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FromContentAudittoDesignInsight:Howacontentauditfacilitatesdecisionmakingandinfluencesdesignstrategy:Howacontentauditfacilitates

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FromContentAuditto
DesignInsight:Howa
contentaudit
facilitatesdecision
makingandinfluences
designstrategy
Inaddition
to
assessinga
websites
content
quantity
andquality,
aproper
contentauditcanhelpuncoversubstantive
insightsthatinfluencedesigndirectionand
strategy.
ArticleNo:806|March20,2012|byChristopherDetzi

Throughoutmycareer,Ivegenerallyunderstoodthevalueofdoing(orhaving)acontentaudit
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asaninputintoawebsiteredesign.Acontentauditisanassessmentofawebsitescontent
frombothaquantitativeperspective(i.e.,Howmuchcontentisthere?)andaqualitativeone
(i.e.,Isthecontentanygood?).Butwhatsnotoftendiscussedorunderstoodaboutcontent
auditsarethesignificantbenefitstheyyieldbeyondthebasicassessmentofcontentquantity
andquality.
OnarecentprojectIworkedon,thecontentauditwascrucialtofacilitatingstrategic
conversationsabout design(/topics/design) direction.Theseconversationswouldhavebeen
muchmoredifficultwithouthavingcompletedthecontentaudit.Weusedtheauditinseveral
ways,eachinstrumentalinguidingtheeffort:
1. Revealthetruescaleofthewebsitescontent(therewaslessthanwethought).
2. Clarifyandrefinetheprojectscope(ittookonadifferentfocusthanwehadexpected).
3. Facilitatestrategicdiscussionsaboutdesignobjectivesanddirection(whichweredifferent
fromwhatourstakeholdershadimagined).
4. Establishacommonlanguagefortheteamtousethroughouttheproject(whichwasmore
complicatedthanwehadanticipated).
Illusethisprojectasaframeworktohighlighthowtoeffectivelyapproachandusecontent
auditsinthecontextofawebsiteredesignproject.

TheProject
Thetaskwasdaunting:toreinvigorateandmakenewlyrelevantadustyoldemployeeintranet
thathadbeenanunregulatedcontentdumpinggroundforalmosttenyears.Ongoingneglect
hadwreakedhavoc,andthewebsitesusershadsimplystoppedusingit.
Theproblemswereclear:
Employeescouldntfindtheinformationtheyneeded.
Theinformationtheydidfindwasoutofdateorirrelevant.
Contentwascategorized,structured,anddisplayedinconsistently.
Employeeswentelsewheretogetwhattheyneeded.

TheProcess
Acontentaudittypicallystartswithapagebypagecataloging(orinventory)ofawebsites
content.Thiscanbeapainstakingandtimeconsumingprocessdependinguponhowmuch
contentisonthewebsite.ManydesignersIveworkedwithgrudginglyadmitthevalueofthis
activity,butitsdeprioritizedbecauseitsperceivedasrequiringalargetimeinvestment
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relativetoitsvalue.Andinmanywaysthisperceptionisright.Aninventoryofawebsites
contentonaspreadsheetisjustrawdata.Itdoesnttellyoumuchaboutthecontentotherthan
whatsthere.Thehardworkand,ultimately,thepayoffrestfirmlyonfindingthenuggetsof
wisdomembeddedintherawdata.
Wecandothatbyusingthecontentauditasaplatformforfacilitatingoftendifficult
conversationswithstakeholdersaboutthepurposeofthesite,theprioritiesofusers,andthe
operationalconstraintsandopportunities.
Therearemanywaystobreakdownandanalyzeawebsitescontenttofacilitatethese
discussionsandinformdesigndecisions.WhatfollowsaretheareasthatIvefoundtobemost
effectiveinthecontextofawebsiteredesign:

Identifyanddocumentcontentvolumeand
types
Atthestartofanyredesign,thereareoftenwildexaggerationsofhowmuchcontenthastobe
dealtwith.Theseopinionstendtofeedanxietiesandoverwhelm,andareoftenwhythe
prospectofcompletingcontentauditsaretooquicklydismissed.Havingdataonhowmuch
contentisactuallytheregiveseveryoneontheteamarealnumbertoobjectivelyconsiderand
planaround.
Volume
Ontheintranetproject,werealizedimmediatelythatthenumbersweregrosslyoverestimated.
Thesitewasbig,butnotasbigaseveryonethoughtitwas.Over60%ofthepageswere,in
fact,PDForMicrosoftOfficefiles,manyofwhichwereduplicativeofexistingHTMLpages.This
revelationhelpedclarifythescopeofwhatweweredealingwith.
Oncewedsortedandtalliedthecontentofthewebsite,thenextstepwastouseittofacilitate
discussionsaboutthefutureplansforcontent:
Isallofthiscontentstillrelevant?Whatbusiness,customer,oremployeeneeddoesit
support?
Whatnewcontentmustbecreatedinthecomingmonths?Whatsdrivingthoseneeds?
Whatdrovedecisionsaboutfiletypesand/orvariationsinformatthatexist?Dothese
decisionsstillhold?

