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PREPARED BY

MAKE MAGIC WITH ANTICIPATORY DESIGN

@MARSINTHESTARS

September 10, 2015

SearchLove

Marli Mesibov, Director of Content StrategyMad*Pow

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• Director of Content Strategy at Mad*Pow

• Managing Editor of UX Booth

• My new project: become Alfred

SearchLove | @marsinthestars

Who am I? Why am I here?

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WHO IS ALFRED?

It’s not just a name.

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Who is Alfred?

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Who is Alfred?

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Who is Alfred?

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Who is Alfred?

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Who is Alfred?

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Who is Alfred?

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Alfred anticipates your every need.

• He makes you feel cared for but not smothered.

• He knows what you need before you do.

• You trust him implicitly.

SearchLove | @marsinthestars

Who is Alfred?

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TAKE A STEP BACK – WHAT IS CONTENT STRATEGY?

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HOW CAN YOU BECOME ALFRED?

Everybody’s (trying to) do it.

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Everyone wants to be Alfred.

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Anticipating the user’s wants

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Anticipating the user’s needs

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Anticipating the user’s preferences

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Anticipating the user’s concerns

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HOW DOES SEARCH WORK?

Explicit and Implicit search terms – Tom Anthony, SearchLovehttp://marli.us/2015/09/10/live-from-searchlove-five-fundamental-changes-in-search/

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A CASE STUDY

Making the magic happen.

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Project steps

1. Stakeholder research

2. Participatory design session

3. The solution is born

4. Asking the right questions

5. Spreadsheet mania

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Stakeholder research

“We want to be the Amazon of our industry. It’s time to really knock one out

of the park.”

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Participatory design session

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The solution is born

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Asking the right questions

• What actions people users want to accomplish?

• What triggers each individual action?

• How will we know if a trigger occurs?

• What is the priority of actions?

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Spreadsheet mania

FIVE SPREADSHEETS, AND WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED!

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DO TRY THIS AT HOME

Anticipate customer retention.

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Ask questions

• What actions do users want to accomplish?

• What triggers each individual action?

• How will we know if a trigger occurs?

• What is the priority of actions?

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What actions do users want to accomplish?

Don’t take their word for it – use analytics!

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What triggers each individual action?

Spend a few days brainstorming with a team.

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How will we know if a trigger occurs?

• Talk to the dev team

• The best triggers are the ones we can control or easily access

• Think creatively to connect triggers out of our control

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What is the priority of actions?

• Which triggers take priority? Which actions?

• These make up the “business rules.”

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Make magic happen

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Thank you!