Last week, I attended Confab Minneapolis 2013. And it rocked. I was joined by an international community of content professionals to challenge our thinking and help advance the evolving discipline of content strategy. We also enjoyed a lot of cake. As in past years, the higher ed community was well represented. If you missed the event, don’t fret. Confab Higher Ed has yet to … [Read more...] about Higher Ed Takeaways From Confab Minneapolis 2013
user experience
Planning for Homepage Content
If there’s one thing that the infamous XKCD university homepage comic reminded us, it’s that we need to strike a better balance between tasks and messaging on our homepages. And if there’s one thing that the commentary stemming from that comic reminded us, it’s that our homepage is one of the most political entities we will ever manage, and the solutions don’t come easy. But … [Read more...] about Planning for Homepage Content
A Content-First Approach to Your Events Calendar
Ah, the events calendar. One of the most ubiquitous components of a university website, and often one of the most confounding. From wrestling with feeds and technical configurations to simply getting people to use the darned thing, a calendar can be a headache. Time to schedule some Excedrin. With the right approach, though, that headache can become a valuable asset. An … [Read more...] about A Content-First Approach to Your Events Calendar
A Little More Conversation
Last week, I saw this great tweet by the University of Kentucky's Jeana Clark: @markgr IA = the building/rooms/floorplan. UX = Hospitality in the building.— jeana (@jeana_with_a_j) May 2, 2012 So, if UX is hospitality, how do we express that hospitality? In a hotel, hospitality may be conveyed in part through tone of voice, manner, the questions we ask and … [Read more...] about A Little More Conversation
The Fallacy of User-Centered Content
On Meet Content, we talk a lot about the importance of users’ needs. Last week Georgy discussed content as customer service, highlighting the need for our content to be helpful to users. Indeed, content is customer service! For web writing and content creation, I consider this the number one guideline: keep your audience in mind. What are their needs? Why are they visiting … [Read more...] about The Fallacy of User-Centered Content