Over the last few days, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with Alison Dempario to create this illustration for a fundraising event Alison is coordinating for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Portland, Oregon. I can easily say this is one of the silliest illustrations I’ve drawn, but I had a great time and am thankful for the opportunity.

If you’re going to be in Portland come March, register for the Tournament. Good luck to all the participants!

Special thanks to Bethany Bauman for making the introductions :)

Creating web content can be messy, complicated, and expensive but the value it delivers to our clients is paramount. Our ability to create beautiful artifacts is meaningless if we can’t effectively communicate with our customers with clarity and brevity.

Content strategy (planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content) can be integrated with our User Experience Design Model when relevant. Like any process model, the necessity and role of each discipline varies on the scope of a project, but we want to emphasize the value an impactful content experience adds to our work.

Some of the values that content strategy encourage include:

• Defining key themes and messages
• Creating recommended topics to be covered
• Justifying content purpose and value
• Unifying brand messaging through guidance and governance
• Revealing content gaps through analysis
• Organizing metadata frameworks and related content attributes,
• Increasing findability through search engine optimization (SEO)

The web is built for content. The best web experiences are designed for communicative concepts that speak to audiences in a meaningful and useful way. Deft committed to treating content as a critical asset, worthy of strategic planning and investment in order to better our clients digital communications and create useful and usable interactive experiences for their audiences.

Referred articles:

A List Apart, The Discipline of Content Strategy
UX Magazine, Content Strategy and UX: A Modern Love Story

Across the industry I’ve seen a range of definitions for User Experience Design and understanding of the disciplines associated with it. The term has become so ubiquitous and varied that, like “branding”, it seems to confuse client communications more than benefit.

I believe User Experience (UX) Design is an umbrella term that combines five core disciplines for the creation of interactive systems.

Design Research

The identification, evaluation, and understanding of problems to inform the design process.

Common Activities:

• Business analysis
• Contextual analysis
• Qualitative and Quantitative analysis
• Usability audits
• Surveys and Interviews
• Findings documentation

Information Architecture

The organizational structure of a system of information to facilitate intuitive access to content.

Common Activities:

• Global element definition
• Navigation pattern design
• Application map development
• Wireframe design

Interaction Design

The design of interface elements to facilitate the user’s relationship to the systems functionality and content.

Common Activities:

• User story creation
• Functional inventory documentation
• Component requirement documentation
• Template identification and design
• Wireframe design

Visual Design

The visual treatment of concepts, elements, and components within an artifact.

Common Activities:

• Visual exploration
• Mockup creation
• Style guide documentation
• Key state definition
• Asset development

Development

The functional creation of interactive concepts within a system or artifact.

Common Activities:

• Prototype creation
• Database architecture
• Application architecture
• Front- and back-end development
• Component library creation

Rhythm

Rhythm is the movement created by the regular or irregular accents of formal elements. This effect can be achieved by patterned repetition, implied texture, or tactile texture. The recurrence of formal elements could include: color, line, shape, or value.

Emphasis

Emphasis occurs when special importance or significance is given to a specific element. This significance can be stressed using weight, color, value, proximity, or proportion. Individual elements are given varying levels of emphasis, beginning with the focal point and prioritizing the hierarchy to create a sense of balance.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy is created by the careful balance of emphasis throughout an artifact. The strongest hierarchy guides your eye through the elements based on the priorities set by the designer. The hierarchy should reinforce a sense of unity, variety, and harmony of formal elements within the artifact.

Proximity

Proximity is the relationship of space between elements, negative and positive.

Proportion

Proportion is measured by the relationship of size between elements. This relationship can be effected by the physical scale as well as the visual scale of an element.

Contrast

Contrast is created by the juxtaposition of differing elements, such as color, value, or proportion to produce a more dynamic expressiveness.

Color

Color is used to express emotion and emphasize the concepts being communicated by an artifact. Color can be manipulated and refined by employing basic tenets of color theory, such as color schemes (e.g. Monochromatic, Complementary, Triadic, or Analogous).

I’m going to start slow and broad in an attempt to encourage organic growth. I wouldn’t consider myself a “blogger”, there’s even a chance I could dislike this extra burden. But there’s a desire, and even an importance, to share my work and thoughts with the community.

I’m encouraging myself to actively engage my peers in conversation. There are a lot of great blogs and online communities available to us, with intelligent authors and great thinking. I’m excited to openly participate in an ongoing dialog to experience positive influence as well as positively influence others.

Subscribe to my feed or check back often for the latest posts. Have a great day!