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David More's presentation to UX Australia 2009 25 August 2009; Canberra, Australia
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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
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