Understanding the Potential of Content

through the Content Lifecycle

Rahel Anne Bailie © 2011 Intentional Design Inc.

www.intentionaldesign.ca @rahelab

Content (n)

How we use to communicate: text, graphics, video, audio

Extension of the user experience

Human-consumable, contextualized data

The stuff “contained” between the tags

Container /Container Content

!?@

Common definitions

Content strategy: Repeatable process that governs content throughout the entire lifecycle

Content lifecycle: Iterative cycle that spans analysis, collection, management, and publishing stages

Content

• Content as commodity

• Factors in optimization

Supply chain

• Linear

• Clear start and end

• Single content treatment

Strategy/ Analysis

Authoring/ Editing

Content Management

UX/ Publishing

Localization

Measurement

Nuanced

Interactive

Complex

Messy

Nuanced

Interactive

Complex

Messy

Nuanced

Interactive

Complex

Messy

Nuanced

Interactive

Complex

Messy ( = international roaming)

( = SIM card)

Begin at the beginning …

…but where is the beginning?

• Modeling/typing

• Configure/components

• Structure /standards

• Repository

• Aggregate/Transform

• Publish/Syndicate

• Evaluate

• Iterate or sunset

• Acquire

• Author/Edit

• Version/Localize

• Metadata

• Requirement analysis

• User research

• Governance planning

• Budget

Analyze Collect

Manage Publish

• Late getting user research

• Problematic content governance

• Little budget for content re-purposing

Analyze Collect

Manage Publish

• Blended content – created and acquired from corporate partners

• Localization into multiple languages

• Uneven metadata

Analyze Collect

Manage Publish

• No content models in place

• Variables used for help

• Unstructured content

• Not topic-based

• No formal repository

Analyze Collect

Manage Publish

• No publishing pipelines

• Syndication standard

• No revision or localization tracking

• No retention iteration or versioning rules

Analyze Collect

Manage Publish

• Content in the pipeline

• New development method: Agile

• New code base

• Internal syndication

• Content pushed to multiple outputs

• Content versioning

• Content revisions

• New retention policy

• New content for new product and interface

• Content from previous versions

• Content already translated

• Metadata

• Planning for new requirements

• New design needing new content

• New governance model

• Budgets Analyze Collect

Manage Publish

Legacy system constraints

Delivery decisions

Customer focus

Multiple outputs

Content interconnection

Project complexity

“This Visa interface is great. I can download each

statement, by month, for the last year.”

1

2:00 PM 2:15 PM

“Vancity is great. I can enter the dates and

download a whole year at a time, for the last two years –

in a single transaction.”

2 “Visa’s monthly download is driving me bananas.

Why doesn’t Visa get it together?”

3

2:18 PM 2:16 PM

( = international roaming)

( = SIM card)

Well, some companies don’t …

• Need intelligent content strategy to get intelligent content

• Treat content as part of the content lifecycle

• Keeping content under control means considering its entire lifecycle, including iterations

• Content lifecycle exists, whether you acknowledge it or not

• A strategy needs to span all related content

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THANK YOU