whoa nellie! content strategy for slow experiences at confab mn
DESCRIPTION
Online experiences can be fast, efficient, easy, orderly—and sometimes, that’s a recipe for disaster. We click confirm too soon, confuse important details, or miss a key feature in a product description. Efficient isn’t always effective. Not all experiences need to be fast to be functional. In fact, some of the most memorable and profitable engagements are slow and messy—and that’s just right. Content strategy can identify and support opportunities to control the pace of user experience, but there’s a lot to keep in mind: Learn how to identify experiences in which efficiency and speed would hinder the user’s interaction, satisfaction, and retention. Understand how to introduce “speed bumps” in copy, content types, interaction design, and visual design that help users without annoying them. Discover new tactics for sentence structure, diction, imagery positioning, and form design that all help slow down interaction and improve experiences Presented at Confab 2013, June 5, 2013, #confabmn, in Minneapolis.TRANSCRIPT
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© 2013 © 2012
Margot Bloomstein @mbloomstein #ConfabMN Confab June 5, 2013
WHOA NELLIE! CONTENT STRATEGY FOR SLOW EXPERIENCES
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These people are waiting in a line.
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These people are delighting in a line: they’re engaged, anticipating, discovering, creating memories. They’re in the moment.
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These people are delighting in a line: they’re engaged, anticipating, discovering, creating memories thanks to content.
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Content will change an experience and a user’s perception of it.
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You wait longer, but you’re engaged before you get there. You’re invested in the experience.
Keri Maijala (@clamhead)
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When people have a frustrating experience, they rate the checkout as slow.
When we ask people what’s ‘slow,’ it’s the frustrating experiences. What’s fast? They say delightful experiences.
Jared Spool (@jmspool)
Frustration drives the perception of slowness. That was horrible and it took forever, no matter how fast it is.
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Efficient isn’t always effective— or good.
Users say frustrating activities take forever. But are time-consuming activities also inherently frustrating?
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© Charlotte & Kristian Septimius Krogh
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Users can appreciate slow experiences: they’re engaged, anticipating, creating memories. They discover, learn, and pay attention to act deliberately.
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“bad” slow vs. “good” slow?
© AT&T
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Is the nature of the transaction so small and insignificant that it shouldn’t require a second thought? Don’t get in the way. Or will the consumer get to the final transaction after plenty of preliminary research? Again, don’t make them rethink it.
Jared Spool (@jmspool)
Users can appreciate slow experiences: they’re engaged, anticipating, creating memories. They discover, learn, and pay attention to act deliberately.
@mbloomstein | #ConfabMN
@mbloomstein | #ConfabMN
What are your goals?
• Drive exploration & discovery • Encourage deliberate choices • Focus users’ attention
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How do you set the pace? • Editorial style and structures • Discovery-oriented content • Design that creates space
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How do you set the pace? 1. Editorial style and structures
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Users can appreciate slow experiences. they’re engaged, anticipating, creating memories.
@mbloomstein | #ConfabMN
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Users can appreciate slow experiences. they’re engaged, anticipating, creating memories.
@mbloomstein | #ConfabMN
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“Choosing a lens can be a daunting task for all of the reasons mentioned above, so I pulled together some info from my own experiences, as well as those of other Crutchfield shutterbugs.”
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“Springtime shaded belays at the creek, predawn starts in the Canadian Rockies and hut tours in the High Sierra: Anywhere brisk, the Down Sweater delivers featherweight, superbly compressible warmth. The polyester ripstop shell on this down jacket does more than look sharp; it’s tear-resistant, windproof, and made from 100% polyester.”
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How do you set the pace? 2. Discovery- and comparison-
oriented content types
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Courage in our convictions
Empirical proof
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How do you set the pace? 3. Longform content
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Attention must be paid
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The right content slows down users, focuses their attention, and helps them act deliberately. It respects them and the topic equally.
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But does it work?
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The outdoor recreation economy grew 5% annually between 2005 and 2011—during an economic recession when many sectors contracted.
Outdoor Industry Association
Source: Outdoor Recreation Economy Report 2012; http://www.outdoorindustry.org/pdf/OIA_OutdoorRecEconomyReport2012.pdf
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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
REI
industry average
The outdoor recreation economy grew 5% annually… while REI averaged 11% YOY growth
Source: REI Financial Information reports 2005 – 2012; http://www.rei.com/about-rei/financial-information.html
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Source: http://www.rei.com/about-rei/financial-information.html and EMS press releases
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Store growth supporting content availability
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Our content strategy is pretty simple: we stay as close to our core market as possible.
Patagonia’s always had a literary, storytelling component to the brand. It’s in line with what we say: buy less stuff and make sure what you buy lasts.
Bill Boland, Patagonia
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On a short-term basis, it doesn’t help us move product. It doesn’t meet your weekly sales goal. It’s not about short-term ROI. It’s something we enjoy and the people we build clothes for enjoy.
Bill Boland, Patagonia
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BE HERE NOW
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BE HERE NOW
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BE HERE NOW
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Thank you, Giselle Abramovich, Joe Baz, Bill Boland, Laura Creekmore, Matt Grocki, Sarah Krznarich, Kristina Halvorson, Michael Lohmiller, Jared Spool, Russ Unger, and Anne Weiskopf.
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Thank you
Margot Bloomstein
@mbloomstein
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