UX : How to come up with a content strategy without getting slammed

Every now and then you come across some words of wisdom or questions so well framed that it is just

stunning. One can only say. YES!!

I have been immersed in UX land of late and the one thing that strikes me is the sheer volume of information about UX out in the wild. Don’t get me wrong, much of what I have found is good, albeit communicated in a less than exhilarating manner. The bigger challenge for me arises more when trying to navigate all this information and come up with a UX strategy that can be succinctly communicated. There are just so many facets to this gem. It can be downright overwhelming to try and distill down the essence of certain aspects UX without resorting to jargon. The more you know, it can be surprisingly difficult to not use jargon, and the irony of it all, is that the more you use jargon in order to be succinct, the less you tend you communicate the meaning of that jargon. Ugh!  Anyway I came across this little book called “The Back of the Napkin: Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures” by Dan Roam. Now I love drawing and comics as a way to communicate so my interest in this little book should come as no surprise. In the introduction he explains how to create a communications orientated web site and I think his insights are relevant to any content strategy for a website. The questions asked are just so on the mark that I think it needs repeating. In a nutshell here are the questions you need to answer:

Content: What do you want people to know

Function: What do you want people to be able to do

Brand: What do you want people to remember

I love this for its clarity and people centered approach, especially the brand piece. It strikes to the heart of what we want in a website. We want people to remember that we are here and what we do. The second part is having clarity in what we want them to do when they come here. And that is it. Don’t you love it?

-Mitch Harpur