A round-up of the best advice, thinking, tools and news in content. This has all appeared in the fortnightly Scroll newsletter. (Sign up now, never miss out again…)
Practical tips and how-tos
How to bring more strategy to your content design
A chunky-but-worth it download from GatherContent. Explores the intersection of strategy and design.
Using links in guidance content
Links can be a minefield for users. We need to think very hard about when we use links, where we place them on a page and how we describe them.
How to pair-write with different disciplines
Tips to help improve your pair-writing practice, with people in different specialisations – from subject matter experts to multi-disciplinary team members.
News, thought pieces, advice
20 years of PDFs…
Research has consistently shown PDFs are unfit for human consumption. And yet, here we still are.
Designing to improve a live service
Content designers at DWP changed the name of a long-standing service, to reflect changing user needs and language. Review, iterate, improve…
Stop agile jargon
Agile is rife with jargon – Kanban, ceremonies, standups – that risks alienating people in our wider teams. It’s time to end the madness!
Netflix does mad stuff with language
Netflix is using machine learning to help with localisation and translation – including simplifying language and curating metaphors.
Tools
Cards for Humanity
A simple way to get people thinking about inclusive design. You get dealt 2 cards, a person and a trait, and you work out how to meet their needs.
Mapping end-to-end journeys
GDS is getting better at understanding whole user journeys – here’s how they worked on the ‘Start a business’ journey.
Challenge inaccessible websites
The new accessibility regulations for public sector digital services and websites came into force on 23 September 2020. The RNIB published this excellent toolkit on the same day.
And finally…
The rise of ‘lowercase girl’
“In a world where Trump capitalises words like a sci-fi villain, lowercase has become shorthand for authenticity and vulnerability.”
The Dark Ages of the web
A look back at spinning logos, sitemaps and the ‘Home Page’ button…
