatient during the discovery phase of a project. To make matters worse, we may ask questions that reveal shortcomings in the client’s strategy or expose internal rifts between players and organizations. Even if the client understands the need to revisit the strategy or organization, he or she may have a sense of moving backward, not forward.

Getting the story behind the RFQ can help us learn more about the client’s needs and objectives before the discovery process, and help us ask better questions about the purpose of the website and the content that will serve that purpose.

Here are some questions I’d ask:

How long has the RFQ been in development?

The answer (a few days, a few weeks, or a few months) could indicate the degrees of urgency and difficulty in putting the RFQ together.

Were there any organizational/business model changes that factored into the RFQ?

In the event of an organizational change, a merger or acquisition, or shift in the market dynamics, the company website is likely to be seen as a key indicator of a stable transition by customers, shareholders, press, and employees. That makes it a priority project even if all the pieces are not in place or details worked out.

Depending on the answer to the first question, a short timeframe may indicate that the company is under pressure to revise their site; a long timeframe could signal difficulty and frustration in getting all the players (old and new) to agree on the details of the redesign. In either case, there may be lingering confusion on the client side regarding project ownership, content ownership, and internal reviews.

Who has had direct input into the RFQ?

Many RFQs list the reviewers and approvers that will be involved during the project. There may be a one-to-one correlation between that list and those involved in shaping the RFQ. Learn about any “uninvolved” reviewers (their roles and responsibilities) and how, and when, they will be brought in to comment—they could be key to staying on track. If there has been a merger, ask who is “new,” either to the company or to the role. Your direct client may still be learning about some stakeholders.

The bottom line is to be sensitive to our client’s position and the effort involved in putting together the RFQ. Organizational change can add a level of stress and uncertainty to a project—no matter how solid the RFQ may seem. Asking some background questions and letting the client talk at length about the circumstances behind the RFQ can get the project—and the relationship—off on the right foot.

]]> http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/content-strategy-the-story-behind-the-rfq/feed/ 0 http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/content-strategy-popping-the-question/ http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/content-strategy-popping-the-question/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:32:23 +0000 11 Luke Michel http://blog.pixelmedia.com/?p=18 I admit it: I’m not much for theories and strategies about content. I’m inclined to grab a shovel and start digging in right off the bat. So I’m sometimes tongue-tied when I try to explain what a content strategist actually does.

Unlike IA, content strategists don’t have a consistent set of practices and deliverables. We don’t produce site maps, or organizational models, or clickable wireframes, or any of that cool stuff. And we don’t create beautiful page layouts that finally—finally—look like a real website.

But—Lo!—I think I’ve found the answer.

The Content Strategist’s job is to ask a simple question: “What’s the point?”

We have to ask it about the website itself. We have to ask it about every bit of content. We have to ask it throughout the project. We have to ask it without looking like we don’t know what’s happening. And we have to ask it in such a way that our clients and colleagues don’t take offense.

Or perhaps we shouldn’t worry if anyone takes offense. “What’s the point?” isn’t a good question—it’s a great question. Maybe the only question.

OK, OK. Here’s my point: Content = Purpose

Most clients are quite accommodating when we ask for content. We usually get a lot more that we ask for—and a lot less of what we actually need. If we don’t ask the question, “What’s the point?”at the very beginning, it’s a lot harder (and time consuming and expensive) to extract the content that serves the purpose.

So we should stop asking FOR the content and start asking ABOUT the content. Right after we pop the big question.

Join the discussion: What’s the difference between “content” and “information?”

What’s the difference between ‘information” and “content?”

I wasn’t looking for answers, just ideas and maybe a spirited discussion. Heck, the best I could do was. “I know it when I see it.” Check out some of the responses from the whiteboard.

• You can have “too much information” but you can never have too much content.
• To be information, you add value. To be content, you are happy.
• Good content is information:
  Data = 48°, 52°, 67°, 55°, 58°
  Information = 67°F
  Knowledge = “67°F is warm. I’ll wear shorts.”
  Wisdom = “However, I’m going to work, and shorts aren’t allowed there.”
• Content is information that is contained.
• Information = “short-twitch muscles” = power
  Content = “long-twitch muscles” = endurance
• Content is contextually appropriate information.

I posed the question when I heard the two terms used in close proximity and sometimes interchangeably. More questions followed. How does my role as Content Strategist intersect with that of the Information Architect? Does the IA turn content into information? Do I turn information into content? Why should a client pay for a Content Strategist and an Information Architect?

Is the distinction important? If not, why make the distinction?

Maybe I’m veering into Zen koan territory here, but I’d love to get perspectives from everyone who handles content—and that’s a lot of people. While there are several disciplines associated with Information (e.g., Information Architect, Information Designer, Information Analyst), there are few identified with Content. Is Content Strategy an emerging field, a clever re-naming of another discipline, or a made-up term?

Put another way: Everyone agrees that content is king. The Big Kahuna. The Holy Grail. But there seems to be some uncertainty as to what it is, where it comes from, and who is responsible for it.

And there has to be a better answer than, “I know it when I see it.”

]]> http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/information-and-content-whats-the-difference/feed/ 1 http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/boston-based-law-firm-motions-for-a-more-personable-dynamic-website/ http://www.pixelmedia.com/blog/boston-based-law-firm-motions-for-a-more-personable-dynamic-website/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:45:24 +0000 1 PixelMEDIA http://blog.pixelmedia.com/?p=999 Business Challenge
Burns & Levinson LLP is a leading law firm headquartered in Boston with additional offices in Washington, D.C. and Providence, RI. Specializing in corporate litigation, intellectual property rights, real estate services, and private client services, the firm takes a unique approach to business by focusing on its people more than its might. It drives success through long-term client relationships and individual entrepreneurship. As such, it required a website that captured this spirit and invited visitors to learn about the firm through navigable content, rich photography, and intuitive interactive design.

PixelMEDIA Solution
To get a real feel for Burns & Levinson—its people, practices, and philosophy—PixelMEDIA worked closely with the firm conducting a series of workshops, brainstorms, and interviews. PixelMEDIA’s User Experience and Creative Services teams spent time getting to know key principles who personified the firm’s deep-rooted commitment to client service. The knowledge gained from these sessions helped PixelMEDIA develop a professional, yet welcoming website that projects both credibility and partnership. Balancing custom photography and animation with revealing testimonials and rich content, the new site extends a warm, inviting presence to existing and prospective clients.

On the back end, PixelMEDIA built powerful, data-driven Flash® tools and DHTML scrolling menus of attorneys and their practices, which are easily scalable to support a growing firm. Custom tools enable Burns & Levinson content owners to update the site quickly and efficiently.

The team at PixelMEDIA really listened to us to help us develop a great product. It really shows the firm’s personality. —Angeline Mistretta, Director of Marketing, Burns & Levinson LLP

The Impact
The Burns & Levinson website has quickly become a popular site for a wide range of visitors. The site was a 2006 MITX award finalist in the Professional Services category, after having already won the Legal Marketing Association’s award for best website for a mid-sized law firm.

More importantly, the website meets several targeted objectives:

• Effectively communicates the firm’s breadth of services
• Reinforces the firm’s personable, “client-first” approach to business
• Scales seamlessly to support new areas of expertise in a growing firm
• Offers helpful tools to connect visitors with attorneys

For this initiative, PixelMEDIA provided

• User experience strategy and design
• Content strategy and messaging architecture
• Information architecture
• Custom photography and visual design
• Site design and development
• Custom application development and content management tools
• Search engine strategy