Good Content, Good Strategy, Good Business: Put it All in Your Software

Presentation © 2014 Ray GallonThe Tran

sformatio

n Society

@TransformSoc@RayGallon

Good Content, Good Strategy, Good Business

Put it all into your software

Ray Gallon


sformatio

n Society


5500 Radiation Overdoses…

…In the city of Epinal, France, between 1987 and 2006, according to the then minister of health.

24 victims, between 2004 and 2006 received massive overdoses, during prostate cancer treatment.

Five died.

A Content Strategy in the product could prevent this


sformatio

n Society


http://www.revenuexl.com/Portals/62006/images//worried%20Doctor-resized-600.jpg

Major Causes of the Epinal Incident

SOURCE: Wack, G., Lalande, F., & Seligman, M.-D. (2007). Résumé du rapport ASN n° 2006 ENSTR019-IGASn°RM2007-015P sur l'accident de

radiothérapie d'Epinal. Paris, France: Inspection Générale des Affaires Sociales.

Retrieved from http://lesrapports.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/BRP/074000198/0000.pdf

Human Error

Poor Interface

No French manual


sformatio

n Society


http://www.revenuexl.com/Portals/62006/images//worried%20Doctor-resized-600.jpg

Major Causes of the Epinal IncidentHuman Error

Poor Interface

No French manual

How could a well-‐structured intellige

nt content strategy

help avoid these prob

lems?

SOURCE: Wack, G., Lalande, F., & Seligman, M.-D. (2007). Résumé du rapport ASN n° 2006 ENSTR019-IGASn°RM2007-015P sur l'accident de

radiothérapie d'Epinal. Paris, France: Inspection Générale des Affaires Sociales.

Retrieved from http://lesrapports.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/BRP/074000198/0000.pdf


sformatio

n Society


Design information th

at

empowers customers to

make better decisi

ons

Learn from customers

Create structured information that is findable, reusable, accessible, and understandable

They will reward you

immensely!


sformatio

n Society


Is this a formula for customer loyalty?

What message does it give your customer about you?

THIS IS CONTENT!


sformatio

n Society


What If It Were Your Web Site?

It’s probably your fault, after all, we’re coders"Call technical support and mention"code 07X67P57912VTOXIRO0O021N74"and then maybe we’ll let you see our marketing pap so you can buy somethingPS the number for technical support is on the server that you can’t reach


sformatio

n Society


After they buy your product,

what is your customers’

main communications

channel with you?


sformatio

n Society


Users get angry when they waste their time looking for information that isn’t there!

you

http://longforsuccess.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/frustrated-300x200.jpg

Language, Emotions, Culture, Communicationhttp://xc0re.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Frustrated-User.jpg

they


sformatio

n Society


Everyone in the Organization is 100% Responsible for the End-to-End Customer Journey

Marketing

Product Management

R&D

Support

Sales

It doesn’t matter if you’re from:

http://engagementstrategy.com/files/customer_journey.jpg

Management

Finance

Human

Resources

Pre-‐sales

Warehouse

management


sformatio

n Society


They way you design content strategy into your

product determines the customer experience

http://spartinaconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/strategy.jpg


sformatio

n Society


Why Do You Need Content Strategy in Your Product?

Clear standards and goals for

all business critical communications

Manage content complexity

User workflow – minimize error

Governance and obsolescence control

Regulatory and safety Structure

Tracking and traceability

Archiving

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jaIA7c7EPy0/UT4_m1sq5YI/AAAAAAAACKk/eN6trFdM3rU/s640/EPE+CONSISTENCY.jpeg

You’ll save money, too


sformatio

n Society


Aligns conte

nt with

business go

als

Reduces creation costs

Reduces localization costs

Moves content from cost to business asset

Improves user (customer) experience

Ensures cons

istent,

coherent m

essage

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQi7ckrZQa5XXSJUjJTLelKxIRyvXqKMUoVaIlxchi_Ey7pZNqwxMRgH751Ig

Why Do You Want a Content Strategy?


sformatio

n Society


Aligns conte

nt with

business go

als

Reduces creation costs

Reduces localization costs

Improves user (customer) experience

Ensures cons

istent,

coherent m

essage

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQi7ckrZQa5XXSJUjJTLelKxIRyvXqKMUoVaIlxchi_Ey7pZNqwxMRgH751Ig

Why Do You Want a Content Strategy?

