how to diagnose and solve content problems: kathy wagner and theresa putkey

Diagnosing and Solving Content Problems

Intelligent Content Conference 2014

Kathy Wagner and Theresa Putkey

Before we get started

• Ask questions to clarify as we go

• Hold comments and discussion points until the end

• Presentation is on Slideshare

• Twitter: #SolveContent

Theresa Putkey

@tputkey

slideshare.net/tputkey

Kathy Wagner

@Kathy_CS_Inc

Slideshare.net/content_strategy_inc

Imagine…

You’re an independent consultant who’s been asked to advise on

how to improve the content on a bank’s business website.

The bank is a national financial institution with a strong global

presence.

@Kathy_CS_Inc @tputkey #SolveContent

The project team


Digital

Strategy

UX

IT Marketing

Line of

Business

Updated

Website

Where you fit in


Digital

Strategy

UX

IT Marketing

Line of

Business

Updated

Website

IA/CS

Your process


Review

Documents

and Research

Hold

Stakeholder

Interviews and

Workshops

Summarize

Preliminary

Findings

Conduct a

Content Audit

and

Assessment

Conduct a

Structure and

Site Search

Audit and

Assessment

List and

Prioritize

Findings

Solve

Diagnosed

Problems

High level

diagnostic

Deep

diagnostic

Solution

Diagnosing Content Problems

High level diagnostic process


Review

Documents

and Research

Hold

Stakeholder

Interviews and

Workshops

Summarize

Preliminary

Findings

Conduct a

Content Audit

and

Assessment

Conduct a

Structure and

Site Search

Audit and

Assessment

List and

Prioritize

Findings

Solve

Diagnosed

Problems

High level

diagnostic

Deep

diagnostic

Solution

Content Performance

Web analytics

Business goals

Strategic direction

Customer Experience

Data & demographics

User testing reports

Personas & scenarios

User journeys

Organization and Structure

Wireframes

Templates

Taxonomy

Content models

Content requirements

Site map

Content Branding

Messaging guidelines

Tone & voice guidelines

Content playbook

Content Quality

Writing style guide

Content processes

Content governance

Review Documents & Research


Document & Research Problem Areas


Content Performance

Web analytics

Business goals

Strategic direction

Customer Experience

Data & demographics

User testing reports

Personas & scenarios

User journeys

Organization and Structure

Wireframes

Templates

Taxonomy

Content models

Content requirements

Site map

Content Branding

Messaging guidelines

Tone & voice guidelines

Content playbook

Content Quality

Writing style guide

Content processes

Content governance

Stakeholder Interviews


Interview a breadth of stakeholders:

• Director-level, management, employees, key contractors

• Different departments and lines of business

Ask questions about:

• Project and business goals

• What works well

• What isn’t working

• Content processes and decision-making

“We need to attract

business customers.” ~ Marketing

“Content is confusing

and difficult to find.” ~Digital Strategy

“Large corporations

don’t want website

content.” ~ Line of Business

Web content isn’t

targeted to attract

new customers?

Content is poorly

organized and

designed?

Doesn’t understand

users needs and

motivations?

Stakeholder Interviews


Summarize findings from document review and stakeholder interviews

Focus on:

• Inconsistencies

• New considerations

• Patterns and associations


User Research

Report

• Small businesses have

unique reasons for

borrowing.

• Large enterprises want

financial news and

updates.

“Our small businesses

are the same as our

personal banking. Our big

businesses don’t need

website content.” ~ Line of Business

stakeholder

Inconsistencies


New considerations

Strategic Direction

?

“We need to attract new

customers.” ~ Marketing stakeholder


Patterns and associations

“Content is confusing and

difficult to find.” ~ Digital strategy stakeholder

Personas and

User

Scenarios

?

Site Map

is unnecessarily

corporate

focused


Preliminary Findings

Key concerns

• Distinct customer needs are not being addressed.

• There is a lack of strategic direction.

• Users cannot easily find high-priority information.


