broad er i ssues, wh ile als o givi n g you new
tools to test out and explore.
CONTENT IS THE KINGDOM
At Blueca det (bluecadet . co m), th e digi tal
agenc y whe re I w ork, my c ol leagues a nd
I like to start at the very beginning: with
the content itsel f. We foc us t he re, be fore
any devices a nd their re lated assu mpt ion s
are even i n pl ay. It’s ha rd, mess y w ork ,
but how you conduct y ou r res earc h,
content str ategy a nd i n for m at ion
arc hitec t u r e s ets the st age for t he
steps to come.
We bsite proje c t s c a n often b e
derai le d by complex relationships
and dep endenc ies t h at e xtend pa st
the website you’re pla n n ing. Content
str ateg i st a nd A L i st Apar t e ditor-i n-
chief Sara Wachter-Boettcher (sarawb.
com) p oi nts out we’re not si mply dea l ing
wit h a website any mor e: “The problem
is th at we’ve moved f a r, fa r b e y ond the
idea of a website as a containe d, st atic
piece of a busi ness. The complexit y a nd
size and interconne c te d ness of most
org a n i s at ion s’ web foot pr i nt – sites,
apps, intra net s, web-based sy stem s
and so on – i s suc h t h at the web affe ct s
the j obs of eve ryone i n a n or ga n i s at i on.
The sy stems we desi g n ne e d more
ongoing management than ever before.”
Hav i ng t h i s i n mi nd when you conduct
your us er r esearc h a nd content strategy
wil l he lp you ident i fy p otential r i sk s
up-f r ont, while you’re sti ll de f in i ng the
scop e of the pr oje c t.
Content strateg y
W hen you’re e va luati ng content, ask
your s elf: Is t h i s content useful? Who
is this for? How often will it change?
Will it vary in format or length?
Deter mi ne how the content is going
to be produced. Does your client have
someone d e d ic ated to c r eat i ng a nd
maintaining content? Talk to them.
Ask t hem ho w the y work . You wa nt
to desig n a nd bu ild s omet h i ng that
they will be comfortable using, long
after you’re gone.
Author, editor and content strategi st
Nicole Fe nton (nicolefenton.com) e cho e d
th i s conce r n when I a sk e d her ab out
common pain points she’s encountered
Reading list There are plenty of great books
exploring content strategy techniques
LET CONTENT SHAPE
YOUR DESIGN
Web designer Stephen Hay
shares his insights on content
I can’t stress enough how important
it is, especially when doing web-based
design comps, to have real content as
early as possible in the design process.
It doesn’t have to be the actual copy
that will be used in the final result, but
it needs to be representative of the
content that is to come.
The idea is to know as much as you
can about the content, so you can avoid
surprises. In a recent project, when
the small number of navigation items
suddenly went from three to seven,
we had to rethink navigation entirely
– keeping it at the top of the page on
small screens, and placed horizontally
on wider screens was no longer a
feasible option. It’s a simple example,
but a lot of these little issues can be
avoided when you get content first.
Another advantage to having content
early is that you get to know the
‘shape’ of the content and can design
appropriately. Are there five buttons
in this app or 10? Are these things we
could use icons for, or are we using
text? These choices greatly impact
your UI, and you can only account for
them when you have content from
the very beginning.
Some people don’t like thinking
about content first, preferring that the
designer create a pretty container into
which they can pour their content. But
that’s decoration, not design. Knowing
your content is thinking before doing.
It’s a smart way to design, and it will
save everyone a lot of headaches.