Your Customers Don't Care About Your Org Chart - Ray Gallon

RAY GALLONC U L T U R E C O M

Presentation © 2014 Ray Gallon@RayGallon

Your Customer Doesn’t Care About Your Org Chart

Holistic Content for the Digital Age

Member, Board of Directors



“EDIBLE!”

-Guide Michelin

What if a Restaurant Advertised itself like this?Diners don’t want edible They want delicious!

WE ARE ALL 100% RESPON

SIBLE FOR THE ENTIRE C

USTOMER

EXPERIENCE - WHEREVER

WE MAY BE IN THE ORG C

HART…

Customers don’t want usable

They want a great experience!

Presentation © 2014 Ray GallonThe Tran

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@TransformSoc@RayGallon

…Wherever We May Be in the Org Chart!

Marketing

Product Management

R&D

Support

Sales

It doesn’t matter if you’re from:

http://engagementstrategy.com/files/customer_journey.jpg

Management

Finance

Human

Resources

Pre-‐sales

Warehouse

management


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Product Development Silos

Inte

ract

ion

Des

ign

Mar

keti

ng

Trai

ning

Sup

port

/Ser

vice

Pro

duct

Mgm

t

Tech

nica

l D

ocum

enta

tion

http://www.wired.com/insights/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/silo_6601.jpg

Adapted from Noz Urbina

Wait’ll you see

my docs - they are

soo cool!

MY interfaces

really help the user We’ve just done a

great marketing site We’ve just done a

great training siteWe’ve just done a

great support site

I know what my

customers need

I’ve

got

a un

ifie

d co

nten

t st

rate

gy a

nd y

ou d

on’t

! :p

I’ve

got

stru

ctur

ed

cont

ent

man

agem

ent

Visi

t ou

r

prod

uct

univ

ersi

ty

Gre

at F

AQ

’s h

ere

- no

nee

d to

cal

l

I’m t

he e

xper

t

Gre

at U

ser

Exp

erie

nce

here


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Product Development Silos

Inte

ract

ion

Des

ign

Mar

keti

ng

Trai

ning

Sup

port

/Ser

vice

Pro

duct

Mgm

t

Tech

nica

l D

ocum

enta

tion

http://www.wired.com/insights/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/silo_6601.jpg

Adapted from Noz Urbina

Your Customers Don’t Give A Fig About Your Org Chart!


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You can get to training

But you can’t get back!


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-Andrea Ames, IBM

“If my customers know this

content comes from the training

department, we’ve failed.”

Did I say something about breaking down silos?-RG



If You Aren’t Packaging, Ask Where You Go!

Where Does Content Come From, Mom?



If You Aren’t Packaging, Ask Where You Go!

Where Does Content Come From, Mom?

WORD PLAY

(NOT IN THE RECYCLING BIN)



Who paid for it?

What is the Real Source?What you get to see longest

Ecoembalajes España, S.A.(Ecoembes) is the non-‐profit

organisation that manages recovery and recycling of

plastic packaging, tins, and bricks (yellow container) and

paper/cardboard packaging (blue container) throughout

Spain.

(from their web site)



Technical? (what to recycle, what not)

Marketing? (promotes the Ecoembes alliance)

Lobbying? (seeks to avoid responsibility for anything but packaging)

Public Service? (Has logo of the Catalan government)

Duplicitous? (seems to promote recycling when it does the opposite)

So What Type of Information Is This?



Who Owns It?Tech Pubs – after all, it’s technical information, isn’t it?

Instructional Design – it’s training, isn’t it?

Multimedia Production – it’s a video!

Environment Department – essential part of our recycling message

Corporate Marketing – builds corporate image for Ecoembes consortium

Advertising Department – it’s a media spot

Are you ready to let others have a say in “your” content?

That’s real reuse!



