collaborative techniques: how to create usable content that meets business goals

Collaborative techniques: How to create usable content that meets business goals

Bjørn Bergslien @bbergslien Audun Rundberg @audunru Confab Central 2016

Confab Central

Oslo, Norway

Bjørn Bergslien @bbergslien Content Strategist

Audun Rundberg @audunru Content Strategist

#ConfabMN

How come our annual report isn’t on

the home page?

Why isn’t my department in the

main menu?

We need a button on the home page

that takes you to our Facebook profile.

I need a banner for our latest

product launch.

Somebody called me last week and

couldn’t find vacant positions!

You should make more

room for news.

I don’t like purple!!

My son could have made a

better website.

Multinational telecommunications

company

Non-governmental organization

Scandinavianconstruction company

Non-governmental organization

Global fertilizer company Financial institution Non-governmental

organization

Agenda 09.00 The Core Model

09.45 Get down to business (and make friends)

12.00 Lunch

01.30 The Core Model (cont.)

02.00 Pair writing

04.00 Content microtest

05.00 Finished

Say hello! • What’s your name? • Where do you work? • Pair up! • (Or ‘three’ up if you can’t make pairs)

Make cores - not wars

Home page

Googled

Clicked a link on Facebook

Many users will never see

any other page

Businessgoals

Usertasks

Forward paths

The Core Model • The Core is where your users complete

their tasks and you reach yourbusiness goals

• Paths, not hierarchy • No dead ends

@AreGH

Do your user research

...and establishbusiness goals!

What you need • Handouts with the core model (A3) • Handouts with objectives and user needs • Markers and post-its • Room with a projector • 3-4 hours per workshop • 1-3 participants from the digital/web team • 6-14 stakeholders/people from the client • Snacks and lots of coffee!

6–14 participants No design or content skills necessary!

• facilitator (you!) • your team: design, UX, content • people with expert knowledge • content owners • people who should be collaborating, but aren’t • people with strong opinions about the website

Core workshop People work in pairs,and present their workafter each step

1. Identify core pages 2. Inward paths 3. Core content 4. Forward paths 5. Prioritize core elements

Inward paths Forward pathsCore content

Core page:

Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks

Socionom

Lawyer Cancer nurse Design

Research

Cancer care

Prevention

Web editor

Fundraiser

Step #1 Identify your core pages This is done by matching business goals and user needs

The Norwegian Cancer Society’s goals1. Helping patients and their friends and family 2. Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention 3. Increasing online self-service 4. Strengthening our position and increasing donations

Top task survey «If you’re visiting The Cancer Society’s website, which five tasks are the most important to you?»

Treatment of cancer

Symptoms of cancer

Preventing cancer

Cancer types

Latest research

Choosing a hospital

Patient rights

Next of kin advice

Waiting times

Dietary prevention

0 % 1 % 2 % 3 % 4 % 5 % 6 %

Top 25%

1) Helping patients and their friends & family

2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention

1) Helping patients and their friends & family

2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention

6 out of 79 tasks got 25% of the

Core page:

Step #2 Inward paths How will the user get here? How will they find this content?

Core page:

How will the user find their

way to this core page?

Core page:

How will the user find their

way to this core page?

Step #3 Core content What content elements do we need to make sure the user completes their task (while respecting our objectives)

Core page:

What’s the optimal

solution, for the user and for

Core page:

What’s the optimal

solution, for the user and for

Core page:

Step #4 Forward paths After the user has completed their task, where do we want to send them next?

Core page:

Where should we send the user, after they’ve completed their primary task?

Core page:

Where should we send the user, after they’ve completed their primary task?

Core page:

Step #5 Prioritize core elements How would you place these elements if you only had a mobile screen available?

The core is the same on all devices

Example

Breast cancer

Warning!

Time on page

– More people contact the cancer line now than before, but now they’re more informed when they contact us Anine Wiig Dagestad Oncology nurse

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Cancer line conversations Launch

+43%+58%

Unique visitors

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Launch

Work with the core model

Rainforest Foundation Norway supports indigenous people and traditional populations of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and secure their customary land rights.

With our goal of preserving the rainforest, we advocate for the rights of its indigenous inhabitants.

Our operations are funded by public authorities, as well as private donors and sponsors.

Step #1 Identify your core pages This is done by matching business goals and user needs

Business goals 1. Increase financial support 2. Engage more people in the work to protect the

rainforest 3. Increase the knowledge about the rainforest and

about our work

User tasks1. Find out how I as a consumer can

reduce the pressure on the rainforest

2. Learn more about the work of the Rainforest Foundation

3. Get information about the results of the work the Rainforest Foundation does

4. Learn more about the rainforest (including animals, plants, climate and indigenous people)

5. Find out if a product contains palm oil

6. Support the work of the Rainforest Foundation

7. See what threats the rainforest is facing

8. What is the current state of the rainforest?

9. Find out what kind of woods that are categorized as tropical timber

10. Become a sponsor

11. Contact the Rainforest Foundation

12. Read the latest news/current subjects

Core pages 1. Support the Rainforest Foundation 2. Threats to the rainforest 3. Palm oil 4. Our work in the Amazon

Core page:

Write down the goals and user

tasks for your core page

Don’t fill out the rest of the sheet

Step #2 Inward paths How will the user get here? How will they find this content?