Content Diagnostic Process


Review

Documents

and Research

Hold

Stakeholder

Interviews and

Workshops

Summarize

Preliminary

Findings

Conduct a

Content Audit

and

Assessment

Conduct a

Structure and

Site Search

Audit and

Assessment

List and

Prioritize

Findings

Solve

Diagnosed

Problems

High level

diagnostic

Deep

diagnostic

Solution

Audit & Assessment

Users can easily

understand, use,

and act on content

once they find it.

Users can quickly

access and identify

content that is

relevant.

Structure matches user

expectations. Users can

find info through browse or

site search.

The brand message and

corporate attitude that’s

communicated through

content.


Content

Usability

Findability and

Searchability

Audience

Targeting

Tone and

Messaging

Audit & Assessment: Choose the right method

Page-level content audit

and assessment


Content

Usability

Findability and

Searchability

Audience

Targeting

Tone and

Messaging

Audit & Assessment: Choose the right method

Structure and site search

audit and assessment


Content

Usability

Findability and

Searchability

Audience

Targeting

Tone and

Messaging

Page-level content audit and assessment

1. Define relevant criteria

2. Establish ratings scale

3. Conduct audit

4. Analyze and communicate results



Objective criteria

“What, where, when”

Subjective criteria

“Why, who, and how”



2. Establish ratings scale

Legend

1 A Excellent High quality, best practice, and delivers considerable benefits.

2 B Good Supports ease-of-use and a positive customer experience.

3 C Average Some aspects may cause problems for users.

4 D Below average Poor quality and likely to cause problems for users.

5 E Poor Very likely to cause significant problems for users.

n/a n/a Not applicable Not applicable or unable to evaluate.



3. Conduct Audit



4. Analyse and communicate results

57% of content pages are

focused on products.

9% of pages are FAQs.

34%

9% 14%

9%

12%

22%

Content types

Product detail

Product comparison

Product overview

FAQs

Landing page

Other

Indicates lack of strategic goals beyond product promotion.

FAQs indicate lack of user-centered content design & organization. @Kathy_CS_Inc @tputkey #SolveContent


2%

71%

10%

3%

Writing Mechanics

Excellent

Good

Average

Below average

Poor

1% 10%

26%

47%

16%

User Focus

Excellent

Good

Average

Below average

Poor

Indicates good general writing skills but poor understanding

of user-focused web writing standards.

4. Analyse and communicate results



Structure and Site Search Audit and Assessment


2. Evaluate site structure

3. Evaluate site search and search results

4. Analyze and communicate results

@Kathy_CS_Inc @tputkey @SolvingContent

Structure Audit and Assessment

1) Define Relevant Criteria


Structure Audit and Assessment 2) Evaluate Site Structure


Metadata contributes to

findability and searchability

Analytics shows if people are able to find pages on

the site.

The Personas helps you see who the site is targeted for

– this can give you a good idea of which personas are

currently catered to (or if the site isn’t targeted at all!).

Is structure too deep, too

shallow?

Site Search Audit and Assessment

3) Evaluate Site Search Results

• Use personas and their scenarios

• Use analytics to get most popular search terms

• Use your expert skills to evaluate the results.


Site Structure and Search Audit and Assessment

20%

33%

47%

Applied Metadata

Accurate metadata

Pages with inaccuratemetadata

Pages without metadata


4) Analyze and communicate results

Indicates metadata and

taxonomy are not applied or

are inaccurately applied to the

majority of pages, reducing

findability and searchability.

