janice (ginny) redish - content as conversation: writing for the web
TRANSCRIPT
Content as Conversation: Writing for the Web
Janice (Ginny) Redish, Ph.D.
Redish & Associates, Inc.
Bethesda, Maryland
301−229−3039
www.redish.net
@GinnyRedish
Redish & Associates, Inc.
© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 2
Topics for this morning
Setting the context
Planning the conversation
Getting people to what they need
Writing the conversation
Assuring successful conversations
Setting the context
© iStockphoto
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 4
You use web sites that others have developed.
When did you last go to the web?
Why did you go to the web?
What were you trying to do or what were you looking for?
Share your story
Flickr cc photo by theworldcafe
Share your story with your neighbor.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 5
What do people want from web sites?
To satisfy their goals
Content
Information
To do a task
People just want to
answer their question
do a task
solve a problem
engage in a social conversation
© iStockphoto
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Navigation and search are critical
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Good, clear design is critical
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Technology that works is critical
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But they all support the content
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Every use of every web site is a conversation started by the site visitor
How well does your site converse with your site visitors?
Planning the conversation
© iStockphoto
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 12
Plan before you write
Think first. Write second.
Why? (your purposes)
Who? (your site visitors)
When, why, and how?(your site visitors' conversations)
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 13
Why? (Your purposes)
Be measurable.
Be specific.
Focus on your site visitors.
$
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Be specific
http://www.manageyourwriting.com/
Kenneth W. Davis
Redish & Associates, Inc.
© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 15
Focus on your site visitors
to inform people about …
answer people's questions about …
to give instructions for the … form
our very busy, anxious, worried site visitorsto give us the information we need correctlyso we can serve them better
We want
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 16
I wish they would remember how crazy my life is! I don't have time!
Name each major group of site visitors.
Add adjectives or phrases that describe them.
time constraints(busy? multi-tasking?)
attitudes (stressed? frustrated?)
subject matter knowledge
primary language
reading ability
computer and web experience
Who? (Your site visitors)
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 17
Create personas to write to
Persona =
a fictional person who realistically represents a major groupof site visitors
not a specific actual site visitor
a composite based on data about demographics goals and tasks contexts of use (environments) values
Art
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Picture
Name
Personal information
Quote
Values
Typical tasks
Characteristics
Persona of an older adult as a web user
From AARP,Redish, 2007
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 19
When, why, and how?(your site visitor's conversation)
Story, scenario, context, situation, conversation
Visualize the persona coming to your site.
Flickr cc photo by Mr.Thomas© iStockphoto
Getting people to what they need
© iStockphoto
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What does a home page have to do?
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http://www.tricare.mil/
Imagine the conversation as you design.
American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scores went up about 20 points.
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Flickr cc photo by pedrosimeos7
What should I be aware of when I shop for insurance?
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Secret of successful pathway pages:Writing for the "scent of information"
People don't want to read more than necessarywhile "getting there."
What must a pathway page do?
X Long welcome statement
Just clear links in a usable format!
X Long mission statement
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 25
http://www.insurance.wa.gov
Writing the conversation
Flickr cc photo by Polandeze
Don't hog theconversation.Take turns.Headings are the site visitor's turns in the conversation.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 29
Headings help by breaking up the information making the information manageable creating visual separation on the web page drawing the eyes providing context so people can make sense
of what follows
Writing headings first helps authors analyze the information organize for the reader
Include informative headings
Key words in browser titles,
page titles, and headings help SEO.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 30
Questions
Statements (key messages)
Does my child need a Social Security number?
Action phrases
Nouns and noun phrases work as category names
but not well for headings
What types of headings work well?
Apply now
Renewing your insurance
Minimum Wage, News
x Introduction
x Dependent Eligibility Verification
The age for getting your Social Security payments is going up
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 31
Nielsen and Pernice, 2010
How do people use web pages?
