Post on 18-Nov-2014
description
Freebies, cheapies and good things to do - tips for optimising digital content on a budget
Changing platforms: creating effective contentRoyal College of Surgeons15 March 2011
Martin Bazley, Martin Bazley & Associates
Martin BazleyPreviously:
• Teaching (7 yrs)• Science Museum, London,
Internet Projects (7yrs)• E-Learning Officer, MLA South East (3yrs)
Martin BazleyPreviously:
• Teaching (7 yrs)• Science Museum, London,
Internet Projects (7yrs)• E-Learning Officer, MLA South East (3yrs)
Currently• Vice Chair, DLNet (was E-
Learning Group for Museums, Lib, Archives)
• Consultancy, websites, training, user testing, evaluation …Martin Bazley & Associateswww.martinbazley.com
•Slides and notes available afterwards
www.martinbazley.com
Key pointso About creating digital content – ‘writing
for the web’
o Plan, evaluate, do audience research, do user testing
o Make use of freebies and cheapies
Writing for the web
Users don’t always ‘get’ what we are offering:
a real–world analogy
Even a slight difference in viewpoints…
…can cause real problems for users
In a conflict between visual affordance…
…and written instructions
visual affordance almost always wins
So what is the point of all this?
People use the web differently…
… from the way they use books, object labels, magazines, newspapers,
information screens, etc
For most people the web is a
predominantly visual
medium
We are all different and some people like to read
all the text on a web page before deciding
what to do next, even though a lot of it might
be pretty redundant but most people – or at least most regular users
of the web – rather than reading through them
in detail just scan the web pages they are using, or at least the
ones where they are still trying to work out
where to go next
• Users won't read your text thoroughly word-by-word.
Exhaustive reading is rare, especially when browsing. Yes, some people will read more, but most won't.
• The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. There's some hope that users will actually read this material – though they'll probably read more of the first paragraph than the second.
• Start subheadings, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice when scanning down the left side of your content in the final stem of their F-behaviour.
They'll read the third word on a line much less often than the first two words.
If they have to work at it for example if they
cannot see what they are looking for, or if it doesn’t make sense to
them at first glance then most people – or at least many
people who do a lot of searching or browsing on the web just
decide that this particular site is not for them, and anyway they
have a long list of other search results or ideas to try and so they go elsewhere
Exercise: Make this web page Exercise: Make this web page betterbetter
2 minutes - discuss with your neighbour
[Scribble revised layout on copy of page in your pack]
About website structure, About website structure, ways people use the web and ways people use the web and implications for writing for the implications for writing for the
webweb
Certain types of websites impose linear user journeys:
TheTrainline.comCinema ticket bookings
Self assessment tax return online
In most websites, although there are some linear elements …
… people like to have other pathways available to them…
… and most journeys are very non-linear
Also, most people reach your website via Google
Only 20% arrive at your website on the home page
Most may not have had your site in mind when searching
30% of them go to home page to ‘try and work out what this site is about’
So... each page on the site must quickly:
(a)engage users and (b)give sense of what site is about –
otherwise most will leave
‘Writing for the web’ is not just about text…
… but also choosing the right images… layouts
… graphical look and feel…website structure
etc etc
Key point of paragraph/
section
Image clearly related to text
Broken into short paras
Short video guides
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoU2yANNxRs&eurl=http://inside.123-reg.co.uk/archives/video-writing-your-web-copy
• Writing web headlines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBg7dJIfHM0
Home page: key functions
• Offer overview: – Show user what the site can do for them– Show user what is in the site:
• The structure at a glance• Content highlights or samples
• Engagement:– make user want to continue browsing
– www.manchestergalleries.org/
Article page: key functions
• Engage the user – make them want to consume the article
• Signposting: – Show user what else is nearby in the site
• The structure at a glance
– Show user what else the site offers them
– www.mylearning.org/overview.asp?journeyid=73
– www.manchestergalleries.org/
Short writing exercisesShort writing exercises
Short writing exercisesShort writing exercises
Key pointso About creating digital content – ‘writing for
the web’
o Plan, evaluate, do audience research, do user testing
o Make use of freebies and cheapies
Plan, evaluate, do audience research
o How to plan and conduct research into online audiences:http://sca.jiscinvolve.org/audience-publications/
o Focus on why you are measuring what you plan to measure
o Web stats, online questionnaires, focus groups (concept testing), user testing – various ways of gathering data
o Build costs into the project for regular evaluation – avoid expensive remedial action later in project
Key pointso About creating digital content – ‘writing for
the web’
o Plan, evaluate, do audience research, do user testing
o Make use of freebies and cheapies
Freebies and cheapies
o WordPress and other ‘free’ CMSs for creating websites, blogging, or prototyping
o YouTube, Vimeo, podcasting
o Social media: Facebook, Twitter
o Google maps, Google site search, Google Analytics
o TripAdvisor, etc
Making websites - CMSs
http://wordpress.com - free website creation service (pay extra for features like own domain name etc). All hosting and upgrading etc is done for you
Making websites - CMSs
http://wordpress.org - free website creation service – like .com except you have to install it on your server and you are responsible for updating, hosting costs, etc
Making websites - CMSs
www.contentcurator.net - free open-source CMS specially developed for cultural and heritage sector. Powerful and easy to use e.g. in-place editing
Making websites - CMSs
www.cmsmadesimple.org - free website creation service – you install it on your server and you are responsible for updating, hosting costs, etc - very similar to wordpress.org
Prototyping with WordPress
http://ruskinelementsofdrawing.wordpress.com
Video – maximise impact
http://vimeo.com
http://ruskinelementsofdrawing.wordpress.com
Social media – maximise impact?
Has potential to increase engagement but be aware:– long term commitment essential so financial
implications in resourcing– Can also work against you. DLNet vs. Dulwich Picture Gallery blog
Online audiences - links
Advice and links on online audience research,social media strategy, evaluation, etc
http://onlineaudiences.wordpress.com/
More info / advice / ideas
Martin Bazley
0780 3580 727
www.martinbazley.com