Jared M. Spool discussing content and design as work partners
by Jared M. Spool
It’s fascinating to observe user behavior in usability testing, sometimes revealing unexpected insights into their priorities and frustrations. In one session, a shopper was browsing for a coin purse online, and despite finding a visually appealing option that met her basic needs for size and card storage, she hesitated at the purchase point. The design of the purse, while aesthetically pleasing, wasn’t the primary concern blocking the sale.
Her dilemma wasn’t about the look, but about a critical functional detail. “I can’t tell if it has a zipper,” she confessed. Her past experience with a zipper-less coin purse, resulting in loose change cluttering her bag, made this feature essential. She was ready to buy if it had a zipper, yet the product description and images failed to confirm its presence. The visual presentation, in this case, was inadequate, leaving a crucial content gap.
Despite the uncertainty, she tentatively decided, “I think I’ll buy it, then if it doesn’t have the zipper, I’ll just return it.” However, before clicking ‘BUY,’ she paused again, scrolling through the page. “I’m trying to figure out what happens if I return this?” she inquired, seeking information about the return process.
Her attempts to find this information were met with dead ends. The FAQ section was unhelpful, and a search for ‘Refund Policy’ yielded ‘No Results found for: Refund Policy.’ The checkout process remained unseen in that session, highlighting a significant disconnect between the website’s design and its content strategy. Post-session, the team confirmed a refund policy existed, but it was inaccessible through search because “Search is for content and the refund policy isn’t content.”
Rethinking Content: Beyond the Database
This anecdote exposes a common misconception: defining content narrowly, often limited to database entries like product descriptions or marketing articles. The e-commerce team considered their product database as the sole repository of content. The refund policy, a static page outside this database, was not categorized as content and therefore, undiscoverable via their content-focused search.
This limited view of content is not unique to this e-commerce site. It’s a widespread issue, a daily battle for content strategists advocating for a broader, user-centric definition of content.
Content: Meeting User Needs in Real-Time
Consider a different scenario: a traveler struggling on an airline website to retrieve a boarding pass. This boarding pass is critical content, acting as their ticket through security and onto their flight. Yet, the airline’s website seemed designed to prioritize everything else. It bombarded the user with promotions for frequent flyer programs, baggage policies, and seat upgrades, overshadowing the boarding pass retrieval process.
For the user, the boarding pass was paramount. For the airline’s website, it seemed secondary. This misalignment led to user frustration, undermining the airline’s brand image of being “friendly” and “easy.” The website design, while potentially visually appealing, failed to deliver the most crucial content effectively.
It’s likely the airline’s team doesn’t classify the boarding pass as content. It’s algorithmically generated, not authored by the marketing team, and may fall outside the content strategy purview. However, from the user’s perspective, it is the most vital piece of content at that moment. This disconnect underscores the critical need to redefine content.
Our definition of content needs to evolve to encompass everything the user needs right now. Content isn’t defined by its creation method or storage location. If it serves a user need, it is content.
Design’s Purpose: Facilitating Content Access and Utility
Content’s primacy in design is not a novel concept. UX expert Karen McGrane famously stated that design without content consideration is like gifting a beautifully wrapped empty box – visually appealing but ultimately disappointing. Steph Hay further emphasizes that “content is the entire reason people come to a design in the first place.”
The modern approach demands a shift towards inseparable integration of content creation and design. These should not be separate, sequential processes but concurrent, collaborative efforts, structurally and organizationally aligned to create exceptional user experiences. Content and design are inseparable Work Partners.
Extensive research into the skills of effective UX designers has identified eight core competencies: user research, interaction design, information architecture, visual design, copywriting/content strategy, design process management, information design, and editing/curation. Historically, content strategy was viewed as one component among many in UX design.
However, the coin purse example demonstrates that content is interwoven with information architecture (site navigation, search functionality) and design techniques (user research to understand user needs). Similarly, the airline boarding pass scenario illustrates how interaction design, visual design, and content curation are crucial for successful content delivery. These examples highlight the symbiotic relationship between content and design; they are truly work partners.
Organizational Integration: Reflecting the Content-Design Partnership
Users perceive design and content as a unified entity. Why, then, do organizations often treat them as separate departments?
Historically, organizational structures have siloed content and design teams. This separation, while seemingly efficient for task specialization, creates artificial barriers. While past processes and tools may have justified this division, and control concerns played a role, a lack of understanding of the user experience impact was a key factor.
Now, with user experience research illuminating the impact of content and design integration (or lack thereof), the detrimental effects of this separation are evident. Organizational structures must adapt.
Leading organizations like The New York Times exemplify this integration. Their design teams are embedded within the newsroom, fostering close collaboration with editorial staff. This organizational structure enables the rapid deployment of sophisticated, interactive content that enhances news storytelling. UX designers are integral to the editorial process, not external consultants. Their integrated structure is directly reflected in their superior user experience.
User experiences mirror organizational structures. To achieve seamless content and design integration in user-facing products, organizations must foster genuine integration between content and design teams. They are not just teams working in parallel; they are indispensable work partners in creating successful digital experiences.
Published here on September 20, 2018.
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