Content Design
This week we learnt all about content design. The first thing we were told is that everything is content, and content underpins everything.
Paul then went on to teach us about the different forms of content, as well as the digital service standard for content design. We also learnt about the digital service standard, which consists of ten steps:
- Start with needs
- Do less
- Design with data
- Do the hard work to make it simple
- Iterate, then iterate again
- Build for inclusion
- Understand context
- Build digital services – not websites
- Be consistent – not uniform
- Make things open; it makes things better!
I really enjoyed learning about this, seeing as, in a UX job, we will be given the content that we are working with – and we need to know how to make that content look and feel good to consume and interact with.
We then went on to learn about the Peak-End Rule.
People judge an experience based on how they felt at its peak and at its end, rather than an average of the entire experience. You need to identify the moments when your product is the most valuable and helpful – and design to delight.
This was very interesting to me, because although it makes sense, I always would’ve thought you need to try and make the experience interesting as a whole in order to make it memorable and enjoyable. When I think about it, and about using digital services, I really do only remember the best bits, along with the last bit!
After this, we learnt more about journey mapping, as well as touchpoints. A UX designer should always consider these things in order to put the customer’s needs first, as well as build rapport with the users.
Real content drives real design
Paul then spoke to us about an article on the Neilson Norman Group website about how users read on the web. A lot of the information about the limits of content on a webpage given to us following this surprised me quite a bit. I couldn’t believe that users only read (on average) 20% of the words on an average website visit! Although… I am guilty of doing that myself.
USers Seek:
- Trust
- Brevity
- Retrieval
To give them this, we must include clear calls to action, good use of imagery, interesting displays of data, and clear iconography.
We finally spoke about brand dictionaries, and how to communicate your brand clearly.
Paul then gave us some examples of trailblazers that we can learn from, including:
- Hiut
- Mailchimp
- GOV.uk
I am thankful that we did this lecture this week, as I now feel a lot more confident with the idea of displaying my healthcare content in a more useful and delightful manner! I am definitely going to have a look at the organisations Paul spoke to us about, as I feel like some inspiration could be a really great way to make sure I get it right. I already know a few things that I want to try within my mock-ups and wireframes in order to display my content more effectively.