Content breaking design is a critical issue for us content strategists. One of the goals of content strategy is to make meaning out of content BEFORE the design process begins (if possible) so that you don’t end up with the problem described so well by Charlie Peverett here:
And when does a 'content person' get involved? Usually at what is, effectively, the last minute. When the lorem ipsem (that placeholder copy that's just stuck there by a designer) needs to be magically transformed into sparkling, all-singing all-dancing 'copy'. At this point you'd be better off with an alchemist than a writer.So, how do you avoid that huge old mess? In other words:
How can content strategists inform designers to know what to expect so they can move ahead with design?
One of the best ways to do this is a page spec. A page spec gives the designer the “specifications” for what should be on the page. And your specs should include keywords and character counts. In this way, you may give the designer the room to create more interesting templates.
So, what does a page spec look like?
Really, it can be a list, diagram, etc. But, it needs to be a document that summarizes :
• All the different sections of the site
• Types of content that each section holds
• Description of the different types of content each page will have on it
For example:
About Us Section
1. This section will encompass the following six pages: X, X, X, etc…2. Each page must have the following elements:
- Three paragraphs no more than 250 words each
- Two ad holder spaces
- Two award graphics
- A picture placeholder
- Etc…
4. Social media icons should be clearly visible
5. A print this icon is necessary
Why moving is such a pain in the ass
I know this is an oversimplification of an important idea, but I do think it’s important for us, as a community of content strategists, to talk about best practices for solving problems. After all, when we’re moving, we don’t call a furniture company and say, “I need to move.” We call and say, “I need to move a four-bedroom house with basement, living room and dining room furniture about 250 miles away--would you like more specifics?" Then we label the boxes so the movers can put the stuff into the right room. And then, we unpack and decorate our new home with stuff from our old home, trying to figure out how it all fits together. A messy process, indeed.
I know this is an oversimplification of an important idea, but I do think it’s important for us, as a community of content strategists, to talk about best practices for solving problems. After all, when we’re moving, we don’t call a furniture company and say, “I need to move.” We call and say, “I need to move a four-bedroom house with basement, living room and dining room furniture about 250 miles away--would you like more specifics?" Then we label the boxes so the movers can put the stuff into the right room. And then, we unpack and decorate our new home with stuff from our old home, trying to figure out how it all fits together. A messy process, indeed.
So, if you have ideas or examples of page specs, I'm all ears.
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