Empathize with your readers
by Tom
... another reminder that terrific content can be lost in a sea of unfocused design. I was recently asked to judge entries in the Nebraska Collegiate Media Association Web Competition along with another individual who is part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the LA Times.
Judging consisted of reviewing the sites twice over the course of a couple of weeks to allow content to cycle a bit between visits. As I evaluated all aspects of the site (integration of multimedia, design, content, editing, navigation, etc.) I was transformed from judge to a slightly frustrated reader very quickly.
Uniformly, the content for the sites was very strong. The stories were interesting and well written; the sources were varied and relevant; the coverage was solid and diverse. The problem was that the sites practically dared me to navigate smoothly from story to story. Navigation was deep, so I was constantly accessing the drop-down menu to move from one section to another with few cross-links or thoughtful asides. Relevant stories were grouped on specific pages instead of right alongside one another, so I had to decide if I wanted to read “related information” instead of just flowing through as my interest was piqued.
It reminded me very much of what we went through when we recently refreshed our own site. Instead of using navigation as a crutch to put stuff somewhere, we thought about how a reader would want to consume the information. It turns everything upside down when you stop thinking about “content buckets” and take a more reader-centric approach to design and editing.
It’s difficult to clutter up your site when you only write what’s needed to tell the story—about your product, services, or yourself. Once you empathize with the reader, your site will be a joy to visit.