Core page:

How will the user find their way to

this core page?

Keep the user tasks in mind

7 minutes

Share with your table

• Each pair tells the rest of the table what they came up with

• Steal ideas!!!

Step #3 Core content What content elements do we need to make sure the users can complete their tasks (while respecting our business goals)?

Increasing the sales of mobile broadband

1 7 13 19 25 31 37 43 49 55 61 67 73 79 85 91 97 103 109 115 121 127 133 139 145 151 157 163

Everyone agrees these pages are

important

«But my pages are important too!»

Pages (ranked)

What are the different subscriptions?

What’s the price?

Coverage

My connection

isn’t working!

Reorganizing the content using the

core model

Why doesn’t it

Coverage

How much does

it cost?

What are the different

subscriptions?

Conversion Customer support emails

Number of pages

-35%-80%

Core page:

What’s the optimal solution for

the user and for us?

Keep in mind your

goals and the user tasks 15

minutes

• Steal ideas!!!

Step #4 Forward paths After the user has completed his task, where do we want to send him next?

Example

Increase donations

Treatment of cancer

Symptoms of cancer

Preventing cancer

Cancer types

Latest research

Choosing a hospital

Patient rights

Next of kin advice

Waiting times

Dietary prevention

0 % 1 % 2 % 3 % 4 % 5 % 6 %

Top 25%

Treatment of cancer

Symptoms of cancer

Preventing cancer

Cancer types

Latest research

Choosing a hospital

Donate

Volunteer

Memory gift

Legacy gift

0 % 1 % 2 % 3 % 4 % 5 % 6 %

Top 25%

Fundraising-tasks were on the bottom of

the list!

1. Help patients and their friends and family ✔ 2. Increase knowledge about cancer and prevention ✔ 3. Increase online self-service ✔ 4. Strengthen our position and increasing donations ✖

Make a donation

Research project

User task Forward path

Increase donations

Business goal

Portabledonation forms!

Portable donation

Treatment of cancer

Symptoms of cancer

Preventing cancer

Cancer types

Latest research

Choosing a hospital

Donate

Volunteer

Memory gift

Legacy gift

0 % 1 % 2 % 3 % 4 % 5 % 6 %

Top 25%But some

people are actually

coming to donate

Recurring donation

Make a donation

Increase donations

Business goal

Regular donors

One time donations +602%

Regular donors sum

Regular donors

One time donations

Regular donors sum

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Annual income (web)

Launch

Improved forms

Example

Increase sales

No banner on the front page - instead

let the user complete his tasks

Products, offers

Pay your bills, log out

Increase sales

Business goal

520% increase in traffic

compared to banners on the front page

Example

Increase membership

How do you increase membership when the idea of membership can be frightening?

Rehabilitation

Fundraising

Webmaster

Member services

Call us for advice

Living with loss of vision

Increase member-

Business goal

Core page:

Where should we send the user,

after they’ve completed their primary task?

Keep your business goals

in mind

10 minutes

• Steal ideas!!!

Step #5 Prioritize core elements How would you place these elements on a mobile screen?

Prioritizingcore elements on a mobile screen

Inward pathsCore contents & forward paths

Core page:

• Steal ideas!!!

Example

From workshop to website

How do you get from core pages to design and content creation?

Core page

Transport page

Did you notice we never showed you the home pages?

Core model takeaways

• Objectives and user tasks first • Start with the core • Get rid of dead ends • Be creative about your forward

paths • Home page last, not first

Pair writing: better content, more customer-focused

Traditional content creation processes are sort of broken...

We write without getting

any critical input from others

Photo: nivekhmng / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Who’s asking...• Why are we creating this content? • What is the purpose of this content? • How does this content support our business goals? • Who will be reading this content? • And why will they read it? • Could this be a video or an illustration instead of text?

Every department is

publishing their own stuff

We produce new content instead of improving what we

already have

We publish content because it’s really easy to click that button

in the CMS

Photo: Sean MacEntee / CC BY 2.0

We forget to involve the right

stakeholders early enough in the

project

Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives / CC BY 2.0

We love content strategy so much that we forget to

work with the actual content

Photo: Ranil Amarasuriya / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Challenges• Writing without getting any input from others • Working separately on our own - «silo publishing» • Producing new content instead of improving existing content • Publishing content no one else has looked at • Not involving the right stakeholders early in the process • Only working on the strategy, not the content itself

More collaboration

please

Pair writing

Why pair writing?• The team thinks before publishing

• It forces authors to stay focused

• It helps colleagues form a mutual understanding of their content

• It results in a more uniform tone

• It allows authors to share best practices in regards to writing for the web

Web writing

workshop(ca 1948)

Pair writing!

