C A S E S T U D Y 3 : C O N T E N T S T R A T E G Y A N D I N F O R M A T I O N A R C H I T E C T U R E

Quality content is critical in delivering users what they require while accessing any type of information. The positioning of that content provides users with exactly what they need when and where they expect it. This makes content strategy and information architecture important elements of UX design.

As part of course assignments in the User Experience Design Certificate, I conducted a content audit and closed card sort for an existing website. Additionally, site maps were created based on the research findings.

The content audit was needed to learn more about the existing content. This helps in developing better content that meets client goals. These goals were to:

1. offer information that is most relevant to the user

2. help promote the companies brand and values

3. gain a competitive edge through better content

4. be seen as an expert in the field

I thoroughly went through the existing website content with the client goals in mind.

Once the content audit was complete, it was easy to see the flaws of the existing content. With this new knowledge and insight it was clear where improvements needed to be made in order to create a better content strategy that will meet user and business needs. Based on findings, the following recommendations were made in relation to each business goal:

BUSINESS GOAL ONE: offer information that is most relevant to the user 

• reduce the amount of text content on website overall by minimizing the number of paragraphs and creating bullet points with images and links

• remove repeated information on all areas of the website unless relevant to the page

• fix sentence structure and wording to eliminate run on sentences throughout website

• make appointment times and work hours clear on the site so customers can fit the work into their schedules

• simplify navigation to group elements together and make it easier for the user to navigate (ex grouping all services under one category instead of multiple headings)

BUSINESS GOAL TWO: help promote the companies brand and values

• eliminate gallery and videos of work pages as they do not provide much information and make the brand look amateur

• create a professional video for the home page that emphasizes the brand goals while providing professional footage of your quality work

• create a logo and slogan to be visible on every page that promotes company values and speaks for the brand

• highlight relevant work on the home page

BUSINESS GOAL THREE: gain a competitive edge through better content

• create an about us page to place focus on elements that make you stand out from the competition (ex. family owned and operated business) 

• simplify the website design overall to create a less busy interface and therefore create a more easily understood website

• offer a pricing page to better allow for customers to understand the general cost especially compared to competitors 

BUSINESS GOAL FOUR: be seen as an expert in the field

• add a FAQ section to the website to match competitors and also create a sense of expertise for users by already answering their questions 

• add reviews from previous customers onto the website to add validation that the company is an expert in the field

• maintain a professional site through better written content and organization to create a professional, expert tone

To present this new found information for a better content strategy, new information architecture was proposed through visual site maps.

The existing website content is illustrated below.

Based on the gatherings through the content audit and other deliverables such as a competitive scan and user persona, new information architecture was proposed for the website.

To verify that users would in fact expect to find content based on the new site map recommendations, a closed card sort was conducted. The closed card sort was done digitally and it proved beneficial as it suggested that some changes should be made to the initial recommended site map.

The findings from the card sort were the following:

• all participants sorted hours of operation into about us which was unexpected

• all participants consistently placed reviews in the reviews section

• 2 participants agreed that having FAQ in its own section would be more helpful

• participants were divided when it comes to categorizing under pricing, about us, services and contact

• participants placed the “receive a quote” card into services, contact and pricing 

• participants were divided on where contact information would be located

Based on the card sort findings we should:

1. Make Frequently Asked Questions its own section.

2. Place book an appointment under services and contact.

3. Place Hours of Operation in About Us section.

4. Place “Receive a Quote” section on all pages. 

5. Relabel ‘Contact’ to ‘Contact Us’ to direct users there to find information such as email and phone number. 

With this information a new site map was proposed:

With this updated sitemap, a team working on this project would have a good foundation to pursue content development and wireframes. Having a good base for further steps in the UX process is critical.

Research and validation are also so important in UX design. It was proven significant in this case by providing more information about the users understanding of content instead of basing decisions on assumptions. We can make valuable decisions based on research to create better content and improve the overall user experience.