Site Structure and Search Audit and Assessment


4) analyze and communicate results

Indicates the site lacks

focus on any particular

business sector. 10%

20%

5% 65%

Personas and Pages

Commercial

Small

Government

None

Solving Content Problems

Content Diagnostic Process


Review

Documents

and Research

Hold

Stakeholder

Interviews and

Workshops

Summarize

Preliminary

Findings

Conduct a

Content Audit

and

Assessment

Conduct a

Structure and

Site Search

Audit and

Assessment

List and

Prioritize

Findings

Solve

Diagnosed

Problems

High level

diagnostic

Deep

diagnostic

Solution

Your Priority Findings

Key problems to solve

1. Content findability and searchability problems

2. Poor content usability and audience focus

3. Tone and messaging problems


Content Usability

Problems

Difficult to scan and predict

Difficult to read

Difficult to understand

Difficult to act on

Content usability and audience problems

Audience Targeting

Problems

Content for generic audiences

Content can’t be reused or

customized

Corporate-focused writing


Difficult to act on. Designed for a generic audience

Targeted and easy to act on

Audience targeting and usability toolkit

• Personas

• User journeys

• User scenarios

• Content flows

• User testing

• Style guide


Tone & Messaging Problems

No distinctive tone or messaging

Tone and messaging not aligned with desired brand

attributes

Inconsistent or contradictory tone or messaging

Tone and messaging problems


What’s your brand voice? Informal, modern, fun


What’s your brand voice? Formal, traditional, successful


What are your key messages?

Audience-Targeted Messages

Principles of <Brand Attribute> Principle 1 + Global message Principle 2 + Global message

Messaging hierarchy framework

Company Brand Statement

Key Message 1

Key Message 2

Key Message 3

Key Message 4

Audience 1 Audience 2 Audience 3

Tone and messaging toolkit

• Style guides

• Messaging hierarchy/guidelines

• Content playbook

• Writing tips

• Personas

• Training


Content findability problems


Content Findability Problems

Content can’t be found in current navigation structure

Metadata and taxonomy are missing or ineffective

Content takes too long to find

Navigation isn’t designed for the user

Content findability problems


Content can’t be found in current navigation structure

Metadata and taxonomy are missing or ineffective

Content takes too long to find



Navigation can be audience based


Navigation can be topic/task based


Based on user needs and clearly defined


Findability toolkit

• Personas

• Scenarios

• Card Sorting

• Task Testing

• Site Search Analytics


Content searchability problems

Content Searchability Problems

Don’t know what people search for

Search yields no results or inappropriate results

Search results page design isn’t optimized

Content isn’t optimized for search


Content searchability problems


Don’t know what people search for

Search yields no results or inappropriate results

Search results page design isn’t optimized

Content isn’t optimized for search


Search Results Not Designed


Search Results Designed


Personal Business About Scotia

Logo, Sign In, Locations, Contact Us, Search Box

Audience

Commercial Business

Professionals

Small Business

More>>

Products

Borrowing and Financing

Chequing and Savings

Group Retirement

More>>

Filter By:

Topics

Getting Started

Growing

Sustainablity

More>>

Filters should

appear based on

taxonomy. Top 3

filters for each box.

More>> shows

further refiners

Business Loans – Small Businesses

Find out more details on business loans for small businesses

http://blah.scotiabank.com/blah/blah

Business Loans – Commercial Businesses

Find out more details on business loans for commercial

businesses


Financing Options Available at Scotia Bank

Find out more details on financing available at Scotia Bank


Get More Advice with

Scotia Bank s

Business Loan and

Financing Advisors.

Connect Today!

Short Term Business

Loans at Prime plus

2.39%

Discover MoreStars indicate best

bests. These

should be

displayed first. Advertising to

further drive

awareness of

products and

services

Search Term, Number of Results, and Pagination

When searching

within business

section, limit results

to business section.

Seachability toolkit

• Wireframes

• Personas

• Scenarios

• Site Search Analytics

• Taxonomy and Metadata


Your process


Review

Documents

and Research

Hold

Stakeholder

Interviews and

Workshops

Summarize

Preliminary

Findings

Conduct a

Content Audit

and

Assessment

Conduct a

Structure and

Site Search

Audit and

Assessment

List and

Prioritize

Findings

Solve

Diagnosed

Problems

High level

diagnostic

Deep

diagnostic

Solution

Kathy Wagner www.contentstrategyinc.com

[email protected]

Theresa Putkey www.keypointe.ca

[email protected]

Questions?


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

how to diagnose and solve content problems: kathy wagner and theresa putkey

Technology

content audit

website content

tputkey slideshare

user scenarios content

site search audit

audit assessment users

marketing stakeholder

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