Workshop — How to be clear: the elements of content design

Writing for Apps and Software

Jonathon Colman

twitter.com/jcolman linkedin.com/in/jcolman

How to be clear

How to be clear The elements of content design

Our agenda for today 10:30–11:55am Intro & core values 11:55-12:00pm Short break 12:00–1:30pm Discovering your voice 1:30-2:30pm Lunch on your own 2:30-3:15pm Exploring tones 3:15-4:15pm Designing content 4:15-4:30pm Conclusion and Q&A

Everyone have one of these?

What you should know straightaway • Bio breaks and toilets • Be gentle, stay curious, assume best intent • This is a judgment-free zone • Please take distractions elsewhere • Introverting is a-okay • Don’t worry about finishing everything • Oh, so you’re already an expert?

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How to be clear What do we mean by clear, anyway?

How to be clear Clarity could mean: • A lack of ambiguity • Total comprehensiveness • Ease of understanding or use • Sense-making • Consistency

How to be clear Clarity could mean: • A lack of ambiguity • Total comprehensiveness • Ease of understanding or use • Sense-making • Consistency • Structure and strategy

Jesse James Garrett’s 5 planes of UX © Jesse James Garret, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

Where content is seen and used © Jesse James Garret, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

Where content is modeled and built © Jesse James Garret, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

Where content is proposed and planned © Jesse James Garret, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

Where you’ll be practicing content design today © Jesse James Garret, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

Content design What do we mean by content design, anyway?

Content design “ Working from people’s intent and organizational goals to solve problems and create value by planning, structuring, writing, and designing content in interactive product experiences. ”

Content design “ Working from people’s intent and organizational goals to solve problems and create value by planning, structuring, writing, and improving content in interactive product experiences. ”

Content design Okay, then what do we mean by content?

Content design “ Content is the stuff I came here for. ”

LANGUAGE IS AN INTERFACE © Aer Lingus - https://www.aerlingus.com/support/contact-us/#/tab-0-ireland

LANGUAGE IS INFRASTRUCTURE © Aer Lingus - https://www.aerlingus.com/support/contact-us/#/tab-0-ireland

LANGUAGE IS DESIGN MATERIAL © Aer Lingus - https://www.aerlingus.com/support/contact-us/#/tab-0-ireland

Infrastructure for clarity Core Values

Infrastructure for clarity Voice Core Values

Infrastructure for clarity Tones of voice Voice Core Values

Infrastructure for clarity Words Tones of voice Voice Core Values

A strategy for results Words Tones of voice Voice Core Values } • Standards & styles • Controlled vocabulary • Flexibility for growth • Repeatable success • Ongoing improvement

A strategy for results Words Tones of voice Voice Core Values } • Standards & styles • Controlled vocabulary • Flexibility for growth • Repeatable success • Ongoing improvement These are the elements of content design

What we won’t cover today [an incomplete list] • Content strategy for the web • Defining specific terms and usage • Information architecture • Content modeling • Localization • Product or feature naming • Visual or interaction design

What we will cover today [also an incomplete list] • Discovering your core values • Defining an organization’s voice • Documenting tones of voice • Designing product content for an app

Conclusion

Additional resources • Content + UX resources http://bit.ly/Content-UX-Resources • Content design: planning, writing, and managing content https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/what-is-content-design • Voice, tone, and content guides http://voiceandtoneguides.webflow.io/ • Content strategists group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/contentstrategists/ • Content + UX Slack http://mjmetts.com/content-ux-slack/

Some books about content design • Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson • Strategic UX Writing by Torrey Podmajersky • Nicely Said by Kate Kiefer Lee and Nicole Fenton • Content Design by Sarah Richards • The Craft of Words (Part 1 & 2) by The Standardistas

Some events featuring content design • Confab http://confabevents.com/ • Information Architecture Summit http://iasummit.org/ • Euro IA https://euroia.org/ • Meetups https://www.meetup.com/

meetup.com/Dublin-Content-Design-Strategy-Meetup/

Any final questions?

THANK YOU