Robyn Eastlake

Is it me, or are these prompts getting more unhinged? ‘Waning’, one asks? Well, excuse my Victorian sensibilities but one should not discuss one’s wane in polite company.

I mean, if it is 'plagued' by failure, then it's probably time for a rethink. Your career can - and must - tolerate some failures - that's an inevitable part of being a human. But 'PLAGUED'? No. Please revisit the question. See me after class.

I beg of you, please consider the practicality (time, effort, thought) you'll need to set aside before embarking on a blog venture. Sincerely, Your Very Tired Content Team

Get really good at saying 'no'. Not to everything, of course. That way madness lies. But you can't please everyone. And we're not in the business of pleasing people - we're here to create useful, usable content. Content is a collaborative discipline as much as it needs wrangling with by one content professional in a dark room. You need the input of the subect matter experts, the sponsors, the users to understand what they need to know and the best way to communicate that. But you are also a professional writer. Not all your stakeholders will be. Sometimes, you don't need to find 50 different ways to say the same thing. So it's equally important to trust your expertise & your experience. If something doesn't work, explain why. Say 'no'.

Some of this guidance is fine - but I'd really, really concentrate on why you're giving feedback (not just what you're feeding back on). Professional content-ers are used to divorcing emotion from the work they create. You simply cannot work in a design or content profession with any preciousness for what you put in front of stakeholders. So, as that stakeholder, you need to consider why a piece of content makes you feel a certain way. Does it not align with something you were taught in school? Does the tone feel off? Is it simply 'not how I would do it'? If in doubt - stick to: - Is it technically accurate? - Is it legally compliant with any regulation? - Does it cover the key topics? Everything else is, often, sound and fury.

Content strategy is UX design. Both disciplines are looking to create meaning out of structure - finding logical patterns to guide, inform and build confidence in users. Beware any notion of 'incorporating content into designs'. Sure, once you're into final iterations and testing, there will be elements of the visual hierarchy and component choice that mean content/layout will need refining. But at its most fundamental, UX and Content must work equally together to develop the structure, story and design of the experience. One doesn't work without the other. And neither work when we rush into hi-fi visuals. Take the time to get together. Sketch it out. Research. Share and disagree with each other. And that way, magic lies.