Skim and scan
Read only what they need, when and where they think they are getting value
Grab information to meet their goal
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Start with the key message
Typical document
(narrative style)
topic, history, background, rationale
narrative of what you did
main point as conclusion
Better workplace document
(style for busy people;
inverted pyramid)
key message first
answers to questions peoplewould have (even if you don't write question headings)
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 33
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 34
Layer. Think "bite, snack, meal"
Snack: the main fruit
Bite: the kernel
Meal: the whole thing- meat and potatoes
Concept from Leslie O'Flahavan www.ewriteonline.com
Even the whole meal should be easy to digest.
www.cdc.gov
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 35
Start with the key message at every level
Where is the key message in this sentence?
Because of the frequency of the disease, ability to identify high-risk groups, demonstrated slow growth of primary lesions, better survival of patients with early-stage lesions, and relative simplicity and accuracy of screening tests, screening for colon cancer should be a part of routine care for all adults aged 50 years or older, especially for those with first-degree relatives with colorectal cancer.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 36
Write as you would speak
✔✗
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The student must register and the fee payment process must be started before the first day of classes or the student will be purged from classes.
You must register and arrange to pay for your classes before the first day of class. If you don't, we will drop you from the classes.
Write to your readers
1 2
3
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Approved fumigation with methyl bromide at normal atmospheric pressure, in accordance with the following procedure, upon arrival at the port of entry, is hereby prescribed as a condition of importation for shipments of yams from foreign countries.
How would you say this information in a conversation?
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Did you say something like this?
If you are importing yams, [someone] must fumigate them when they arrive at the port of entry.
To fumigate yams, [someone] must use this procedure:
Hear the conversation as you write
context = given, known
then new
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 40
What's wrong with this sentence?
Interested persons, on or before October 15,
2011, may submit to the Hearing Clerk, 1000
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
20000, written comments regarding this
proposal.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 41
Is this better?
Why?
Can you hear the conversation going on here?
Walk in your reader'sshoes.
Go through yourwriting with a personaand that persona'sscenario.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 42
Keep it short
Your seventh-grade English teacher never wrote for the web.
People scan. A one-sentence paragraph is fine.
Think information, not paragraph.
fragments pictures
lists links
tables
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 43
Respect your readers' timeUse short, plain English words We all read simple, common words faster
than long, uncommon words.
People inside an organization overestimate the vocabulary knowledge of people outside the organization by about 30 percent.
"dumbing down"✗
✔ respecting your busy readers' time
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 44
Helping low-literacy users helps everyone
Summers, K. and Summers, M., 2005, Reading and Navigational Strategies of Web Users with Lower Literacy Skills, ASSIST 2005, available from http://iat.ubalt.edu/summers/
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 45
Finding the simple word
your pet peeve of a big word
and a shorter, simpler equivalent
retain ___________
Instead of Try this
ascertain ___________
commence ___________
inquire ___________
Instead of Try this
terminate ___________
utilize ___________
Instead of Try this
at this point in time ___________
during the course of this year ___________
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 46
Use other plain language guidelines
Write in the active voice (most of the time)
Turn nouns that hide verbs into strong verbs.(retention keep; requirement you must)
Use bulleted lists for items.
Use numbered lists for instructions.
Use tables when the answer to the question is "it depends."
Assuring successful conversations
© iStockphoto
Redish & Associates, Inc.
© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 48
Read before you send or post
Read what you wrote.
Put your draft in a drawer for a few days.
Take it out and read it again.
Read it out loud.
Ask someone else to read it out loud.
Share with colleagues.
Help each other.
ego
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 49
Do not rely on readability formulas
Plain language is much more than short sentences and short words.
Formulas do not consider information design headings cultural appropriateness context grammar
A web page with lists and fragments− good writing − may score poorly.
I wave my hand.
I waive my rights.
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 50
Do usability testing!
Usability testing = Watch and listen as relevant people (one at a time) use the site to do realistic tasks.
www.usability.gov
This is really confusing. What am I supposed to do?
Flickr cc photo by Moonpir
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© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 51
Evaluate through your personasand their conversations
Walk your personas through their conversations.
See the site through their eyes with their words.
Redish & Associates, Inc.
© 2011, Janice (Ginny) Redish Content as Conversation Slide 52
Ginny Redish
301 229 3039
Thank you