My Lightning Talk at the London Content Strategy Meet Up: Feb 2013

1. Applying
Lean principles to
content strategy
Ellis Pratt
Clear and simple information your users will love
Thursday, 28 February 2013

2. 1. What is Lean?
A process for making things
Used today in healthcare and
other areas
A relative of Agile & Six Sigma
Thursday, 28 February 2013

3. It’s different from
The Lean Startup
That asks,
How can we build a viable
business before the money
runs out?
and uses Lean methods to find the
answer
Lean ≠ minimalism
Thursday, 28 February 2013

4. Lean in a nutshell
Add nothing but
value to the
customer
Minimise waste
Thursday, 28 February 2013

5. There are 3, 7 or 8
wastes in Lean
Not adding value
Overburden
Too difficult / Too much
Unevenness
Waiting
Thursday, 28 February 2013

6. 2.How can Lean help
the user experience?
Maximise value for them?
Minimise when they are wasteful?
Thursday, 28 February 2013

7. Waste - for the user
Content that’s not needed or
Doesn’t meet their needs
Too difficult or detailed
Delays in finding information
Thursday, 28 February 2013

8. Are you‘processing
waste’?
Do you have an
efficient process,
but
you’re producing
something that add
little value to the user?
Thursday, 28 February 2013

9. 3. How can Lean help
the content creation
process?
Thursday, 28 February 2013

10. A Lean project plan
Is there a
Implementation
compelling need Current state
plan
to do the work?
How we measure Result from
Desired state
success change
Risks, limitations, Roles and
Lessons learnt
issues responsibilities
Thursday, 28 February 2013

11. Waste - for the writer
Creating content that’s not needed
Editing/multiple drafts
Too much work and
Not enough time
Delays in approving & publishing
content
Thursday, 28 February 2013

12. Lots of Lean concepts
we could use
Value Stream Mapping
Voice of The Customer
Sort-Set-Shine-Standardise-Sustain
Cycle/lead/takt time
Push and Pull/Just-in-time
Rapid Improvement Event
Focus Improvement Teams
Thursday, 28 February 2013

13. One piece flow
Instead of batch processing
even though it’s counterintuitive
You’ll spot errors much more
quickly
Image: Geoff Rixon
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14. One piece flow
Review topics as soon as
possible?
Translate as soon as a
topic is completed?
Publish as soon as a topic
is completed?
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15. Runners, Repeaters and
Strangers
90% Runners
9% Repeaters
1% Strangers
Image © Mark Eaton
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16. Andon cord &
Poke Yoke
If there is a problem,
anyone can stop the
line
Swarm around the
problem
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17. Lean and Agile
Helps you identify when
“document late” is a bad idea
(by causing other wastes not
considered by Agile)
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18. 4. What are the
takeaways?
Thursday, 28 February 2013

19. What Lean offers
Makes problems visible
Better way to assess and apply
structured/adaptive/intelligent
content etc
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20. What Lean offers
Better deliverables
More efficient system
Free mini ebook
ellis@cherryleaf.com
Thursday, 28 February 2013