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
Cores
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
@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
1) Helping patients and their friends & family
1) Helping patients and their friends & family
2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention
2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention
2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention
2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention
1) Helping patients and their friends & family
1) Helping patients and their friends & family
2) Increasing knowledge about cancer and prevention
6 out of 79 tasks got 25% of the
votes
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
Step #2 Inward paths How will the user get here? How will they find this content?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
How will the user find their
way to this core page?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
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)
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
What’s the optimal
solution, for the user and for
us?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
What’s the optimal
solution, for the user and for
us?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
Step #4 Forward paths After the user has completed their task, where do we want to send them next?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
Where should we send the user, after they’ve completed their primary task?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
Where should we send the user, after they’ve completed their primary task?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
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
3m57s
3m48s
– 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%
+69%
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
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
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?
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
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!!!
Break
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
Pag
evie
ws
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
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
work?
Coverage
How much does
it cost?
What are the different
subscriptions?
+80%
Conversion Customer support emails
Number of pages
-35%-80%
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
What’s the optimal solution for
the user and for us?
Keep in mind your
goals and the user tasks 15
minutes
Share with your table
• Each pair tells the rest of the table what they came up with
• 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%
6 out of 79 tasks got 25% of the
votes
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!
6 out of 79 tasks got 25% of the
votes
Goals
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
form
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
User task Forward path
Increase donations
Business goal
Regular donors
+704%
One time donations +602%
Regular donors sum
+847%
Regular donors
x8
One time donations
x7
Regular donors sum
x9
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
User task Forward path
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
IT
Fundraising
Webmaster
Member services
Call us for advice
Living with loss of vision
User task Forward path
Increase member-
ship
Business goal
Inward paths Forward pathsCore content
Core page:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
Where should we send the user,
after they’ve completed their primary task?
Keep your business goals
in mind
10 minutes
Share with your table
• Each pair tells the rest of the table what they came up with
• 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:
Business goals (achieve at least one) User tasks
Share with your table
• Each pair tells the rest of the table what they came up with
• 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
write
Example
Gaining leads for construction projects
Add to cart
1
Bridge (18.000 tonnes)
Portable“buy a bridge”
forms!
Contact project
manager
Key people in projects
User task Forward path
Increase project leads
Objective
Web manager
East
Web manager
EastNorth
South
West
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
page
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
draft
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
Share with your table
• 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
point
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
Share with your table
• Each pair tells the rest of the table what they came up with
• 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
page.
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
page.
Step #2: Highlight where
your questions are answered. Does
the content meet the need?
Step #2: Highlight where
your questions are answered. Does
the content meet the need?
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 [email protected]
Audun Rundberg / @audunru [email protected]
Thank you!Slides and handouts:
http://bit.ly/confab-collab