Designing with and for existing content
summary
If a site has legacy content start with a content audit in spreadsheets discover where pages come from and what actually matters you can often cut huge swaths like gov uk from 70,000 to about 3,000 or one client who removed ~40% before redesign map content into content types and metadata so templates and navigation become systems not blobs structured content enables faceted search related items BBC Food style and makes responsive designs practical without awkward one page dumps
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chapters (20)
- 0:00Start
- 16:27Trim, compact writing Modular content Logically broken into parts Clearly labeled Cleanly stored
- 19:29If you want to get inside an organization, get inside its content.
- 20:14A mind-numbingly detailed odyssey through your web site.
- 20:48REASONS TO GET TO KNOW YOUR CONTENT
- 24:11DOES IT FIT YOUR STRATEGY? + Useful for users • Drives business goals Supports your brand
- 25:15the SHORT-TERM Win: Designing for-and supporting-only what actually matters means less time on content migration. (Oh, and less crap for users, too.)
- 25:44the LONG-TERM Win: This opens up conversations about priorities, roles, and responsibilities before launch.
- 28:07Representative content is a set that includes one example of each content type you need to support.
- 29:52+ Based on patterns in content's shape, purpose, and "chunks." Categorize like content (like services, blos, people, events). Can be more or less granular, depending on your scope.
- 30:34CONTENT REQUIREMENTS • Define which attributes a content type needs. Set formats, character limits, and optional fields. Define what you'll have to work with-and design for.
- 31:24the SHORT-TERM Win: Content maps logically to templates and pattern libraries, rather than rotting in generic pages.
- 32:04the LONG-TERM Win: When every content type has a purpose, you're less likely to end up with stuff you don't need.
- 32:41RELY ON SYSTEMS NOT JUST PAGES
- 32:57Fitting a complex, multi-level navigation onto small screens is difficult no matter
- 34:31Defines a system of content. + Establishes relationships between content types. • Defines shared attributes.
- 35:15METADATA + Provides additional information about content (topic; author date). Can be exposed, but the real magic is behind the scenes.
- 35:41Rules use metadata to decide how and where to display content. Can control combinations of content modules, related items, excerpts, and prioritization.
- 36:51Makes related content actually relevant
- 40:43Don't let broken content break you.
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