Content is not just words on a screen. It can take many forms, such as images, videos, audio, charts, graphs, maps, quizzes, and more. Each content type has its own purpose, audience, and context. How do you ensure that your content delivers a positive user experience (UX) regardless of its format? Here are some tips on how to apply UX principles to different content types.
Before you create any content, you need to define your goals and understand your users. What are you trying to achieve with your content? Who are you trying to reach and help? How will they access and interact with your content? What are their needs, preferences, and pain points? These questions will help you align your content strategy with your business objectives and user expectations.
I'd humbly suggest that knowing your goals and your users goals is just step 1A. 1B - Consider the attributes of your brand and its positioning that you want to convey through experiences both online and IRL. 1C - Develop a distinct set of UX principles for your brand. Often brands skip this step and aim no higher than best practice. Or, they write "principles" that are actually just ux platitudes, failing to differentiate the business from anyone else in the space who strives to be "user centered", "customer friendly," or "effortless". Would anyone say the opposite? That they want to be hard for customers to do business with? Make sure your UX principles are distinct to your brand if you want them to mean anything to your team.
Once you have a clear idea of your goals and users, you need to decide what content type best suits your message and medium. For example, if you want to explain a complex concept, you might use a video or an infographic instead of a long text. If you want to engage your users and test their knowledge, you might use a quiz or a game instead of a static image. If you want to provide a quick overview of a topic, you might use a bullet list or a table instead of a paragraph. The content type you choose should match the purpose, tone, and style of your content.
Yes, and...think about how your unique ux principles manifest in every aspect of that content experience. For example, one of the guest experience principles I established on a project for Panera Bread was "Nourish Connection" by bringing people together around food. In marketing, that translated to an emphasis on social media. In digital products, it meant enabling multi-user accounts and group ordering capabilities.
No matter what content type you use, you need to make sure that your content is easy to read and access for all users. This means using clear and concise language, avoiding jargon and technical terms, breaking up long blocks of text, using headings and subheadings, highlighting key points, and providing summaries and transitions. It also means using appropriate fonts, colors, contrast, spacing, alignment, and size for your text and visuals, ensuring that your content is responsive and adaptive to different devices and screen sizes, and following web accessibility standards and guidelines.
I'd argue "Design for readability and accessibility" is a best practice for all content from any brand. Only in rare cases should a brand have an intentional strategy for exclusivity. Think high-end luxury brands, academic institutions, etc.
Another aspect of UX that applies to all content types is performance and usability. You need to ensure that your content loads fast, works well, and does not cause any errors or frustration for your users. This means using optimized images and videos, compressing and minifying your files, caching and prefetching your resources, testing your content on different browsers and platforms, and fixing any bugs or glitches. It also means providing clear and consistent navigation, feedback, and instructions, avoiding pop-ups and distractions, and enabling user control and customization.
Finally, you need to measure and improve the effectiveness and satisfaction of your content. You need to collect and analyze data and feedback from your users, such as page views, bounce rates, conversions, comments, ratings, surveys, and interviews. You need to identify what works and what does not work for your content, what are the strengths and weaknesses of your content type, and what are the opportunities and threats for your content strategy. You need to use this information to make informed decisions and changes to your content, and test and iterate your content until you achieve your goals and meet your users' needs.
Good content UX is about making your content comfortable and intuitive to consume, without testing the audience's patience. Stick to this principles and you won't slip.
Creating a UX Writing Guideline document is our key to infusing UX principles into every content type we produce. It's not just a document; it's our user-centric compass. These guidelines ensure that whether it's a blog post, an email, or a landing page, our content is tailored for a seamless and enjoyable user experience. It's about clarity, consistency, and aligning every word with our users' needs and expectations. With this document, UX principles don't just stay on paper; they permeate every piece of content, making interactions with our brand intuitive and user-friendly. ??????