the shortcut to oz: lessons learned on 3 content journeys — lauren moler, alex hunter and jessica...

The Shortcut to OzLessons Learned on 3 Content Journeys

“If we don’t laugh,

Toto gets it?”

What will you get on the way to Oz?

“If we don’t laugh,

Toto gets it?” Let the journey begin.

The Brain

The Problem

We had a big findability problem and

wanted to do a redesign. But we didn’t

know what customers were looking to find.

“I could while away the hours,

conferrin’ with the flowers,

consultin’ with the rain,

And my head I’d be scratchin’,

while my thoughts were busy hatchin’,

if I only had a brain.”Scarecrow

The Wizard of Oz, 1939

Mental Models by Indi Young

The Solution

Mental models. A way to

map your content to customer’s

needs and questions.

CONTENT

Our Mental Model

USER

NEEDS

Red = Gaps

Our Mental ModelSENIOR DESIGN

Why should I

use NI tools for

my senior

design project?

How can I use

NI tools for my

senior design

project?

Lab/VIEW Student

Community-Project

Library

(https://decibel.ni.com/co

ntent/groups/loop?view=

documents#/?tagSet=10

43)

Tasks came from:

• Employees

• Product Marketing

• Sales

• User Experience

• Customer Support

• User Research

• Usability

• Surveys

• Focus Groups

• Market Research

• Analytics, particularly search

Then define user tasks

Our Mental Model

What we learned

• We had gaps

• We de-prioritized key tasks in favor of

Marketing offers.

• We weren’t reusing content.

• We had some good content

2Results are from a single product line. Contacts numbers are from web only.

70%Increase in contacts

51%Increase in online revenue

2Results from first project

Before

• Time: 4 months

• Method: Analog

• Included: Everything

• Categories: Yes/No

• Summary: Whole

mental model

After

• Time: 2 weeks

• Method: Mural.ly

• Included: Research

• Categories: Colors,

Detail

• Summary: Bullet points

in a deck

Making Mental Models lean

“...Once I had brains, and a heart also;

so, having tried them both, I should much

rather have a heart.” -The Woodman

The Wizard of Oz,

Frank L Baum

The Heart

The Problem

Credit applications are a dime-a-dozen.

They’re robotic and full of legalese.

So how can we humanize them?

Customer-driven innovation

DEFINE

DESIGN

DELIVER

DISCOVER

Engage with customers

Focus & refine

problem area Be generative in solution concepts

Select, prototype, and test with customers

Iterative

refining

DIVERGENT CONVERGENT

CUSTOMER

Jim M.Age: 33

IT professional

CUSTOMER

GOALS

CUSTOMER

PROBLEM

STATEMENT

HOW PAYPAL

CAN HELP

Jim knows he could

get a better credit deal,

but he is time-poor and

finds new applications

arduous… so he sticks

with what he’s got.

PAIN POINTS

• Existing PayPal

Customer

• Regular internet user

• Makes occasional

big-ticket purchases

NEEDS

• How does it work?

• Where can I use my

credit?

• What offers are

available?

• How quick is the

application?

PRIMARY

• Get the best credit

deal available

• Make his purchase

• Comprehension of

product

• Finds application

forms confusing

• Personal & financial

questions

• Understanding of

offers

• Application time

• Making that final

commitment to open

• Explanation of key

value props (Video

and microsite)

• Support on hand if

customer needs it

(FAQs, Help Center,

CS)

• Clean and simple

design of app flow

• Clear content and

supportive tone

• Next steps (offers

and places to buy)

Customer Journey

KPIReduce drop-offs in the

application process

HypothesisAddress concerns at key points in the

user journey and we can mitigate

these potential drop-offs.

Connecting on an emotional level

What we learned

• The first rule of Content Strategy club

• Involve your partners at the earliest

possible stage

• Prove that you can deliver

• Build from the customer up, not the

business down

“Hearts will never be practical until they

can be made unbreakable….”

-The Wizard of Oz to the Tin Man

KANSASME

© 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary.

Create (and help others create)

consistent, trustworthy content to

tell an engaging story everywhere

PayPal Credit goes.

© 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential and proprietary. 34

The Problem

End-to-end content for my product is

owned by many teams – we come from

different disciplines and different countries.

We all need to speak the same language.

Content Strategy at Work by Margot Bloomstein

The SolutionThe message framework.

A way to start

the conversation and

find a common language

The Method

• Get the stakeholders in a room

• Give them 100 cards to sort

• Keep the conversation going

• Take copious notes (or record it)

PRODUCT

AREA

KEY

ATTRIBUTES

KEY

MESSAGE

REASONS TO

BELIEVE

ACQUISITION

ONBOARDING

SERVICING

• Easy to use

• Trusted and safe

• There when you

need us

• The application process is

simple –get an answer in seconds.

• PayPal = Secure financial information

• Available at most places PayPal is

accepted

With PayPal Credit, you

get a secure & flexible

line of credit that makes

it easier to buy the

things you love.

• We help you get started with educational

email & easy-to-use servicing experience.

• When you see PayPal Credit on a

merchant site, you know eligible BML

purchases are covered by PayPal

Purchase Protection & zero fraud liability.

• We give you lots of ways to pay –

online, by mail, one-time & repeat

payment options.

PayPal is there every

step of the way to help

you get the most out of

your PayPal Credit

account.

• Welcoming

• Trusted and safe

• Customer-oriented

• Welcoming

• Trusted and safe

• Customer-oriented

PayPal Credit is built into

your PayPal account so

you can track your

purchases & pay your bill

all in one place.

• The interface is clean and simple.

• We send you friendly reminders to help

you avoid fees or late charges.

• You can set up repeat payments so you

don’t have to worry about the bill at all.

“We’ve never had

anything like this

before.”

What we learned

• Never be afraid to say “hello”

• Circulate and share

• Just because you built a message

framework doesn’t mean you’re done

“Put ‘em up. Put ‘em up.”

-- The Cowardly Lion

So you made it to Oz.

Alex Hunter

@angryyoungalex

Lauren Moler

@merrymoler

Jessica Pease

@moregrist

Let’s keep in touch, shall we?

“Going so soon? I wouldn’t hear of it.

Why my little party’s just beginning.”

-The Wicked Witch of the West