Writing Content For Usability

The following note is taken from an UIE seminar presented by Steph Hay.

Three elements of compelling contents

• Focus
• Credibility
• Consistency

Focus

• Audience
• Medium
• Network

Audience

• Don’t: consider everyone
• Do: Focus on one ideal person, then speak directly to her

Examples

• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care: members, employers, etc.
• University of Virginia: perspective students, alumni, parents, etc.
• Pyramid Communications: speaking directly to its audience

Medium

• Don’t: think in isolation
• Do: capitalize on other communication channels to tell your story

Examples

• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia: great contents compete with great contents. Could be more selective.
• Corporate Executive Board: Good at prioritizing important contents

Network

• Don’t: forget others’ messages
• Do: consider how your network will describe you—and influence your target audience

Examples

• RTI: Promote other network such as public research

Credibility

• Meaningful
• Helpful
• Results-oriented
• Confident

Meaningful

• Don’t: fill space
• Do: take the time to ensure your writing says something

Example

• National Breast Cancer Foundation

Helpful

• Don’t: assume users know what to do
• Do: tell users what you want them to do

Examples

• Caring Bridge
• Children Hospital Boston

Results-Oriented

• Don’t: just list what you do
• Do: explain what awesome things users will get from you

Examples

• Hotwire
• Lean Startup Machine

Confident

• Don’t: over promote
• Do: showcase confidence while being humble

Examples

• Ameritrade
• Best Buy

Consistency

• Structure
• Voice
• Style

Structure

• Lead with the meat: Tell users what they need immediately
• Include what’s relevant: What’s the most relevant things right now
• Use keywords throughout: Users won’t be lost

Voice

• Write in a genuine tone
• Avoid bloated statements
• Rewrite anything that sounds ridiculous when read out loud

Style

• To end (or not) lists with full-stops
• Capitalization, punctuation in headings
• Website/web site, log in, sign up

Examples

• Woot
• Geico: They branded the result of save time and money in everything they write

How Do I Start

1. Write
2. Choose
3. Rewrite
4. Prioritize

The Process

1. Write with abandon: Brain dump of one liners. Think of that person you want her to do
2. Highlight the meatiest stuff: Just important words, not sentences
3. Rewrite using the meat only: Rewrite the sentences with only the highlighted words
4. Prioritize: Move from message to motivation to goal