Content Tragedy

Avoid content gluttony

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:36:59 -0800

You know how it’s really, really hard to say no to a free donut when someone brings in donuts to the office, even if you just ate a breakfast burrito and you’re stuffed, and you even brought lunch so you know you won’t need it later, either? And even if you didn’t bring lunch, there is no shortage of donuts in the world, in fact there is a donut store one block away and a donut is only a dollar? That’s your asshole brain tricking you into thinking you’re living in a world of scarcity, even when you clearly are not. We suddenly become blind to the broader universe of donuts when presented with a single box of a baker’s dozen.

This fallacy results in acid reflux and clogged arteries, and it happens with content all the time. That video your company spent $50k on three years ago? It’s exactly like that overpriced sushi you decided to box up and take home last week. It’s still in your fridge, sitting there, waiting. You want to eat it simply because you spent money on it, but you know damned well it won’t sit right.

The world is filled to bursting with existing content. This does not mean you are obligated to use it.

Go too far

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:17:15 -0800

It’s easier to end up with something great by toning back something offensively mind-blowing than by being a fucking pussy.

Do it yourself

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 21:12:26 -0800

If you keep thinking someone needs to have a bird’s eye view of the whole content system, that someone is you. Map that shit.

Thank People

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:23:44 -0800

You never know who your co-workers are neglecting at home in order to please you.

Use Paper

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 15:44:35 -0800

When you find yourself clicking back and forth through the same three documents all day and just staring them, there comes a point where you must say to yourself, “Fuck these documents.” Then, find a blank sheet of paper and make the ugly version of what you were wasting all day not doing.

Be a Tarot Reader

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 17:57:34 -0700

A good tarot reader knows that which cards the client sees don’t matter - what matters is how the client reacts to whichever cards end up showing. To help a project take shape, make your seed cards and use everyone’s reactions to learn what they need to become, not to defend what they started as.

Be Wrong

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:19:40 -0700

When you get over the stupid monkey fear of being wrong, you will realize that being wrong can help save you a stupid amount of time. When you’re asked to produce something with vague requirements, for instance, which by the way is EVERYTHING YOU WILL EVER DO IN CONTENT STRATEGY, it goes a lot faster if you just make something that’s probably wrong and then show it as quickly as possible to the people who make decisions. Sit back and watch as all of those ugly vagaries magically transform into beautiful, beautiful specifics in mere minutes.

Part of expertise is learning what to ignore

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:04:06 -0700

Only after sifting through vast loads of information many times do you start to see patterns that can speed things up enormously. Do the sifting. Become an expert.

Design the rules to accomodate user behavior

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 18:13:45 -0700

If you’re pissed off about users disobeying the rules, try redesigning them to accommodate natural user behavior instead. For instance: there is a tea and coffee service in my building lobby. The tea bags were always on one side of the counter, and the trash bin on the other, so people would just leave their empty tea bag packages on the counter instead of throwing them away. Finally the building placed a dish there for the empty packages. Now user behavior hasn’t changed at all, but no one gets pissed off about their neighbors being slobs anymore, which makes a nicer experience all around.

Also, just now I decided that me and my cat would both be happier if I simply gave up on our “no cats on the desk” rule.

Make your user feel confident

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:37:05 -0700

When you lack self-confidence, everything becomes extraordinarily hard. And knowing that you’ve never done something before can be an enormous confidence-killer for many users. To help them, try using reassuring language, clear feedback for every interaction, and a safe environment where they know they can easily go back and change anything at any time if they think they made a mistake.

Expertise is a security blanket

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 11:31:12 -0700

As a content strategist, it’s your job to become an expert on every set of information you encounter. Don’t let it make you a self-righteous asshole.

Sometimes a paragraph can fix a wireframe

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:59:17 -0700

Rarely can a wireframe fix a paragraph.

Keep instructions short

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:14:20 -0700

Really short. Longer instructions actually make a task harder.

Make beginner mode dominant

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:46:35 -0700

We often have to consider two types of users: the ones who know what they want, and the ones who don’t. Let’s call them experts and beginners. The nice thing about experts is that they tend to go looking for expert mode and are usually good at finding it. Beginners need to have their hands held. So if you’re torn between which mode to make dominant, make beginner mode dominant. Experts are far more likely to be able to find a tiny button that toggles their preferred mode.

Use specifics

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:14:53 -0700

Avoid illusory conjunctions. Also, make your work fucking come alive.

Avoid blind mimicry

Wed, 09 May 2012 09:53:44 -0700

According to current science, many of our actions as human beings probably come from the influence of mirror neurons blindly twitching up a froth of empathy for everything around us, making us feel sad when our friends feel sad, and write idiotically long content simply because the competitors did it too.

Mirror neurons are dumb tiny chunks of meat. Don’t be meat.

More syllables do not equal better syllables

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:49:18 -0700

It may be tempting to use the more official-sounding versions of words, but please try to remember how much of a pain in the ass official-sounding content is to read. (Oh sorry, “interpolate.” ) If you use uncommon words, do it for clarity, not because it makes your content sound “official”.

A website is a machine

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:00:57 -0700

The user is the force that, when applied, triggers the machine to perform an action. In that respect the user is to a website as wind is to a windmill, or electricity to a lightbulb.

Use "We"

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:56:00 -0700

Messaging that comes from a group of people (for example: every organization in the world) should always be written in the first person plural. It’s why the first person plural was invented. Even the Borg use it.

Use eigencontent to quickly iterate content systems

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:36:00 -0700

Eigencontent is a set of small content-like bits that represent real content. (It comes from the term “eigenvalue” for you math geeks.) You can make an eigencontent by identifying the real information conveyed and/or function of a content item. For instance, if I have a page on a website that goes on and on about the pros, cons and history of grape popsicles, and has a form where a user can order a grape popsicle, the first eigencontent would be “education about grape popsicles” and the second eigencontent would be “grape popsicle order form”. If you’re working on a finer level of detail, you might use “grape popsicles turn your tongue purple” and a set of other succinct versions of the facts that need to be conveyed. Go for the simplest, smallest unit you need, so you can build a big eigencontent map and move everything around easily to see what your larger content system should be like.