What do companies such as Slack and Porter Airlines have in common? Not only do they have well-designed interfaces that get your users’ job done, but also content that is clear, intentional, and serves a unique purpose. In an age where great design is won or lost at the user experience (UX) level, how can we ensure that we deliver websites or apps that are not just pretty but also purposeful in both design and content? In this session, we will be using a UX research technique called “Contextual Personas” to kickstart your content design process. We will be mashing up the time-honoured techniques of persona creation – such as user interviews, contextual inquiry, etc. – with strategic foresight methods to identify some user types and content strategies for your target audience. By identifying users across their most critical and uncertain needs, we will be able to pinpoint what exactly do they want out of our product or service and how we can achieve their goals through our copy, through our design, and throughout their user journey. Don’t let “lorem ipsum” hold you back! Let contextual personas deliver the insight you need to build digital products that users love. (Presented at WordCamp Toronto, August 7, 2016)

1. Jesse
Emmanuel
Rosario
Contextual
Personas for
Content Design

2. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
• User Experience Specialist,
Analy4cal Engine Interac4ve, Inc.
(Toronto, ON, Canada)
About Me
@jemrosario
#WCTO2016
SLIDES HERE:
http://bit.ly/1VtUQHJ

3. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
I want a
website!
I want
another
website!
I’ve got
tons of
websites!
YEAH!
Acme, Inc.’s Web “Roadmap”
Me
too!
Me!
Me!
Me!

4. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Me! Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
Me!
$@)#(^
*%&!!!
RESULT: Too. Much. Websites.
Me!
Me!

5. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Meanwhile, in Good Guy Joe’s crib…
One million
hits?!?
What am I supposed
to do with that?
Good luck getting through ALL of them, dude…

6. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Our World Today…
IMAGE FROM:
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/animals081911/a09_RTR2P4Y2.jpg
We don’t need more of
the same content, keywords,
ads or whatever per se.
We need a
be4er understanding
of our users’ deepest needs
and build our products and
services surrounding them –
including content.

7. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
CONTEXTUAL
PERSONAS
Teases out user types and
usage scenarios to better
inform your product and
content strategy decisions.

8. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
“What you post is not as important as why you post…”
- Kathi Kruse (Kruse Control, Inc.)
FACT:
quality
content
(SWEET!)
moar
content!!!

9. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
“Content Design”
“When we talk about content design
we mean taking a user need and
presen.ng it in GOV.UK in the best
way possible.”
UK Government Digital Service, “What is Content Design?”
Deliver the most useful content in the most appropriate format.

10. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
User Needs = “Job-to-be-Done”
• People don’t just buy
products. They “hire”
them to do a job.
– Pain Point: Situa4ons where
customers want some problem
solved
– The Thing They’ll Hire: …and they’re
looking to hire something that fixes
that problem

11. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
CONTEXTUAL
PERSONAS
UX research method that
was born out of a need to
combine behavioural
insight and product
context.

12. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
CONTEXTUAL
PERSONAS
Surfaces your users’
potential relationship with
the product/service being
built by calling out the most
critical and uncertain
factors surrounding them.

13. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Try It!
Porter Airlines is opening a
new Porter Escapes seasonal
route to Puerto Rico this
summer!*
As the airline’s newest Senior Director, Digital Strategy,
how would you get the Internet buzzing about Porter’s
newest route?
What content strategy would you deploy and why?
*NOT REALLY. But suppose it’s the case… for now.

14. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
• Big-@cket + Uncertain factors surrounding your users.
Find your Critical Uncertainties
What is the
most hard-hitting/
crucial factor about
your users that
could affect the
product/service’s
creation?
What is the
most uncertain/
volatile factor
surrounding your
users?

15. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
• How do we find that?
– User research (user interviews, primary and
secondary research, analy4cs research,
surveys, ethnography, contextual inquiry, etc.)
– Synthesize the raw data
• Affinity mapping
• Iden4fy recurring themes (put a heading on them).
• The Five Whys (a.k.a. root cause analysis)
Find your Critical Uncertainties

16. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Don’t be that guy or girl!

17. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
• Iden4fy the cri@cal and the uncertain.
Find your Critical Uncertainties
CRITICAL:
Travel Budget
(a.k.a. “How much
money do I have to go
on this trip?”)
UNCERTAIN:
Time of
Booking

18. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
RICH TRAVELER
MONEY-CONSCIOUS TRAVELER
PRE-PLANNED
CRITICAL:
Travel Budget
(a.k.a. “How much
money do I have to
go on this trip?”)
UNCERTAIN:
Time of
Booking
Rich
Escapist
Travel
Architect
Thrillseeker
on a Budget
ThoughEul
Wanderer
LAST-MINUTE,
SPONTANEOUS

19. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
RICH TRAVELER
MONEY-CONSCIOUS TRAVELER
PRE-PLANNED
Rich
Escapist
Travel
Architect
Thrillseeker
on a Budget
ThoughEul
Wanderer
LAST-MINUTE,
SPONTANEOUS
RESULT:
User
types
• More UX research
(e.g. Personas,
Customer Journey
Maps, etc.)
• More Content
Design and
Strategy planning

20. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Great!
So what can you do with
Contextual Personas?
(a.k.a. Hmmm…)

21. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
BIG PICTURE: Content Design Workflow
SOURCE: Bailie and Urbina, “Setting A Context for a Content Strategy Vocabulary” (2012)
Content Architecture Content Development
Content
Types
Content
Flows
Content
Models
Content
Genres
Editorial
Structures
Editorial
Standards
Content Design
U S E R R E S E A R C H
by Rahel Ann Bailie and Noz Urbina (2012)
Jem added this,
by the way…

22. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
SOURCE: Donna Lichaw and Lis Hubert, “Storymapping: A MacGyver Approach to Content Strategy” (2014, Slide 10). Additions in yellow mine.
JOBS-TO-BE-DONE FRAMEWORK (Christensen, 2013)
STORYMAPPING (Lichaw, 2016)

23. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
SOURCE: Donna Lichaw, The User’s Journey (Rosenfeld Media, 2016)
Our goal as product
designers and content
strategists is to
support the user in
their overall journey
through the design and
content decisions we make
with our products.
Turn your user
from zero to HERO!

24. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
HIGH AWARENESS OF CANADA
AS A BUSINESS DESTINATION
Status
Quo
Keeper
The
Deter-
mined
Investor
The
Curious
Investor
“Why
Canada
?”
LOW
UNDERSTANDING
OF DEVELOPED
MARKETS
LOW AWARENESS OF CANADA
AS A BUSINESS DESTINATION
HIGH
UNDERSTANDING
OF DEVELOPED
MARKETS
So we once worked
with a consultant
who wanted a
website that helps
foreign investors
establish their
business in Canada…

25. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
Content Funnel/Plan
User Type/
Scenarios
Content
Ideas
Ques@ons
of Concern
Content Types
we can offer
Status Quo Keeper Ar4cle: Biz in
Canada vs US
Has anyone else
done this before?
Infographics
Determined Investor Home Page: How
[client] can help
Who should I work
with?
Case studies,
tes4monials
Curious Investor Online quiz, who to
follow on social
media
How do I take my
business global and
where?
Ar4cles,
infographics,
white papers
“Why Canada?” Ar4cle: How is
Canada a good biz
environment?
Why pilot in
Canada?
Ar4cles,
infographics, ebook
User Research informed Content Strategy

26. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
“Future-Friendly Content”
SCREENSHOT FROM: Mike Atherton and Carrie Hane, “Designing Future-Friendly Content” (GatherContent Webinar)
Structured, presentation-independent, and in “chunks” than “blobs”
Title
Author
Date Published
Body
Social Buhons
ARTICLE
Event Name
Time
Venue
Descrip4on
Contact Info
EVENT
Name
Job Title
Company
Session Name
Contact Info
SPEAKER
…
Content
elements
e.g. Page, Quiz,
Survey, etc.

27. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
• Contextual Personas =
Behavioral Insights + Product Context.
• Surfaces your users’ poten4al rela4onship with your product/
service by calling out the cri4cal and uncertain factors
surrounding them.
• Content-wise, it covers much more ground cri4cal to achieving
relevance and user goals.
• The start of a user-driven and research-informed content
strategy.
In Conclusion

28. WordCamp Toronto 2016 | August 6-7, 2016
If you only have to remember one thing…
IMAGE BY: Ed Lea

29. Jesse
Emmanuel
Rosario
Contextual
Personas for
Content Design