Week 2 – IxD301 – Where does content come from?
This week we learnt all about where content comes from and also who owns that content. Content can come from different sources including clients, self-generated, wikipedia or third party sites, or even user-generated content. The list could go on.
Content curation is the process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest, usually with the intention of adding value through the process of selecting, organising, and looking after the items in a collection or exhibition.
Here are some of the benefits of content curation…
- Establishes Credibility as a Thought Leader
- Promotes Content to an Audience
- Complements Social Media & Blogging
- Supports Lead Generation
- Provides an Opportunity to Repurpose Content
- Improves SEO
- Enhances or Grows a Knowledge Base
- Builds Community Interests and Relationships
- Helps To Identify Trends and Create Better Content
Jobs and User Stories
A job/user story is an informal, general explanation of a software feature written from the perspective of the end user or customer. The purpose of a user story is to articulate how a piece of work will deliver a particular value back to the customer.
To help us gather our intentions before creating our content, we made a few of our own job/user stories. We were given a layout and told to fill in the gaps based on our target audience. We were told to remember that the best content has a purpose and acceptance criteria.
Mine went a bit like…
- As a student looking for a placement opportunity, I want to represent my personality through my work chosen for my portfolio, so that I can appeal to an employer suited to me as a person and designer.
- As an employer, searching for an intern student, I want to easily access a students skills set and experiences, as well as contact details, so that I can see if they are appropriate for the available roles, as well as them being self-aware.
- As an IxD student, searching for a placement, I want to see the roles I would be undertaking with certain companies, so that I can see if I’m a suitable candidate.
- As a small independent business owner of a design company, who is seeking to take on a placement student, I want to see a professional portfolio site, as well as a clean record across all social media accounts, so that I know that I could rely on this person as an employee.
Visual Grammar
Visual Grammar provides a way to describe and communicate features of an image. Through examination, close looking and questioning you will build meaning. Applying visual grammar terminology will help you will notice how actions and ideas of people and objects show and express what is happening in the image.
From today’s slides I decided to note some tips that were given for Visual grammar…
- Simplify as much as possible – focus on the essentials.
- What can you do with constraints?
- Focus on re-using elements and minimising visual complexity.
- Spend some time developing a brand dictionary at the beginning of a project.
- Ensure every screen/page has a clear call-to-action.
- When considering typography, less is more.
Start with the information your users absolutely need and ensure that it is right up front! Provide additional information that’s helpful, but not critical and then close with ‘nice to have’ information (for those readers who stuck around til the end :))
Now that we had spoken about the appropriate content, including choosing fitting typography and colours, it was time to start sketching…
Crazy 8’s task…
Crazy 8’s is a core Design Sprint method. It is a fast sketching exercise that challenges people to sketch eight distinct ideas in eight minutes. The goal is to push beyond your first idea, frequently the least innovative, and to generate a wide variety of solutions to your challenge.
Review of the week:
I found crazy 8’s to be a very fun exercise, one that really stimulated ideas about unique ways I could layout my portfolio site. The next thing for me to do is to begin wireframing for my portfolio site. I feel really organised and know what content needs to be included, thanks to following the steps given to us at the beginning of week one.