Everything in Moderation: Using Content Units to Manage UX

Step 2: Assignments and Delivery

Not every project requires a deep level of documentation surrounding its associated content. In some cases, our responsibility is the editing and approval of content rather than its actual production.

One method I’ve used in getting quicker results is to introduce myself to the people in the client’s approval chain—making sure they recognize that the project is happening and we need their help.

You should make assignments in conjunction with your client. It’s obvious that, if you dictate to them, you’ll most likely be ignored. Typically, just a few people generate the information and create the content for a Web initiative. Not only is it their job to write, edit, and produce the content, they must get it approved and work out how to fit it into the context. Help these people by working out a reasonable assignment schedule, and make sure they have attainable goals that fit within the timeline of the project. If they need to push something to a later phase, let the client prioritize things for you.

Step 3: Mind the Gaps

We might concentrate on content such as news articles or pages detailing information about a company, but some of the most important content units are those that present error messaging and form results. So many factors dictate a user experience, and oftentimes, we overlook some of these minor, but extremely important pieces of content.

We now have much more control over error messages in forms and should work their editing and branding into our overall content plan.

Step 4: Review and Schedule

The review for your content units should include quality assurance, approval, editing, and, of course, launch.

If you’re responsible for managing a large-scale Web application, there are times throughout the development lifecycle when you’ll be asked to deliver specific content in order for the team to appropriately test and build. In such cases, we include the delivery schedule in Step 2 to ensure that all project team members understand when and where the team will require content.

Managing the User Experience Through Content Units

We’re all aware that too much content can impair a user’s ability to both digest information and associate it with an entity, regardless of the type of content. But how about managing future designs and taking things into consideration before they become issues? Wireframes aside—they deal with the now—we should manage content as units, enabling us to present user experiences that can truly scale.

Considering that a user experience has a shelf life, we should take note of the various types of information and functionality we’ll need, then make decisions that we can apply to future versions of a Web site or application. For example, a sign-in box is always an essential functional area. By decomposing your Web sites or applications into content units, you can create content unity.