Content Design: The Art of Focusing on What’s Important
Content design is all about making sure the right information is in the right place, at the right time, and in the right format for your users. But the question is how do you actually do that? It comes down to four important steps: Prioritization, Organization, Presentation, and Content Models.
Let’s break this down in a way that’s easy to understand.
Prioritization: Focus on What’s Important First
Not all content is equally important. Prioritization is figuring out what matters most to your users and putting that front and center. People don’t want to dig through tons of information, so your goal is to highlight the key pieces that help them quickly.
What do users need first? Figure out what users are looking for at each step.
What are your goals? Make sure important information aligns with your business goals, like getting users to buy a product or sign up for a service.
Keep it simple: Important things like buttons to buy or sign up, should be easy to find, not buried at the bottom.
Example:
On an online store, the product name, price, and "Buy Now" button should be right at the top, while extra details like customer reviews can go further down the page.
Organization: Make Content Easy to Find
Once you’ve figured out what’s most important, you need to organize the content. This is about arranging information so it’s easy for people to navigate and understand. Think of it like organizing your bookshelf: everything needs to be in its proper place.
How to Organize:
Sitemaps: Create a visual diagram that outlines the structure of a while showing the relationships between different pages.
Group similar content together: Put related information in the same section, so people can find it easily.
Clear navigation: Use simple and consistent labels so users know where to go.
Example:
In a blog post, use headers and subheadings to break up the text so people can quickly scan the information and find what interests them.
Presentation: Visual Layout and Wireframes
Presentation is about how your content is displayed on the screen. Wireframes are like rough sketches that show where different content will go. It’s about making sure everything fits well on the page and is easy to use.
Why Wireframes Help:
Show where everything goes: Wireframes act like a blueprint to show where text, images, and buttons should be placed.
Test if it works: They help you see if your prioritized and organized content makes sense visually.
Collaboration: Designers, writers, and developers, among many others can use wireframes to make sure they’re on the same page about a design.
Example:
For an online shopping page, a wireframe will show where the product image, description, and "Buy Now" button will appear, so everyone agrees on how the page should look.
Content Models: Creating a System for Your Content
A content model is a system that helps structure and organize your content behind the scenes, especially when you need to use it in multiple places or platforms. It sets the rules for how different types of content work together and ensures everything is consistent.
Key Elements of a Content Model:
Types of content: Define the different types of content you have, like blog posts and product descriptions.
Content details: List the specific pieces of information you need for each type (like a title, author, and date on a blogpost).
Reuse content: If the same content is needed in different places (like the same product description on different pages), the model makes it easy to update everything from one place.
Example:
An airline’s website could have different content types for flights, destinations, and promotions. A content model would ensure that all the flight details are consistent across the site and can be updated easily.
To sum it up, good content design helps make everything easy to use and efficient for users. Here’s a quick recap:
Prioritize what’s important, so users get the info they need quickly.
Organize content in a way that’s easy to find and follow.
Present it clearly, using wireframes to map out where things go.
Model your content behind the scenes so it’s easy to manage and scale.