Online experiences can be fast, efficient, easy, orderly—and sometimes, that’s a recipe for disaster. Users click confirm too soon, confuse important details, or miss a key feature in a product description. They blame their frustration on system speed, and we can learn a valuable lesson: Efficient isn’t always effective. Not all experiences need to be fast to be functional. In fact, some of the most memorable and profitable engagements are slow and messy… and that’s just right. Entropy drives discovery, but it requires careful planning in the form of content strategy. Content strategy can identify and support these outliers of user experience. We’ll discuss cutting edge examples from storytelling, gaming, and the brick-and-mortar world to pinpoint new tactics in content strategy that you can apply to aid learning, retention, and user satisfaction. Help your audience soak up the journey or just engage with more certainty; content strategy can help you control the pace. Presented at UXPA Boston 2013, #uxpabos13 May 29, 2013, in Boston.

1. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013© 2012
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein #UXPABos13
UXPA Boston 052913
WHOA NELLIE:
CONTENT STRATEGY FOR
PACING USER EXPERIENCE

2. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
©ScottA.MillerforChevrolet

3. These people are waiting
in a line.

4. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
©ScottA.MillerforChevrolet

5. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

6. These people are delighting
in a line:
they’re engaged,
anticipating,
discovering,
creating memories.
They’re in the moment.
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13

7. These people are delighting
in a line:
they’re engaged,
anticipating,
discovering,
creating memories
thanks to content.
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13

8. Content will change an experience
and a user’s perception of it.
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13

9. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
You wait longer, but you’re engaged
before you get there. You’re invested in
the experience.
Keri Maijala (@clamhead)

10. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
When people have a frustrating
experience, they rate the checkout as
slow.
When we ask people what’s ‘slow,’ it’s
the frustrating experiences. What’s
fast? They say delightful experiences.
Jared Spool (@jmspool)

11. That was horrible
and it took forever.

12. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Is the nature of the transaction so
small and insignificant that it
shouldn’t require a second thought?
Don’t get in the way. Or will the
consumer get to the final transaction
after plenty of preliminary research?
Again, don’t make them rethink it.
Jared Spool (@jmspool)

13. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

14. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Efficient isn’t always effective—
or good.

15. Users say frustrating activities
take forever.
But are time-consuming
activities also inherently
frustrating?
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13

16. © Charlotte & Kristian Septimius Krogh

17. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Users can appreciate slow
experiences:
they’re engaged,
anticipating,
creating memories.
They discover, learn, and pay
attention to act deliberately.
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
“bad” slow vs. “good” slow?

18. Users can appreciate slow
experiences:
they’re engaged,
anticipating,
creating memories.
They discover, learn, and pay
attention to act deliberately.
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13

19. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
What will a slow pace do?
• Drive exploration & discovery
• Encourage deliberate choices
• Focus users’ attention

20. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
How do you set the pace?
• Editorial style and structures
• Discovery-oriented content
• Design that creates space

21. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
How do you set the pace?
1. Editorial style and structures

22. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Users can appreciate slow
experiences.
they’re engaged,
anticipating,
creating memories.

23. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Users can appreciate slow
experiences.
they’re engaged,
anticipating,
creating memories.

24. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

25. “Choosing a lens can be a daunting task
for all of the reasons mentioned above,
so I pulled together some info from my
own experiences, as well as those of
other Crutchfield shutterbugs.”

27. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
“Springtime shaded belays at the creek,
predawn starts in the Canadian Rockies
and hut tours in the High Sierra:
Anywhere brisk, the Down Sweater
delivers featherweight, superbly
compressible warmth.The polyester
ripstop shell on this down jacket does
more than look sharp; it’s tear-resistant,
windproof, and made from 100%
polyester.”

28. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

29. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
How do you set the pace?
2. Discovery- and comparison-
oriented content types

30. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

31. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
Courage in our
convictions
Empirical
proof

36. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
How do you set the pace?
3. Longform content

37. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

39. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

40. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

41. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

42. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

43. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

44. Attention must be paid
©Viking

45. The right content
slows down users,
focuses their attention, and
helps them act deliberately.
It respects them and
the topic equally.
@mbloomstein | #UXPABos13

46. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Our content strategy is pretty simple:
we stay as close to our core market as
possible.
Patagonia’s always had a literary,
storytelling component to the brand.
It’s in line with what we say: buy less
stuff and make sure what you buy lasts.
Bill Boland, Patagonia

47. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
On a short-term basis, it doesn’t help
us move product. It doesn’t meet your
weekly sales goal. It’s not about short-
term ROI. It’s something we enjoy and
the people we build clothes for enjoy.
Bill Boland, Patagonia

48. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013

50. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
BE HERE NOW

51. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
BE HERE NOW

52. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
©ScottA.MillerforChevrolet
BE HERE NOW

53. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Thank you
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
slideshare.net/mbloomstein
amzn.to/CSatWork
All images property of their respective owners or © Margot Bloomstein as noted.

54. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Thank you, Giselle Abramovich,
Joe Baz, Bill Boland, Laura
Creekmore, Matt Grocki, Sarah
Krznarich, Kristina Halvorson,
Michael Lohmiller, Jared Spool,
Russ Unger, and Anne Weiskopf.

55. @mbloomstein | #UXPABos13
© 2013
Thank you
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
margot@appropriateinc.com
slideshare.net/mbloomstein
amzn.to/CSatWork
All images property of their respective owners or © Margot Bloomstein as noted.