Don’t just build things… Build Higher, Further, Faster, More: From UX Writing to Content Design

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics MORE Higher Further Faster

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics From UX writing to content design

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics Jonathon Colman Senior Design Manager, Intercom @jcolman

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics go.inter.com/more Get this deck now!

I’m with Intercom We make Internet business personal

Footage from “Avengers: Inﬁnity War” (April, 2018). © Marvel Studios

Idea by Mig Reyes

Idea by Amy Thibodeau

Language is the Experience

Language is the Interface

Language is the Infrastructure Idea by Andrew Hinton

But whose job is it? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

But whose job is it? ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe it should be yours.

Jesse James Garrett, Knight Foundation [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Jesse James Garrett, Knight Foundation [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)] © Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission) Where content is seen and used

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission) Where content is modeled and built

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission) Where content is proposed and planned

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission) In many orgs, this is UX Writing

words

words YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t YOU CAN’T you can’t

YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t YOU CAN’T you can’t Footage from “Captain Marvel” (February 2019). © Marvel Studios

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission) This is Content Design

Okay, but how does it work?

The words Terms Style Voice Tones Principles Core Values Our UX writing framework at Intercom

The words Terms Style Voice Tones Principles Core Values

The words Terms Style Voice Tones Principles Core Values Image by Kathy Matosich and Cheryl Lowry from “CS Applied 17: Turning Co-workers into Collaborators” - https://www.slideshare.net/KathyMatosich/cs-applied-17-turning-coworkers-into-collaborators

The words Terms Style Voice Tones Principles Core Values Image from A List Apart: “Style Guide” © A List Apart - http://alistapart.com/about/style-guide/

The words Terms Style Voice Tones Principles Core Values Image from Shopify Polaris: “Voice and tone” © Shopify - https://polaris.shopify.com/content/voice-and-tone#navigation

The words Terms Style Voice Tones Principles Core Values

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

What about these? © Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission)

A quick intro to system design

Cabrera, Derek & Laura. Systems Thinking Made Simple (2016). Meadows, Donella H. Thinking in Systems (2008). “A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something.” —Donella Meadows

“A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that achieves something.” —Donella Meadows

The 3 basic steps of system design: ● Create an inventory of all the objects ● Show how they all connect with each other ● Determine their combined purpose and value

Image by Tang, Shekman. “Applying systems thinking in product design” - https://www.intercom.com/blog/applying-systems-thinking-in-product-design/

That’s pretty complex, but you can start small with something you know

Left: Paul Adams.”Avoid the pendulum swing when ﬁxing problems” © Intercom - https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/avoid-the-pendulum-swing-when-ﬁxing-problems/ Right: Image by Paul Adams. “Design futures 1: Creating systems not destinations” - https://www.intercom.com/blog/design-futures-1-creating-systems-not-products/

Don’t just build things… Build systems that build things Erin Kissane` at Webstock 2012. “Little Big Systems” -https://www.webstock.org.nz/talks/little-big-systems/ Idea by Erin Kissane

© Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience - http://www.jjg.net/elements/ (used with permission) This is Content Design

In conclusion…

words

words YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T YOU CAN’T you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t you can’t YOU CAN’T you can’t

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics Jonathon Colman Senior Design Manager, Intercom @jcolman

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics go.inter.com/more Get this deck now!

Image by Joe Quinones from Captain Marvel, vol. 7 #10 (April, 2013) © Marvel Comics Content design 101 video with Sarah Richards What is content design? by Michael Andrews What is UX writing? by Kristina Bjoran 7 principles for eﬀective content design by Rachel McConnell What is narrative UX? by Jessica Collier How to get a job in content design by Rebekah Barry John Saito on Medium Shopify UX team on content design Gov.UK team on content design Conversational Design book by Erika Hall Writing for Designers book by Scott Kubie Confab and Design & Content conferences 12 content design resources