Even objects become data

Content Curation becomes as important as Content Creation

Big Data is already the new mantra

Kanban information – just the right amount, at the right time, in the right place – will become primary

Information is becoming more fluid: we need to develop new methods for rapid, reliable (verified) change management

We Are Entering a Content Economy



What is true this morning, might not be this afternoon. As content workers we need to be more than agile to deal with this hallucinatory rate of change: We need to understand something about every aspect of the content life cycle.

Information can change in the time it takes to verify it



Increasing complexity: Compound messages with multiple authors Multichannel, mobile networking (always on, always with you) Multimedia and multi-‐discourse – not just text Plurilingualism in multicultural environments Plurality of interaction – Simultaneously or time shifted One-‐to-‐one / One-‐to-‐many Many-‐to-‐many / Many-‐to-‐one

Hallmarks of the Content Economy



Hallmarks of the Content EconomyNew kinds of human interactivity:

Multi-‐sensorial networks (sound, teletactility, teleolfaction)

Contextually embedded channels (wearables, implants)

Increased human connectivity with objects and mechanisms (internet of things, robotics)

New digital cultural spaces, new interpretations of reality (augmented reality, out-‐of-‐body perception, trans-‐species)



The fact of this content economy means…

…better to know how to get information fast,

and connect it to other information, than to have a head stuffed with facts or methodologies.

See: Connectivism, Stephen Downes Complex Systems, Yaneer Bar Yam



“A group of individuals whose collective behaviour is controlled by a single individual cannot behave in a more complex way than the individual who is exercising the control.”

–Yaneer Bar-‐Yam, President and Professor at the New England Complex Systems Institute


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betwe

en see

mingly

unrelat

ed thin

gs

Be a Change Agent

Make C

onnect

ions


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Why Silos MUST Come DownLateral thinking (Edward de Bono) – less limiting than

vertical structures

Similar to neuronal conceptual networks in the brain

Distributed control over collective behaviors – not hierarchical –

can result in larger complexity of the collective behavior than the

behavior of any single individual.

Networks require that coordination of the behavior of groups of

individuals are achieved by mutual influences.Source: Yaneer Bar-‐Yam, President and Professor at the New England Complex Systems Institute

http://covalentmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/silo1.jpg



Similar to a consultant, in multidisciplinary teams

A lot like a film producer and writer combined

Architect, strategist, marketer, researcher, writer, editor, project

manager…

Work across boundaries and silos

Break down our own preconceptions of where we belong…

Difficulty: will bosses, HR, etc. think “content consultant” when hiring?

Be prepared to coax, cajole, explain, sell, present, convince – for survival.

Our New Roles



Not content authoring or developing, but architected

Information Experience

Paradigm shift: from a content creation organisation to a

content generation & knowledge curation organisation

Not static release cycles, but continuous updating

Quality and metrics driven

Our New Jobs: Information Experience (IX) Adapted from Paul Perrotta, Juniper Networks



IX is Part of UX!Architected Information Experience (IX) provides:

User-‐focused content based on solutions

Language and voice appropriate to local culture

Empowered customers

Current, accurate information on demand

Dynamic delivery, innovative methods

Coherent with product profile



Cross-product solutions content

increases value of your product

portfolio

High-quality content is integral to

your product and your image

Reduction in service calls saves costs and improves customer satisfaction

IX is Part of UX!


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Technical and On-Board Content

Generates 50%+ of viable sales leads [Forbes]

Encompasses 55%+ of sales cycle time (vs. 21% spent talking to sales people) [Marketing Interactions]

2nd most important pre-‐sales activity for technology buyers [IDC]


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Technical and On-Board Content

The average shopper now uses 10.7 sources of information before making a purchase [Google research]

84% of respondents said that online feedback and research helped to influence their purchase decisions [Google research]


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Your Software IS Content

Changed Relationships

!

Different Contexts


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After they buy your product,

what is your customers’

main communications

channel with you?


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After they buy your product,

what is your customers’

main communications

channel with you?


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Is this a formula for customer loyalty?

What message does it give your customer about you?

THIS IS CONTENT!


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Is this a formula for customer loyalty?

What message does it give your customer about you?

