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Everything is Content

4:09 with Lis Hubert

If everyone is our user, we can say that every piece of information is content.

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    So, we realize now that everyone that helps us to create a great user experience

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    for those that interact with our products, services,

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    and our company, is a user of ours.

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    And, we know that understanding users,

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    understanding content, and putting those things

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    into context is what being a user experience designer is all about.

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    What I'd like to point out to you now is, if everyone is our user, then we

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    can say that every piece of information, that

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    is everything that we use in solution, is content.

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    We touched on this a bit before, but to further describe to you

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    by what I mean by the content, I extend to you this idea.

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    Yes, every single thing that you use, in the

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    solution you design can and should be considered content.

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    Of course, once we start to dive into the

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    details, into the think small realm and we are

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    working with CMs and all that jazz, we have

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    to strictly define content as the system tells us.

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    However, keep in mind that as a UX

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    professional, you need to think big to think small.

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    Therefore, although many people think of understanding

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    content as simply understanding what articles, videos,

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    polls or images a site or application or other product needs to be finished.

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    We UX's need to expand this line of thought to everything imaginable.

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    For, if we don't, we limit our ability to think about a truly holistic solution.

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    What do I mean?

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    Think of it this way, you are a

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    UX professional and you've just been brought onto a

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    project whose goal is to figure out what the

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    company site does 18 to 24 months from now.

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    By the way, this was a real project I was on once.

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    Being a UX professional, you think to yourself okay, in order to do

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    this I need to understand who the site users will be at the time.

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    I also need to understand what content will be available, and

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    then figure out how to put those things into the right context.

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    You interview and figure out the users, and then you begin your content inquiry.

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    However, you are only thinking about content in

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    the traditional digital terms, articles, video, and text.

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    At the end of the project, you bring

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    forth a solution that includes delivering PDF auto insurance

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    statements to a user's new company inbox, and

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    shortly after, you are looking for a new job.

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    Okay, here's another way it could happen.

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    You are a UX professional and you've been just brought onto a project whose goal

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    is to figure out what the company site does, 18 to 24 months from now.

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    Being a UX professional, you think yourself, okay, in order

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    to do this, I need to understand who the sites users

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    will be at the time, and I also need to understand

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    the content available and put those things into the right context.

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    You interview and figure out the users, and then you begin you content

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    inquiry but this time, you expand your notion of what content could be.

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    You think about the idea of the auto insurance

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    summary HTML page, being equivalent to an insurance PDF statement.

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    They have all the same information, after all.

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    You realize that the company is more than just auto insurance, and

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    that users want to see all of their accounts in one place.

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    Thus, the idea of the account as content comes up.

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    People also want to see external, non-company accounts in one place.

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    And they wanna see if their partner or spouse has accessed their account.

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    Thus the idea of another user as a piece of content forums.

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    Having this open mind about what content could be and is, you are able to

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    create a solution that involves an account

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    dashboard with accounts, potential accounts, advice and more.

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    That is flexible, based on device as well as business need.

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    At this point, you are grossly rewarded for your efforts.

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    I realize how conceptual and semantic this part of the course is.

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    However, as airy as it may seem, having the perspective that everyone is

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    a user and that everything is content is what will propel your UX work.

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    Beyond the interface, beyond the web, beyond

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    the digital to a place where you see

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    the world as a system of users interacting

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    with all different content in many different contexts.

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    You will be, in essence, a UX Yoda, and there

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    will be no problem out there, that you can't solve.

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