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Identifyanddocumentthecurrentcontent
structure
Theresalwayssomesortofstructure,evenonpoorlydesignedwebsites.Creatingvisual
illustrationsofthesestructuresandtheirorganizingprinciplesoftenrevealsproblemsor
odditiesthatcanhelpinformthedirectionofthedesignsolution.

Ontheintranetproject,wediscoveredthattheorganizationofcontentwasillconceivedand
notaccommodatingofoperationalrealities.Forexample,therewereninecontentareas,
however,over50%ofthecontentwasinjustoneofthoseareas.Thislopsideddistribution
createdtoomanylayersofnavigationandcontributedtopoorcontentdiscoveryandrecall.
Onceyouhaveavisualdepictionofhowthecurrentcontentisstructuredandorganized,you
canusethistofacilitatethefollowingdiscussions:
Whywascontentorganizedinthisfashion?Whatdrovesomeoftheseearlydecisions?
Whatinformationhasbeendifficulttoclassifyandorganizewithinthisframework?
Whatarethemostimportantcontenttypesrelativetobusinessobjectives?
Whathavepeopletoldyouabouthowthecontentiscurrentlyorganized?

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Assesswhetherthecontentisbeingused
Havingacontentinventory(includingproductionURLs)givesyouamapandreferencepoint
forsiteanalytics.Whilethesereportscansometimesbemisinterpreted,theydogivehighlevel
insightintohowthecurrentsiteisorisntbeingused,andwhatcontentissoughtmostoften.
Traffic
Ontheintranetproject,weusedthesereportstoenhancefindingsfromuserinterviews.For
example,usersdidnotexpressadesiretounderstandorganizationalhierarchyorreporting
structures,yetviewsanddownloadsoforganizationalchartswerehigh.Theseareimportant
realizationsfordesign.
Thisdatacanbeusedtohavefrankdiscussionsaboutwhatisandisntneededonthesite.
Whatcontentisrarelyused?Istheresomethingdefinitivethatcanbededucedfromthis?
Whatdoesthepopularityofcertaincontentsayabouthowpeopleareusingthissite?Can
thatcontentbeextendedandimprovedupontogivethemevenmore?
Howcanthedesignbestructuredtofacilitateaccesstoknownimportantinformation?
Aretherewaysofrevealingtherelevanceofcontentthatsnotcurrentlybeingused?

Documentinconsistentcontentpresentation
Acommonproblemwithneglectedorpoorlymanagedsitesisthelevelofinconsistencyin
contentdesignandpresentation.Takingscreenshotsofawiderangeofpagesand
presentationtypesduringyourauditisagreatwaytocaptureinconsistenciesandidentify
opportunitiesforconsolidation.
Ontheintranetproject,weshowedalargearrayscreenshotsandthenillustratedhowthe
contentstructurecouldbenormalizedatthepresentationlevel,eliminatinginconsistencies
andunnecessaryvariations.Wedidthisbyidentifyingcommoncontentattributeseventhough
thecontentdisplayswerewildlydifferent.
Spendingthetimetocaptureandannotatescreenshotsearlyonisessentialforproductive
discussionsaboutoperationalrealitiesandfuturedesigndirection.Usetheseartifactsto
answer:
Isthereareasonsimilarcontentispresenteddifferently?Sometimesthisisforlegitimate
businessreasons,suchasaligningwithofflinecollateral.
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Wherehaveeffortstoconsolidategoneawry?Whatsdrivingtheseinconsistenciesbeyond
justlackofawareness?

TheResults
Intheintranetproject,thisprocessuncoveredmanyinsightsthatleddirectlytodesign
decisions,mostnotably:

Anacuteawarenessofpriorities
Knowingwhatcontentisonthesiteandwhy,andwhatisactuallybeingused,isessentialto
understandingpriorities.Theauditfacilitatedconversationsandshapedquestionsabout
contentusefulnessandutilitythatotherwisewouldnothavebeenasfruitfulorrevealing.