Moves content from cost to business asset

Presentation © 2014 Ray Gallon@TransformSocThe Tran

sformatio

n Society

Your User Interface Has ContentContent is hard to get at in this interface

Information provided gives negative image

But it’s very honest, which gives positive image

What’s the most important business value to communicate?


sformatio

n Society


Your Software IS Content

Changed Relationships

"Different Contexts


sformatio

n Society


“No one may speak in my name – not politicians, not companies, not advertisers”

The Call for Values (Millenials as Customers)

“Values” means “respect” – implies

recognizing the singularit

y of the individual

The purely economic model of happiness has gone too far


sformatio

n Society


The Call for Values (Millenials as Customers)

Develop new ideas and ideals in a small circle of similarly minded people

Not individualist, but want quick results:

actions formed around

communities of interest

BUT: Universal values are no longer enough to create social cohesion

“No one may speak in my name – not politicians, not companies, not advertisers”


sformatio

n Society


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4VtodsGXX30/UQqMaBxKpmI/AAAAAAAAANM/7kqi4AOoB0w/s1600/Message+in+Bottle.jpg

Is your product on message?


sformatio

n Society


-Andrea Ames, IBM

“If my customers know this

content comes from the training

department, we’ve failed.”

Ditto if it was obviously written by an engineer-RG


sformatio

n Society


Technical and On-Board Content

Generates 50%+ of viable sales leads [Forbes]

Encompasses 55%+ of sales cycle time (vs. 21% spent talking to sales people) [Marketing Interactions]

2nd most important pre-‐sales activity for technology buyers [IDC]


sformatio

n Society


Technical and On-Board Content

The average shopper now uses 10.7 sources of information before making a purchase [Google research]

84% of respondents said that online feedback and research helped to influence their purchase decisions [Google research]


sformatio

n Society


Would you ask your web programmer to write your web content?

Why do we force engineers to

create product content?


sformatio

n Society


Information Experience (IX) Adapted from Paul Perrotta, Juniper Networks

Not content authoring or developing, but architected

Information Experience

Paradigm shift: from a content creation organisation to a

content generation & knowledge curation organisation

Not static release cycles, but continuous updating

Quality and metrics driven


sformatio

n Society


User-‐focused content based on solutions

Language and voice appropriate to local culture

Empowered customers

Current, accurate information on demand

Dynamic delivery, innovative methods

Coherent with product profile

Architected Information Experience (IX) provides:

IX is Part of UX!


sformatio

n Society


IX is Part of UX!Cross-product solutions content

increases value of your product

portfolio

High-quality content is integral to

your product and your image

Reduction in service calls saves costs and improves customer satisfaction


sformatio

n Society


Coherent UX, Look and Feel


sformatio

n Society


Product Development Silos

Inte

ract

ion

Des

ign

Mar

keti

ng

Trai

ning

Sup

port

/Ser

vice

Pro

duct

Mgm

t

Tech

nica

l D

ocum

enta

tion

http://www.wired.com/insights/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/silo_6601.jpg

Adapted from Noz Urbina

Your Customers Don’t Give A Fig About Your Org Chart!


sformatio

n Society


-Andrea Ames, IBM

“If my customers know this

content comes from the training

department, we’ve failed.”

Did I say something about breaking down silos?-RG


sformatio

n Society

Integrated Stakeholder Communities

Not user groups or user forums

Not a Facebook Page

Integrated communities

Everyone is a stakeholder:

Internal – everyone, 100%

External -‐ consultants, customers…


sformatio

n Society


Not Just Your Usual

Favorite Beta Testers!


sformatio

n Society


Primary objective:

Integrated, collaborative community

Creates value

Re-‐injects value into the system


sformatio

n Society

“Create More Value Than You Capture”

-Tim O’Reilly

“And Capture a Lot!” -RG



sformatio

n Society

Accept Uncertainty!

Users are sure to say unexpected things, and you won’t like some of them!


sformatio

n Society


Some Implications of Integrated Stakeholder Communities

The hole in the wall:

Sugata Mitra

Co-‐operation builds the community’s self image.

