Writing for the web is messy and complicated. As web content managers, we must weigh user needs against stakeholder demands, tight timelines, budget constraints, and more. We’re often thrown into projects that are already underway or lack a clear strategy. Our work is constrained by organizational pressures.
In this workshop, we’ll talk about aligning content with project goals, creating a strategy that puts users first, and building products that can maintain momentum and success, even after we’re gone.
9. Agile in a nutshell
1. Make early, continuous delivery #1 priority
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in the game
3. Business folk and developers work together
4. Maximize the amount of work not done
5. Reflect regularly on how to be more effective
16. Kanban in a nutshell
1. Visualize workflow
2. Limit your workflow
3. Measure your workflow
4. Be open and clear about your process
5. Improve things as you go
17.
18.
19.
20. Kanban in a nutshell
1. Visualize workflow
2. Limit your workflow
3. Measure your workflow
4. Be open and clear about your process
5. Improve things as you go
57. “Then he looked up, despite all best prior intentions. In four minutes, it
would be another hour; a half hour after that was the ten-minute break.
Lane Dean imagined himself running around on the break, waving his
arms and shouting gibberish and holding ten cigarettes at once in his
mouth, like a panpipe. Year after year, a face the same color as your
desk. Lord Jesus. Coffee wasn't allowed because of spills on the files,
but on the break he'd have a big cup of coffee in each hand while he
pictured himself running around the outside grounds, shouting. He knew
what he'd really do on the break was sit facing the wall clock in the
lounge and, despite prayers and effort, count the seconds tick off until
he had to come back and do this again. And again and again and again.”
David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
59. The Pinch Hitter
This person has a design background and is very skilled in HTML and CSS; they may be familiar with JS,
but they’re not an expert.
Why they’re using the Draft Standards
They rely on the pattern library components to work out of the box, and they need explanations of any
dependencies and how to implement them.
Concerns and challenges
They are concerned about conflicts with existing frameworks because these are difficult to resolve with
their limited development experience
60. ● Give personas titles
and names
● Add a photo or image
of each persona
● Link to your research
Photo by Dave Stevens
Gail, vintner
62. Exercise!
Create a persona:
● Service: online home goods retailer
● Include needs, apprehensions, and behaviors
● Consider writing in the first person
● Add an image
83. Intuit’s design principles
1. Be simple, easy to use, and guiding
2. Design for the customer and instill
confidence
3. Establish modern and iconic ownable
moments
4. Celebrate data while respecting user and
device context
84. GOV.UK design principles
1. Start with needs
2. Do less
3. Design with data
4. Do the hard work to make it simple
5. Iterate. Then iterate again.
6. Build for inclusion
7. Understand context
8. Build digital services, not websites
9. Be consistent, not uniform
10. Make things open: it makes things better
107. Plain Writing Act of 2010
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires that
federal agencies use "clear government
communication that the public can
understand and use."
Signed into law by President Obama on October 13, 2010
108. “A communication is in plain language if the
language, structure, and design are so clear that
the intended audience can easily find what they
need, understand what they find, and use that
information.”
— PLAIN (the Plain Language Association International)
110. Plain language strategies
● Avoid jargon, legalese, and technical terms
● Use simple words whenever possible
● Avoid figurative language
● Use active voice
111.
112.
113. Content-presentation strategies
● Keep it short!
● Use bulleted lists, when possible (case in
point).
● Connect image titles and captions to imagery.
● Use precise, descriptive headings.
● Add descriptive link text.
115. The Conscious Style Guide is “an online
resource for kind, compassionate, and
inclusive language.”
— Karen Yin, creator of the Conscious Style Guide
116. Conscious style tips
● Use older person instead of senior or elderly.
● Default to gender-neutral language.
● Avoid writing that draws on gender bias.
● Don’t use female as a substitute for novice.
117. More conscious style tips
● Instead of able-bodied, use does not have a
disability or not living with a disability.
● Avoid using pejorative descriptions of
mental illness.
● When writing about folks with disabilities,
use has or is living with.
118.
119. Resources to check out
● The Conscious Style Guide: http://consciousstyleguide.com/
● The Disability Language Style Guide: http://ncdj.org/style-guide/
● Guidelines for Nonhandicapping Style in APA Journals:
http://www.apastyle.org/manual/related/nonhandicapping-language.aspx
● The 18F Accessibility Guide: https://pages.18f.gov/accessibility/
● Microsoft’s Inclusive Design Toolkit:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Design/inclusive
● Rob Dodson’s A11ycasts on YouTube
● WCAG: https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag