Brief presentation about the relationships between content strategy and information architecture, and comparing and contrasting the two professions. Panel discussion at World IA Day 2014, Chicago with Edward Stojakovic, Joe Hass and Samatha Dietz

1. Are content
strategists the
new IAs?
World IA Day 2014, Chicago
Hilary Marsh

2. h"p://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-­‐and-­‐gadgets/virtual-­‐superheroes-­‐more-­‐heroic-­‐real-­‐life-­‐130130.htm

3. Is content
strategy the
new IA?

4. Backgrounds
Roles
Focus
Challenges
Opportunities
Profession

5. My journey to
content strategy

6. h"p://www.ceros.com/blog/2013/8/8/print-­‐vs-­‐digital-­‐is-­‐that-­‐the-­‐quesBon#.Uv9zsLxkLzc

7. Backgrounds
Roles
Focus
Challenges
Opportunities
Profession

8. Definition of CS
• Who, what, when, where, why,
and how of publishing content
• A strategic statement tying
content to business
• The people, processes, and
power to execute that statement

11. Focus

12. Focus

13. Focus
Overlaps between CS & IA:
• Keep user in mind
• Clarity
• Ability to accomplish goals
• Findability
• Usability
• Page structure

14. Focus
Differences:
• CS gets “in the weeds” about the
business; IA stays focused on the
user
• IA is complete at some point; CS
is concerned with “Day 2” –
governance, calendar

15. What about the content?
• How does content get to the site?
• How long should content stay live?
• How can we make sure that people create
content so it can be found and used?
• How much content is there in each section and
how often it gets added to?
• How can we bring together similar content
from different parts of an organization?

16. What about the content?
• How good is the content that currently
exists – how relevant is it to the audience,
does it help the organization meet its
goals?
• What’s missing?
• Who is posting the content, vs who’s
creating it?
• Is the system working to help make
publishing and finding content easier, or
is it making things more difficult?

17. Profession
•
•
•
•
•
•
Professional organization(s)
Academic programs
#DTDT
Books
Publications
Online and face-to-face
communities
• Events

18. IA
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
✔
CS
Professional organization(s)
Academic programs
#DTDT
Books
Publications
Communities
Events
✔
✔
✔
✔

19. h"p://www.dragoart.com

20. Thank you!
Hilary Marsh
hilary@hilarymarsh.com
www.hilarymarsh.com
@hilarymarsh