Use Project Policies as Creative Limitations to Improve the End User Experience (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of our article on how to use project policies as creative limiations . In Part 1 we presented the first 3 of 8 effective policies tools for better design process management and improved user experience. We will now focus on the remaining 5.
4. Information budget
Here we refer to a set of policies that can help a client to manage the quality of content as well as the priority assigned to content. Whether you establish a global policy or set more specific policies is up to you. Even so, you at least want to make reference to the following:
- Homepage priorities
- Sentence length limit
- Low cognitive load
Homepage priorities
Policy example: “To add new content on a homepage, it must generate X amount of revenue.”
There is often a scramble amongst key stakeholders to ensure their content gets assigned top priority on a homepage. Each stakeholder often feels justified in their opinions, and as such the process can end up being quite subjective. More so, when there is no user research or metrics to suggest otherwise. In such a scenario, the usual result is a cluttered homepage with competing content that makes it difficult for users to find what the need. The fact many users will not even arrive at a web site via a homepage will not matter. One sometimes has to wonder how often internal bragging rights come into play too.
While user research and testing can initially help to identify key content and priorities, a homepage policy can minimise internal politics or subjectivity in the long term. Stakeholders should need to earn the right to have their content added to a homepage. It must provide value. How you term the policy all depends on the specifics of your business and content, nonetheless it should make reference to:
- How many content slots exist on a homepage and what percentage of real estate they each occupy i.e. 10%, 20%.
- Metrics content must meet to warrant inclusion on a homepage.
- How content gets prioritized on a homepage.
As for how you prioritize content, one approach could be to base it on what relative revenue the content / business area generates through the website or for the company. Another, could be to divide the homepage real-estate and assign percentages to each:
For example, 20% for a main item, 10% for each of the three additional items above the fold and 5% for each of the boxes below the fold (100% = 20% + 10% + 10% + 10% + 10 x 5%). Then, if and when an item of content reaches a certain percentage in views or requests on Google or requests to customer support it gets promoted.
Sentence length limit
Policy example: “No sentence can exceed 20 words.”
When using a web product or service, people generally prefer shorter, more concise sentences. The more words in a sentence, the less people understand. For instance, sentences up to 11 words are considered easy to read. Sentences at 21 words are regarded as being fairly difficult to read. While at 25 words, sentences become difficult, and at 29 words or longer, very difficult. Consider using dedicated tools that can analyze textual content and suggest alternative words and structures.
Low cognitive load
Policy example: “A user should recall all distinctive pieces of information on a page after reviewing it for 20 seconds.”
It is not a memory test, but a way of measuring whether key content stands out on a page. Furthermore, this policy is easy to test. Take a blank sheet of paper and sharpie, look at the interface for 20 seconds and sketch it as accurately as possible. If you or a user are unable to recall certain content, there is either too much information to digest / competing for attention, the page lacks a suitable visual hierarchy or the content isn’t essential.
5. Content priorities
Policy example: “No two distinctive pieces of information or interactions are equally important.”
The goal is to establish a content hierarchy where no two pieces of content compete for the same attention. Otherwise, a user can be left confused resulting in them abandoning a process. Konstantin Weiss’ Container model promotes this principle. He views a web page as consisting of stacked linear yet autonomous containers that are not dependent on one another. Containers can thus be positioned and re-used anywhere in the stack according to the content priority for each page. The big advantage with such an approach is you can then express a clear linear hierarchy to a user. You also minimise any internal politics and subjectivity — essentially internal conflicts over the “real estate” priorities—that otherwise can impact on the user experience.
You can prepare content priorities long before any design activity starts. Find the right balance between users’ needs and business goals using priority lists. Once priorities are set, they can then form the basis for all content design policies. For instance, navigation priorities could mimic homepage priorities.
Or you can decide to the quite the opposite! Establish a content strategy where the home page must not resemble the navigation. The navigation in that case represents resorts and the home page containers focus on the newest and deepest content. This leads to an always fresh presence without having to fill in resort containers with stale content just because they were once placed on the home page “for political reasons”.
Whichever approach you chose, it’s important to always utilize the priority list to make decisions.
6. Accessibility conformance
Policy example: “The website should conform to Level AA of the WCAG 2.0 guidelines accessibility at http://achecker.ca.”
WCAG 2.0 accessibility conformance is mandatory by law in some countries. This too applies to global organizations who have local subsidiaries in those countries. There are a few levels of conformance, so decide on the level that is most appropriate to a project. Keep in mind some countries will insist on a minimum level of conformance. For instance, organizations in Canada must conform to accessibility Level AA.
In our experience, implementing accessibility when designing is far less of a hassle than actually having to maintain it. It’s important to explain to a client the effort required to produce and maintain accessible content. If they have yet to do so, they’ll need to establish governance and editorial processes, to create alternative content for any non-textual and non-machine-interpretable content.
7. ROT content management
Policy example: “Each request for content publication must be reviewed against the ROT guidelines within one week of the request being submitted.”
While content is vital, as well as being easy to produce and publish, always consider whether it adds value. A useful method for analyzing and identifying redundant content is ROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial) approach. For instance, The European Commission removed around 80% of its online content it considered as being ROT.
It also becomes harder to maintain content when no controls are in place. Not only can it lead to issues when updating a design system in the future, it too can affect the quality of search results. The later is vital considering search is still the primary tool users use to find information. For instance, Microsoft.com had over 10 million pages online at one time, and around 3 million were never visited. That’s almost a third! Can you imagine if every third item in a search result list was redundant? Furthermore, millions of working hours must have been spent producing content that in the end was not referenced at all. Therefore, be sure to set a number of policies in relation to content and workflow management. Make it clear how and when content gets added and removed.
8. Stakeholders & user research
Policy example: “Stakeholders must have observed target users in the last 3 months prior to the start of a new project.”
Exposing stakeholders to users enables them (along with the wider team) to design more relevant web products or services. It too adds value and substance to their work, being fully aware that real people rely on what they produce. While some stakeholders may suggest they aren’t customer facing or are too busy, in the digital age the work and decisions of all employees reflects on an organization.
Setting aside a couple of hours every few weeks is definitely attainable. This is often referred to as Exposure hours. For instance, GDS state that everyone in a team should attempt to observe user research for at least 2 hours every 6 weeks. If you do not, you lose the right to be a stakeholder in a digital project.
Conclusion: Use limitations to exercise creativity
By establishing useful policies, you’ll be able to let your creative juices flow. Decide on design patterns more easily and know exactly how far is too far when it comes to designing visual design elements. By doing so you’re unlikely to miss out on any important elements that can help improve the user experience of your product or service.
Creative Nights is a UX design consultancy specialized in planning, designing and building fast and effective websites and digital products. Get in touch and join our list of happy clients or see us in action at one of our public workshops.
