Adventures in Content Strategy
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin
Lately I’ve been exploring what defines personalization, and how low-tech personalization can succeed (no machine learning required!). I’ve also learned a lot from my colleague Kevin Nichols. And I’ve realized something. All personalization requires a low-tech approach. All personalization has personalization business rules. Personalization business rules are the key to answering the question: what content…
Back in 2015 I wrote about the “perception of control“. These are situations where people don’t (or can’t) have control, but UI elements help make it look like they do. But lately I’ve been hearing about a dark UX pattern. This pattern, much like the UI patterns I noted, looks like a choice. But it…
I spent last week at VOICE Summit, soaking in all that is happening in voice UI. Use cases for voice, new products coming out, and the latest technology dominated the stage. It was overwhelming, and incredible. Here are just a few of my many takeaways – and a few recommendations for where to learn more:…
The Voice Playbook – Your foolproof guide to building best-in-class voice products, by Polina Cherkashyna and Hilary Hayes There aren’t a lot of best practices in place for emerging technologies like Voice. So Polina and Hilary have worked on a Playbook. Their work begins with research to identify the needs, then making the product, releasing…
How to Uncover Great Use Cases for Voice, by Erin Abler There’s an overwhelm that comes with all the possible technologies. That can feel safe, but it can fragment your ecosystem. When new technologies come out, we’re all susceptible to Gartner’s Hype Cycle. Start by considering what metrics you care about. If someone purchases something,…
Internationalizing Your Voice, by Joseph Tyler Joseph is in linguistics. He works at Sensely, where they created a conversational interface to help people connect with insurance and healthcare resources. There’s a “voice mode” and a “text mode”, and they work across multiple countries. So, what goes into internationalization? Translation Translation work costs money! But it’s…
Giving You the Voice to Make a Difference, by Emerson Sklar and Michelle Mullenax At the American Red Cross they’ve built a lot of voice apps, worked with Siri, they work like an internal startup. They pay attention to innovative technologies. The underlying drive for them is to provide value to the organization and align…
Voice Assistants in Healthcare — Are We There Yet?, by Nathan Treloar and Jonathan Istrin Voice assistants can transform the digital world for people who can’t otherwise engage. Why voice? It’s natural and intuitive for many seniors and other audiences. One example from Jonathan Istrin: homeless population, when given a home and an Alexa, allows…
Personalization is one of those words that’s not quite a buzz word… but is also rarely defined. What is personalization? It’s a new technology, it’s an opportunity for better experiences, and it’s hard to do well. Good personalization feels like magic, but it takes a lot of prep work. Simply put, the technology in this…
When terms like “dynamic content” and “personalization” become buzz words, content creators are left with a question: how do we actually create personalized dynamic content? Here are three steps you can take. Each step guarantees you’re building content for your target audience – and not just throwing money at a buzzword. Step One: Define Personalization…