Inspired by pair

programming

http://bit.ly/acc-prog (PDF)

What you need • Google Docs (or a similar tool) • Room with a projector • 3-4 hours per session • Snacks and lots of coffee!

Who to invite

• facilitator (you!) • digital team: design, UX, content, … • subject matter experts • content owners • stakeholders

Pair writing workshop 1. Bring people together and

pair them up 2. Choose a page to work on 3. Write! 4. Present a draft 5. Switch roles and continue to

Example

Gaining leads for construction projects

Add to cart

Bridge (18.000 tonnes)

Portable“buy a bridge”

forms!

Contact project

manager

Key people in projects

Increase project leads

Objective

Web manager

EastNorth

Step #1: Bring people together and pair them up

Before writing, each pair has to answer these questions.

• Which business goals will this page help us achieve?

• What are the user needs?

Step #2: Choose a

Step #3: Write!

– Can you read that out loud?

– What do you mean by that?

Initial drafts focus on most

important need

Step #4: Present a

Step #5: Switch roles

and continue writing

Let’s try pair writing

In pairs: Draft an outline about threats to the rainforest in

Google Docs

15 minutes

• Each pair tells the rest of the table what they have come up with so far

• Ask for feedback: Is anything missing? Is it prioritised right?

Example

Small-town bank on the windy west coast of Norway

Financial jargon

Product prices hard

to find

Dull and lifeless content

Takes a long time to get to the

ssf.no 2012

redesign

Pair writing at SSF• 2 pair writing workshops • 10-12 people in total • We paired web, UX and communications advisors and product

specialists • Objectives: Get rid of financial jargon, explain the product in an

understandable manner, support key user tasks, be open about prices and rates

• We used Google Docs

Straight to the pointClear call to action

Prices and rates

Try it yourself!

Contact the bank for more info

236% increase in mortgage

calculator use

Example

Global fertilizer company with 10.000 employees

Decentralized publishing practices

People speaking different

languages

50 different locations worldwide

More than 60 intranet editors

and contributors

...and one intranet

So this is what we did...• 60 people from all over the world in the same

room • Half day web writing theory course to get a

common understanding of quality content

• Two and a half days pair writing workshops in smaller groups

2. Consider cultural and organizational differences Identify facilitators from various business segments, that speak the language

3. You need the right tools It’s easier if everyone uses the same tool - such as Google Docs

Lessons learned1. Theory is important HR, IT, Communications, Legal, business segments and more Get everyone on the same page

Switch roles and continue to work on

your draft

15 minutes

• Ask for feedback: Is it easy to understand and readable? Is it concise? Any difficult words?

Pair writing takeaways

• Focus on the needs first, then the words

• Avoid a workflow where content is sent back and forth

• Talk and communicate with key stakeholders

• Creates a sense of shared ownership

imprisoned

lose your job

warning

scolding

criticism

acceptance

praise

raiseIf we

publish this now, will we

get…

Content microtest

Content microtest • Test before publishing with one user • The user gets two questions, takes 10-15 minutes

The technique was developed by Laura Arlov from The Norwegian Tax Authority to help writers create content that users understand.

Step #1:Read the title and

description. Think of 3-4 questions you

expect will be answered on this

DementiaGet advice from professionals.

The first signs of dementia are often vague, and it may therefore be difficultto make a diagnosis. Many people with dementia say that they areexperiencing things that were simple, has become more difficult.

Some of the early signs of dementia are:

What can you do?Are you worried if you or a loved one has dementia, you should contact aGP. It can take time to make a diagnosis of dementia. Before contacting aGP, you may want to think through, and note a few key words about thesepoints:

reduced attention and concentration: You may think it's been difficultto follow a conversation.

memory failure: You experience a sudden feeling to have forgottenwhat you have done earlier in the day.

language problems: You may have trouble remembering what thingsare called.

sudden moments of confusion: You might find that you lose track,even in simple everyday situations.

situations you have experienced that has made you worried�

if you've talked to the person you are worried�

if you want to be with the doctor�

Step #2: Highlight where

your questions are answered. Does

the content meet the need?

Feedback on needs, not

grammar

Cheap, fast

Can be done over the phone:

Send title/

description and the rest of the

copy in separate emails

Let’s test some content

Step #1:Read the title and

description. Think of 3-4 questions you

expect will be answered on this

Microtest takeaways

• Get feedback on your early drafts • Get ideas on how to improve

existing content • Teach it to others to help them

write more customer-focused content

Bjørn Bergslien / @bbergslien bjorn@netliferesearch.com

Audun Rundberg / @audunru audun@netliferesearch.com

Thank you!Slides and handouts:

http://bit.ly/confab-collab

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