multidimensional content strategy: a plan for dodging the oncoming train

@nozurbina #LavaCon

Multi-Dimensional Content Strategy:

A Plan for Dodging the Oncoming Train

Noz UrbinaFounder and Content Strategist

Urbina Consulting

urbinaconsulting.com/about-you

@nozurbinaMe (Noz Urbina)

Content strategist

Consultant/trainer

Author

urbinaconsulting.com

@nozurbinaContent strategy

• Right content• Right format• Right language• Right time

Business Goals User GoalsCS

@nozurbinaWe’re in a world of constantly accelerating

change

@nozurbina

How do you keep up?

Organisational adoption

Mass user adoption

Keeping up

: ( :)

@nozurbina

How do you keep up?

8

You don’t

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simpleskye/9176010952

9

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simpleskye/9176010952

In an age of constantly accelerating change, a keep up strategy is a failure strategy

@nozurbina

We need to start anticipating the future

@nozurbina

But it’s hard.We mould our vision of the future using today’s parameters

Robert Tinney's cover for the April 1981 “Byte magazine”, from Internet Archive. ti.me/1BBOQmZ

@nozurbinaOnline was mono-directional

http://bit.ly/nbigbadweb

@nozurbinaBirth of online identity

User name

Company

Email

Password

Confirm Password

The medium started accepting input

@nozurbinaBirth of online identity

Register

@

@nozurbina

Internet

The great democratiser

The #1 most followed account, with 49M (3.3x more)…

CNN (@cnnbrk) is the most followed news org on twitter, with 15M followers (#35)

…@katyperry

Stats: http://bit.ly/twtop100

http://xaxor.com/funny-pics/funny-katy-perrys-crazy-outfits.html/attachment/katy-perry-crazy-outfits12

The public now touches metadata every day

"Aggregated

metadata can be more

revealing than

content.“– J. Kirk Wiebe &

Bill Binney

"Not looking at content...

sifting through

metadata“ – Barak Obama

@nozurbinaGoogle nGrams (word frequency charts)

@nozurbina

Metadata is hotter than pornography

now

Google nGrams (word frequency charts)

All media work us over completely... they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered.– Marshal McLuhan, Media is the Massage*, 1960

(coined the term “global village”… *Yes, ‘Massage’. Google it.)

“WE ARE REACHING A TIPPING POINT

We once couldn’t map

3D to 2D

Don Yang, 950s Raphael, 1510

Then we got it. And it spread

globally.

@nozurbinaWe (still) conceive content in 2D

@nozurbinaCustomer experience is 4D1. Length 2. Width3. Depth

– “Drill down”– Progressive disclosure– Multi-asset relationships /

references– Search/Social

4. Time– Dynamic, real-time content– Audience/context-specific

content

12

3

6

9

@nozurbinaWe (still) conceive content in 2D

@nozurbinaCustomer experience is 4D

“I want an answer now, please!”

(Oct 15, 2014. 2:35 pm)

Planning, structures and strategies have to

be time and depth aware

@nozurbinaTwitter in a 4D paradigm

• More metadata = more perspectives

ILTMagazin

e

Congility

2013

@tomspk

#elearning

SEMANTIC CONTENT MODELLING

Making content adaptive

@nozurbinaTraditional ContentTraditional content is marked with semantics on the blob/block-level

@nozurbinaAdaptive contentEmbedding specific semantics & structure in our content enables contextually-appropriate and seamless online/offline experiences

123

6

9

123

6

9

A TRUE STORY

The full article series on adaptive content:

bit.ly/ac-articles-nu

31 - Urbinaconsulting.com @nozurbina

32

We went to a local wine tasting

33

They had tablets on the tables where we

browsed the corporate site

34

My partnered asked: “If I add a product to my basket, will they add it to our bill and have it ready to pick up when

we leave?”

35

No. The site didn’t work that way. The content had no sense of it’s

time and space. But it should have.

36

TRADITIONAL CONTENT MODEL

37

38

ADAPTIVE CONTENT MODEL

39Cont.

A richer model could

have adapted to the context

40

A richer model could

have mapped to various

outputs

@nozurbina

Structural definition of a

content type: “event”By having established

clear semantics,

modules and/or “pages”

can be built up from

some or all of the

structured source.

Rahel Anne Bailie’s “Flow” diagrams

@nozurbinaContent modelling

42 - Urbinaconsulting.com @nozurbina

Content modelling is hard. We’re flattening structures that are

actually very layered in time and depth.

But we have no choice.

@nozurbina

Benefits of adaptive content modelling

• Removes boundaries imposed by static publications

• Encourages modular approach to content authoring

• Enables new relationships among content objects

• Meets the growing demands of customers to get the content they need

Not a “p

age”.

An answer

Not a “p

age”.

An answer

Structural semantic model of “store” content

type

Create

Semantically

structured content instance

“Store” instanc

e

Transform

Map model to

Schema.org

metadata

Store.html

Specific answer

Index(Engine)

Your tools or 3rd

Party, e.g. Google

Persistent metadata!

Pull specific content to things like Google Cards

Generated

Reality

Or to whatever else…

@nozurbina

Perspective shift

“Overt selling has given way to problem solving. Sweeping statements have given way to conversation-like messages.”— Robert Rose, chief strategist Content Marketing Institute

Image: Moyan Brenn

@nozurbinaWhen do I stop tagging?

• When you can’t think of a probable user benefit, now or in future–It’s your job to judge ‘probable’–There is no right answer, and no model is forever

–It’s design. Design iterates and improves over time

49 - Urbinaconsulting.com @nozurbina

@nozurbina

Too deep/shallow? Which is worse?

• Shallow. –You can always roll back from too deep. Too shallow is a missed opportunity.

• Limit depth according to your budget/tools, not your business needs or your users.

50 - Urbinaconsulting.com @nozurbina

@nozurbina

How do I explain this to colleagues?

• Do audience analysis on them• Build you bag of tricks and messages that make sense for them– Some will get it only after a demo or prototype– Some want spreadsheets of ROI– Others want case studies they can relate to

• Adapt the content you use to persuade different types of stakeholders

51 - Urbinaconsulting.com @nozurbina

@nozurbinaPitfalls to Avoid

• Don’t forget you’re no longer making ‘it’, you’re making ‘them’

• It’s a specialised work. Make sure to get the right skills

• Structured content is much more appropriate

• Sometimes lots of hoops to jump through to get a server set up in the IT infrastructure

@nozurbina

Don’t hitch your wagon to a dinosaur

If you manager can’t adapt. It’s both of

your careers on the line!

Copenhagen, Denmark Napatech Nov 24-25 (2 days)Boston, USA Gilbane Dec 2

Your offices…? Contact us to discuss free participation for some of your staff in exchange for hosting an open workshop in your facilities.

bit.ly/uc-events

WORKSHOPAdaptive content

modelling for omnichannel UX

Thank you!

(Q&A?)