Author: Marli Mesibov

Language: Your Organization’s Most Important and Least Valued Asset, by Abby Covert How we understand language depends on our experience. Language is a highly complex system for communication. As an information architect, Abby has seen a lot of teams struggle to get on the same page. They need a shared understanding of their language. We…

Compelling Content for Conversational Interfaces, by Phillip Hunter We have a long way to go to create voice interfaces that don’t cause a question about creating a PBJ to turn into an existential thought process. There’s a lot of awareness and interesting uses of conversational interfaces. But we’re just getting started.

Content ROI: Defining and Measuring Success, by Sarah Richards What is value? To a content strategist, it might be “consistency” or “no typos.” But to the higher ups, it’s often “money” or “conversions.” And to the user, it might be “I achieve my goal efficiently.”

Structuring Content to Empower Users, by Lisa Maria Martin We have many (many) ways to think about content. But how we organize content and how people find it can be a complicated process.

Crafting Conversations, by Karen Kesler and Jonathan Foster Writing is a form of design. Well crafted products benefit everyone: Simpler products are easier to understand and use People buy simpler products Business goals are achieved by people buying the products

Writing for Buttons (and Everything Else): How UX Teams can Craft Stronger Copy, by Andrew Schmidt What Differentiates Microcopy from Content? Users are not an audience. They’re here to accomplish a task, not to engage with you You’re working on a cross-functional team There’s jargon

Assess and Progress: How to Identify High-Impact Content Initiatives, by Kathy Wagner What keeps Content Strategists Up at Night? Choosing a strategic direction is difficult. Why is content strategy decision making so hard? We have different backgrounds, and often can’t see eye to eye. If you don’t want to miss anything, follow a recipe. Here’s…

The Art and Science of Collaboration, by Dayana Kibilds What is collaboration? Online definitions show it as working – usually willingly – with enemies. Can’t we make it better than that? Dayana Kibilds shows how to make collaboration successful in Game of Thrones – and in real life. What Do You Need for Buy-In? True…

Speaking Truth to Power: How to Build Equity Through Writing and Design Standards, by Mai-Ling Garcia “Speaking truth to power” is the belief that love can overcome hatred (according to Urban Dictionary). Or “a powerful nonviolent challenge to injustice and unbridled totalitarian forces, often perpetuated by government, but sometimes not.” (Huffington Post)

Inclusive Content, Ethical Tech, & You, by Sara Wachter-Boettcher When Google Maps launched a calorie counter, it only took 3hrs for them to get enough awful feedback to take it down. So how did they spend so much time on it without realizing how triggering, dangerous, and wrong it was? We don’t often consider how…