1. I believe effective content is…
EFFECTIVE CONTENT ON AGILE TEAMS
INSIGHT-DRIVEN
When data, testing, and content
hang out, exciting things happen.
PART OF A WHOLE
Words, design, and code need to
harmonize. (So do their creators.)
ITERATIVE
Write, ship, measure, enhance, repeat.
Validated learning is a matter of survival.
MOBILE-OPTIMIZED
Remember when you could get away
with not doing this? 😂
I have found effective content flows when writers…
A dispatch from the trenches
© 2019 James Houston
COLLABORATE
with designers (early and often)
• “Thoughts on these headlines? (Ignore #3 if you’re not
going with the dog & frisbee photo.)”
• “Agreed, it's weird as placeholder text. Could it be a
tooltip? If 54% of form abandonments really happen
here, maybe ‘more info is better’ until we plug the leak.”
VERIFY
information accuracy
• “Are we sure that’s what triggers this error
message? And there’s nowhere else it can
appear? Can the API team confirm?”
• “Who is the payments SME I should connect
with to confirm when this late fee kicks in?”
LISTEN
during reviews & approvals (ego not invited)
• “That’s a much better way of putting it for customers.
Looks like I’ve spent too long in the weeds of this
product’s technical documentation.”
• “OK, clearly this disclaimer has to be on this page. Will
the CFPB throw the book at us if it goes in the footer?”
LEARN
and iterate
• “Whoa, app downloads went up 344% the day our email
went out. Can we get a clicks-by-location breakdown? I
wrote all the link and CTA text for maximum reusability.”
• “That landing page headline seriously won the split
test?!? Glad no one took my $100 bet it would finish dead
last. Just a minute while I rewrite half the headlines I’m
working on now for the new pages.”
CLARIFY
the purpose
• “What problem is this addressing? (Whose
problem is it? What is the desired outcome?)”
• “What data and insights do we have about the
problem? (How big is it? What is the root cause?)”
• “After release, when and how will we start tracking
results? How soon can we iterate?”
UNDERSTAND
the audience(s)
• “Who is reading this? (Who else might see it?) What
insights do we [have / need] about them?”
• “What is the user journey to here? How does this
content end up in front of a user’s eyeballs?”
• “What does the target audience [know / think / feel /
assume] when they see this? What do we want them
to [understand / do] after seeing it?”
![I believe effective content is…
EFFECTIVE CONTENT ON AGILE TEAMS
INSIGHT-DRIVEN
When data, testing, and content
hang out, exciting things happen.
PART OF A WHOLE
Words, design, and code need to
harmonize. (So do their creators.)
ITERATIVE
Write, ship, measure, enhance, repeat.
Validated learning is a matter of survival.
MOBILE-OPTIMIZED
Remember when you could get away
with not doing this? 😂
I have found effective content flows when writers…
A dispatch from the trenches
© 2019 James Houston
COLLABORATE
with designers (early and often)
• “Thoughts on these headlines? (Ignore #3 if you’re not
going with the dog & frisbee photo.)”
• “Agreed, it's weird as placeholder text. Could it be a
tooltip? If 54% of form abandonments really happen
here, maybe ‘more info is better’ until we plug the leak.”
VERIFY
information accuracy
• “Are we sure that’s what triggers this error
message? And there’s nowhere else it can
appear? Can the API team confirm?”
• “Who is the payments SME I should connect
with to confirm when this late fee kicks in?”
LISTEN
during reviews & approvals (ego not invited)
• “That’s a much better way of putting it for customers.
Looks like I’ve spent too long in the weeds of this
product’s technical documentation.”
• “OK, clearly this disclaimer has to be on this page. Will
the CFPB throw the book at us if it goes in the footer?”
LEARN
and iterate
• “Whoa, app downloads went up 344% the day our email
went out. Can we get a clicks-by-location breakdown? I
wrote all the link and CTA text for maximum reusability.”
• “That landing page headline seriously won the split
test?!? Glad no one took my $100 bet it would finish dead
last. Just a minute while I rewrite half the headlines I’m
working on now for the new pages.”
CLARIFY
the purpose
• “What problem is this addressing? (Whose
problem is it? What is the desired outcome?)”
• “What data and insights do we have about the
problem? (How big is it? What is the root cause?)”
• “After release, when and how will we start tracking
results? How soon can we iterate?”
UNDERSTAND
the audience(s)
• “Who is reading this? (Who else might see it?) What
insights do we [have / need] about them?”
• “What is the user journey to here? How does this
content end up in front of a user’s eyeballs?”
• “What does the target audience [know / think / feel /
assume] when they see this? What do we want them
to [understand / do] after seeing it?”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/effectivecontentonagileteams-jameshouston-190714170114/85/Effective-Content-on-Agile-Teams-1-320.jpg?cb=1563123898)
