To a product-minded content designer, the user experience isn't the product itself,
but the experience the product creates for people using it in the real world.

How do you feel using it?

Layers of the User Experience

Strategy & Scope

Focuses on:
- What user/we want from product
- Content & function the experience offers

Defined by:
 - User needs
 - Product goals

Tools I use:
 - Personas
 - Card Sorts
 - User Testing
 - Scenarios
​ - Content requirements

Structure

Focuses on:
 - How pieces fit to make a cohesive whole
 - Content & function of the elements and their arrangement

Defined by:
 - Information architecture
 - Navigation

Tools I use:
 - Information hierarchy
 - Content Maps & Models
 - Prototypes 
 - Content matrix

Surface

Focuses on:
 - Sensory experience the user contacts first
 - Pleasing display of content & function

Defined by:
 - Visual design
 - Uniformity

Tools I use:
 - High fidelity wire frames
 - Prototypes
 - Color & Typography
 - Style guide
Designing content is not about good storytelling. It's about telling your story well. 

When designing digital experiences we start with content experiences.

For a successful user experience, content should:
  • HELP users achieve their goals with structure, navigation & links
  • ENGAGE users with story, structure, & visual elements
  • REACH the user with SEO, SEM, placement, linking
  • DRIVE ACTION from the user with the right solutions, CTAs and opportunities

​How does content design influence UX?
At Disney, my content strategy team helped 16+ Disney-owned brands align user needs with business goals.
​We shaped the content within the design to be: 
  • Useful
  • Usable
  • Desirable
  • Findable
  • Accessible
  • Credible​

Shaping content to flow with discovery and engagement

Content strategy & design affects every layer of the user experience, from strategy through structure to surface elements.
Content designers apply UX, product, writing and design theory.
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Geoffrey O’Brian
Geoffrey is a Content Designer and creative leader who uses content design to champion user needs and help businesses create user-driven content.
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