5 reasons for content design in services
Microcopy, UX copy, content, words… we have lots of ways of describing the content we put into the interactive services we work on.
Whatever you call it, here’s 5 reasons why it’s important for service design.
1. User needs at every step
It’s easy to forget about user needs when building a service because the overall user need is often clear – ‘I want to apply for X’, ‘I want to buy Y’. A good content designer will ask what the user need is for each step in the service, how it was identified, and how it helps with the end goal.
2. Reducing the number of steps
A good content designer will ask annoying questions like ‘What do you do with the information you collect in this step?’, ‘Do you really need to ask all this stuff about X? Why?’ ‘How does it help with the end goal?’ This will help you keep the service as short as possible and each step to the point.
3. Keeping the language simple
Sometimes service teams think there is no content in a service. There are just free text fields, buttons, a few error and help messages. This is understandable because a service doesn’t have many words. Or rather there shouldn’t be.
Often floods of words are hidden behind things like help messages. This kind of bad copy typically focuses on possible problem scenarios instead of giving solutions. A good content designer will be able to get to the core of what each step needs to tell the user. They’ll keep the words to a minimum while expressing the user action simply and succinctly.
4. Help with user journeys
A good content designer can think in a simple and linear way because they are used to explaining complex topics to people. This thinking is useful when figuring out and drawing user journeys. A good content designer can help you step into the user’s shoes and think about all the tiny steps needed to get to the final goal. Often, many of these steps are offline.
5. Working collaboratively
It’s almost impossible on a service to separate design and content work. A good content designer will be able to work collaboratively with designers. As a team, they’ll look at what information is presented how and where. They’ll step back from their work, take a fresh look, keep what works and throw away what doesn’t. They’ll support each other and thereby support the product.