Breaking Development: Content-first UX Design

by July 29, 2014

In her presentation at Breaking Development in Nashville TN, Steph Hay talked about the role of developing on-going conversations in digital experiences. Here's my notes from her talk on Content-first UX Design.

  • Content-first design: start the design process by writing content. Your experience and process will be better.
  • Does your design feel like a conversation?
  • Content-first UX design isn't about the design or the device. It's about the conversations going from point A to B.
  • Start with the words & use those to drive the design.
  • Think about the hero's journey in user experience design. Design elements can support this journey.
  • Remove all distractions: cut whatever is not aligning with your ultimate message/goal.
  • People learn over time.
  • Interruptions can actually deepen the roots of learning because they force you to think harder.
  • Most designs that attempt to add gamification principles, don't succeed because they add no value.
  • Conversations with people look for common ground to establish a relationship. They don't interrogate you with a series of one-sided questions.
  • Contextual learning: Feedback along the way helps you develop skills and allows you to reengage.
  • Teaching over time -not all at once- improves retention.
  • Thinking about the conversation first is low risk, low cost. It's very easy to start writing content for everyone so they collaborate and agree faster.
  • Take the content and make it a priority in your process.
  • Voice, tone, and audience questions get addressed up front. These usually derail the process later on.
  • Language boards: the core messaging that a user needs to get them through the journey.
  • Start from your most important content: where are people landing/starting? Begin with this content, then move up toward the home page.