THIS IS CONTENT!


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What If It Were Your Web Site?

It’s probably your fault, after all, we’re coders!Call technical support and mention!code 07X67P57912VTOXIRO0O021N74!and then maybe we’ll let you see our marketing pap so you can buy somethingPS the number for technical support is on the server that you can’t reach

“NOT EVEN EDIBLE!”

-Guide Michelin


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Users get angry when they waste their time looking for information that isn’t there!

you

http://longforsuccess.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/frustrated-300x200.jpg

Language, Emotions, Culture, Communicationhttp://xc0re.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Frustrated-User.jpg

they


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http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4VtodsGXX30/UQqMaBxKpmI/AAAAAAAAANM/7kqi4AOoB0w/s1600/Message+in+Bottle.jpg

Is your product on message?


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Would you ask your web programmer to write your web content?

Why do we force engineers to

create product content?



Coherent UX, Look and Feel?


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Coherent UX, Look and Feel

Presentation © 2014 Ray Gallon@TransformSocThe Tran

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Integrated Stakeholder Communities

Not user groups or user forums

Not a Facebook Page

Integrated communities

Everyone is a stakeholder:

Internal – everyone, 100%

External -‐ consultants, customers…


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Not Just Your Usual

Favorite Beta Testers!


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Primary objective:

Integrated, collaborative NETWORK

Creates value

Re-‐injects value into the system


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A Community Needs AnimationIn many Romance languages, the word for

“moderator” is “animator.”

Moderation implies damping.

Animation implies stimulation.

The animator helps guide the community toward

finding its common vision.

The animator is a catalyst to vectorise the

community.

http://www.coursepark.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/iStock_000007302205XSmall.jpg

https://tinylittlestars.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/feminista.jpg?w=560


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Capturing Value from yourIntegrated Stakeholder Community

Foster and encourage creativity.

Use your animators to en

able participants.

Encourage open structures that fa

cilitate a variety of interactions

Use your own judgment, but first listen carefully

Provide multiple venueshttp://www.ihdwal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/dslr-camera-lens-camera-photo-lens-vector-royalty-free-cliparts-vectors-and.jpg



Repurpose: Passive reuse not good enough

Value new content, think proactively how it can be reused

Include implied invitation to reuse in the content itself

Seed new purposes that may not now be known -‐ increase product value

Vectors of a Unified Content Strategy in a Content Economy



Facilitate porosity: The more information circulates, the more value it takes on

The reuse strategy belongs to the network, not the content creator

The more flow you let through, the more valuable you are (e-‐governance, transparency, etc.)

Vectors of a Unified Content Strategy in a Content Economy



Embrace Uncertainty!

Build networks -‐ empower your users Make connections -‐ empower your colleagues Expect them to surprise you -‐ in ways you’ll never suspect

Embrace

it!


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I’m Ray Gallon - The Humanist Nerd

20 years in technical communication with major companies such as G.E. Healthcare, IBM, etc.

Member, board of directors, Society for Technical Communication (STC)

Past president, STC France

Award-‐winning radio producer and journalist – CBC, NPR, France Culture, etc. and former programme manager, WNYC-‐FM, New York Public Radio

Research collaborator and principal, The Transformation Society, a new research and training institute in Barcelona, Spain

Owner/Consultant, Culturecom – specialist in business process improvement through communication

Member, Board of Directors


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What We Can Help You DoAnalyse needs and get a jump on complexity

Design and architect a content strategy, user information systems, communication

Work with you to capture value from your users

Workshops, webinars, or training to help manage and adapt to change

The Tran

sformation

Society

Presentation © 2014 Ray Gallon

@RayGallon@Transformsoc

Thank

Email: [email protected]

Google Plus: +Ray Gallon Twitter: @RayGallon

LinkedIn: Ray Gallon


Pass me your business card Let’s talk!

Portions of this presentation based on research by

the Transformation Society Research group.

Rant of a Humanist Nerd http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net

Blog:

http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net