What is Content Sources?
Content source is a repository of all text elements that are used in, or to create content. Think of all the content types you manage, documents, web site pages, images, graphics, video, etc. Most content is managed in proprietary management systems designed for each asset type. Content can come in lots of different ways, many sources of content include:
- Client Supplied
- Self Generated
- User Generated Content
- Third Party Content
- APIs
- Etc.
Client Supplied
So what is content supplied by a client? Well luckily most of the time, the content is supplied by the client. This means that they will give you exactly what they want on their website, app or whatever it is you’re creating for them.
Self Generated
Self-generated content may consist of logos and branding materials, illustrations, etc. This is much more time consuming as you need to understand their business, their tone of voice and what kind of content they want to put across.
User Generated
User generated content may consist of content from websites such as YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. These sites learn about what you are interested in when you actively use the website and then gives you new content based on that information.
Content Curation
Content curation is how you organise vast amounts of content in a meaningful way. In the lecture Kyle showed us an Instagram post by ‘harrismonkey’ and how much content and interactions surround it. This includes things like comments, like buttons, user profile, share icon. It was quite insightful into seeing how content actually flowed and consideration taken when designing with the content in mind.
This is a large reason why it was important for us to write the content first before we proceed. When you have the content written you can then design around it without having to try and fit it all in after you’ve committed to a design.
Benefits of Content Curation
- Become an expert
- Easier than creating your own
- Shows your focused
- Grow your network
- Get more business
- Stay informed
Basic Prinicples of Content Curation
- Good content is appropraite
- Good content is useful
- Good content is user centered
- Good content is clear
- Good content is consistant
- Good content is concise
- Good content is supported
User/Job Stories
A user/job story is a great way of pinning down what you need to do. User stories generally look like this;
As a [person in a particular role]
I want to [perform an action or find something out]
So that [I can achiece my goal of…]
With that in mind here are some examples;
As a Geologist
I want to access raw data
So that I can finish a study
Another example;
As a concerned citizen who knows about fracking
I want to know if my local company uses fracking
So that I can contact them directly and tell them to stop
Another example;
When I am lookin for a placement student
I want to find out who they are and what they can do
So I can recruit a student…
Now with examples shown we where then tasked to make some of our own.
The first one will be based around me.
As a Student
I want to create a portfolio website
So I can showcase my work to potential employers
This one will be based around a client
As a company owner
I want someone to design our website
So that we can engage with more customers
This one will be based on writing content for my portfolio
When I am writing content for my portfolio website
I want to able to have all my content ready for me to use
So that I don’t have to work the text around my design