Businessandoperationalconstraints
Businessandoperationalconstraintsareoftenrevealedthroughtheauditingprocess.Inthis
project,therewereclearlyoperationalconstraintsthatwouldlimitwhatwecouldproposewith
anydesignsolution.Forexample,whilethestakeholderslikedtheconceptofafresh,news
orientedhomepage,theysimplydidnthavethebandwidthtosupportregularupdates.
Assessmentsandfollowupdiscussionsrevealedtheseconstraintsmoreclearlythanwould
havebeenthecasehadwenotundertakentheaudit.Andthesediscussionsshapedhowwe
approachedthedesign,ensuringthatwhateverwerecommendeddidntconflictwith
operationalrealities.

Acommonlanguage
Auditscanrevealorganizationspecificlanguageandterminologythatisunfamiliartothose
outsideoftheorganization.Inthisproject,thecontentwascrypticinmanyways,sotheaudit
helpedusdecodethecontentandestablishasharedunderstandingofconcepts.Asaresult,
designreviewswerelessabstract,andalignedmorecloselywithhowtheinternalteams
thoughtandtalkedaboutcontent.Additionally,wewereabletoreuseexistingcontentinour
prototypestorevealstructuraldecisionsand,wherenecessary,writerepresentativecopyto
serveasaguidepostforfuturecontentdevelopmentefforts.

Atruesenseofscale
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Thesitewasdefinitelybig,butnotinthewayeveryoneorwethoughtitwas.Wegainedamore
nuancedviewofthecontent,comingtounderstandthatwewerenttalkingabouta10,000
pagesite.Thissubstantiallychangedhowwethoughtaboutthedesignandthenumberofpage
andcontenttypedesignvariationsweactuallyneededtoaccommodate.Thisrealizationalso
broughtahealthylevelofobjectivitytotheconversationsandremovedalotofanxietiesdriven
(mostly)byuncertainties.

Ifapproachedcorrectly,contentauditsareanexceptionallypowerfultool.Beyondthebasic
assessmentofawebsitescontentquantityandquality,theyhelpdesignersunderstandan
informationspace,facilitatestrategicconversations,anduncoversubstantiveinsightsthat
directlyinfluencedesigndirectionandstrategy.Inshort,weincreaseourlikelihoodofredesign
successbyapproachingauditswiththesebroadergoalsinmind.

AbouttheAuthor(s)

Keytopicsinthisarticle
ContentandCopy(/topics/content
andcopy)
ContentStrategy(/topics/content
strategy)

(/contributors/christopherdetzi)
ChristopherDetzi(/contributors/christopherdetzi)
ChrisDetziisanaccomplisheduserexperienceprofessionalwith
over15yearsofexperiencespanningdesign,userresearch,and
businessstrategy.Hesleadanumberoflargedesignandresearch
programsthroughouthiscareerasbothaconsultantandemployee
ofFortune500companies.Chrishasalsosuccessfullybuiltand
integrateddesignteamsintoorganizationsandhasadeep
appreciationforwhatittakestoachievesuccess.Hisprofessional
interestslieindesignstrategy,designresearch,andinformation
design,thoughhesalsoanawardwinningInformationArchitect.

InformationDesignandArchitecture
(/topics/informationdesignand
architecture)
Nomenclature
(/topics/nomenclature)

PriortojoiningEightShapes,ChrisworkedattelecomSprintNextel,
wherehebuiltuserexperienceteamsandintegrateddesign
techniquesintotheorganization.Healsoleadmanylargescale
customerfacingandinternalredesignefforts,includingseveralweb
selfserviceapplicationsandcustomercaresystemsusedbyboth
customersandsupportteams.
Theseexperiences,alongwithChriscollaborativeanddiplomatic
style,ledhimtofacilitatetheworkshopDifficultConversationsin
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FromContentAudittoDesignInsight:Howacontentauditfacilitatesdecisionmakingandinfluencesdesignstrategy:Howacontentauditfacilitates

CreativeEnvironmentswithDanBrownatthe2009IASummit.
Laterin2009,Chrispublishedthearticle"TheContentConundrum"
onboxesandarrows.com.Thearticlegeneratedmorediscussion
thananyotherarticleinthemagazinethatyear,andwascalleda
gamechangerbyexpertsinthefield.FollowChris'ongoing
explorationofthetheintersectionbetweenContentStrategyand
InformationArchitectureontheEightShapesblog.
ChrisjoinedEightshapesinNovemberof2007toleadarangeof
projectsandinitiativesforthecompanyandlooksforwardtohelping
thecompanygrowandshapingtheuserexperiencedesignpractice.
InhissparetimeChrisenjoysmountainbiking,golfing,andspending
timewithhiswife,andthreeincrediblyenergeticchildren.

UXJobopportunities
UI/UXDesignerScottsdale,UnitedStates
(/uxjobs/bolste/uiuxdesigner)
BolsteJune15,2015

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