It learns what to ask It learns how to design without asking


sformatio

n Society


http://fitnessstudiomarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/youtube-logo.jpg

http://www.susanneblomberg.com/en/news/

Thinking goes beyon

d contingent need,

for example:

“What I do can be usefu

l for others”

“What others do has a

n effect on what I can u

se”



sformatio

n Society


Value from community is captured and fed back to system

They feel

they’ve c

ontribute

d

to design

and develo

pment.

Customer adherence to produ

ct & company grows



sformatio

n Society

A Community Needs AnimationIn many Romance languages, the word for

“moderator” is “animator.”

Moderation implies damping.

Animation implies stimulation.

The animator helps guide the community toward

finding its common vision.

The animator is a catalyst to vectorise the

community.

http://www.coursepark.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/iStock_000007302205XSmall.jpg

https://tinylittlestars.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/feminista.jpg?w=560


sformatio

n Society


Capturing Value from yourIntegrated Stakeholder Community

Foster and encourage creativity.

Use your animators to en

able participants.

Encourage open structures that fa

cilitate a variety of interactions

Use your own judgment, but first listen carefully

Provide multiple venueshttp://www.ihdwal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/dslr-camera-lens-camera-photo-lens-vector-royalty-free-cliparts-vectors-and.jpg


sformatio

n Society


Learn from Users: Data Mine the Questions

The top level of user feedback integration is simply to integrate questions.

Questions tell you what a person wants to know, but also what s/he already knows.

Example: in a webinar, someone asked,

It strikes me that there's similarities with the Lean methodology: particularly Kanban, progressive disclosure, the Neme's Why? questioning and a focus on interruptions. Is this something Ray has looked at? If so, does he think there are similarities?

http://www.lowmanlawfirm.com/Portals/57735/images/auto%20accident%20question.jpg


sformatio

n Society


What the Question Tells Us1/2

The questioner has already looked at the ideas of Lean Information Flow, and has some understanding of them.

S/he attended the first webinar in the series, where I talked about progressive disclosure.

Her/his understanding of the ideas presented in session 2 are functioning at a high cognitive level, as he s/has been able to

Integrate them Reflect and evaluate them Frame a question that goes beyond session content.


sformatio

n Society


What the Question Tells Us 2/2

In asking the question, the participant is also sharing – with those attending the session, and those who will watch the recording.

Attendees might be motivated to look into Lean Information Flow and make their own conclusions.

If we had an appropriate integrated learning community, they also might be motivated to discuss their conclusions with the community.


sformatio

n Society


A Few Guidelines

Can it be generalised to other clients or situations? Does it have implications for a regulated environment, health, or safety (if applicable)? Is it robust – does it have legs?

Always ask for input

Never promise to use it

Do promise to take it seriously – and follow up on that promise.

When deciding, take into account:

Use good ideas, wherever they come from – With attribution

Be a good curator

Know when to stop


sformatio

n Society


betwe

en see

mingly

unrelat

ed thin

gs

Be a Change Agent

Make C

onnect

ions


sformatio

n Society

I’m Ray Gallon - The Humanist Nerd

20 years in technical communication with major companies such as G.E. Healthcare, IBM, etc.

Member, board of directors, Society for Technical Communication (STC)

Past president, STC France

Award-‐winning radio producer and journalist – CBC, NPR, France Culture, etc. and former programme manager, WNYC-‐FM, New York Public Radio

Research collaborator and principal, The Transformation Society, a new research and training institute in Barcelona, Spain

Owner/Consultant, Culturecom – specialist in business process improvement through communication


sformatio

n Society

What We Can Help You DoAnalyse needs and get a jump on complexity

Design and architect a content strategy, user information systems, communication

Work with you to capture value from your users

Workshops, webinars, or training to help manage and adapt to change

The Tran

sformation

Society

Presentation © 2014 Ray Gallon

Thank You

Email: [email protected]

Google Plus: +Ray Gallon Twitter: @RayGallon

LinkedIn: Ray Gallon

@TransformSocThe Tran

sformatio

n Society

Pass me your business card Let’s talk!

Portions of this presentation based on research by

the Transformation Society Research group.

Rant of a Humanist Nerd http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net

Blog:

http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net

Good Content, Good Strategy, Good Business: Put it All in Your Software

Software

Transcript of Good Content, Good Strategy, Good Business: Put it All in Your Software