The latest issue of Figaro Digital magazine includes not one, but two features from the Zabisco team. This latest release of Figaro’s quarterly magazine carries a theme based on content is king, a subject we at Zabisco have more than a few things to shout about!
Figaro Digital July 2012
On page 6 you can read my insights into content storytelling, and how to construct a narrative journey for your users based around your own content. You can read my comments in full below.
Content storytelling
Moving across to page 18 you’ll find one of our project case studies, the full project life-cycle (IA, design and build) of the new CIC website – its a great CRM project case study, and one we’d be happy to talk you through in more detail. You can read the full detailed case study by clicking here. Also see below for the case study snapshot included in the latest Figaro Digital.
CRM case study - CIC
If you have any questions, or simply want to talk about, the insights below please feel free to get in touch. We’re constantly working with the media to offer our opinions and comments so keep your eyes peeled for more editorial content from the team. Including the latest issue of Computer Arts magazine, click here!
CONTENT STORYTELLING
by Marcus Marritt, Creative Services Director, Zabisco
Your site architecture is a network of journeys. Your content is the narrative along these journeys. Each page, tab and content area has a storytelling opportunity. Miss this and your narrative breaks.
A clear narrative has to have a purpose. Whatever your audience type, be clear about what you want your on content to achieve – what you want to say and how you want to say it. But that’s only half the story. Be user-centric and think about what you want your users to take from your content. Do you want to educate, inform or entertain? A mix of these? Make sure you are consistent in tone of voice and execution style.
Be engaging. Users will quickly close your book if the content isn’t engaging. Words alone are not enough. We are all fighting more than ever for our users’ attention, so be visual. Apply data viz techniques to lift your content. How can interactive elements bring users into your content? Make them feel like the hero of your story.
Above all, respect your content. Understand your narrative, which will likely in itself contain many layers (as all great stories do). You’d be surprised how many content owners don’t properly proofread – sounds like practice 101 right? It should be. Proofreading shouldn’t be seen as a chore. It’s a chance to shape and dress your content to be the prettiest book on the shelf. Spelling mistakes, inconsistent terminology, switching from third person to first – these are all black marks that build up a layer of detachment between the story and user.
The great work behind IA, visual design, front and back-end dev is intended to lift content onto a pedestal – don’t fall at the last hurdle with a failing narrative.
CRM CASE STUDY
BRAND: CIC GROUP (COMMUNITY INTEGRATED CARE)
CIC had ambitious plans when they came to Zabisco and we crafted new information architecture to make the charity more relevant to their services users. After user-testing UI wireframes, their communications agency weren’t able to design a visual concept that reflected the experience CIC needed to deliver on this new promise. Zabisco took over the creative and technical workstream, producing a highly dynamic taxonomy to Drupal 7 and integrated the site with CiviCRM.
As a purveyor of infographics and generally any form of data viz, I always have my eyes on the prize. This week while working offsite in Canary Wharf I discovered this piece of urban art mixed with infographic on my running route, so long I had to record on a video.
Is there no end to the boundaries of infographic design (no) – now merging with graffiti. This is positioned on a wall along a popular running route, application of relevant data at the very place the stats are born! Content in context.
Enjoy
We can’t get enough of a good piece of data visualisation here at Zabisco, especially when animation is mixed into the pot!
Today the BBC brings us a update on the London 2012 Olympics in interactive infographic form – another example of the type of data vis we are massive advocates of ourselves.
Today I came across one of the coolest interactive infographics I have seen in a while. It’s a timeline, which is used to represent the last 10 years of China.
First designed in a diagrammatic format in 1931 by Harry Beck, the London Underground map is THE perfect infographic. Some may say its a map. Full stop. How is this a infographic, what makes it so? Here, I say, why this isnt merely a map but the perfect example of data visualisation.
Harry Becks original map
Twitter and the impact of ‘tweeting’ has been something which has been widely discussed, documented and debated. It’s no secret that Twitter is growing at a rapid rate, and is beginning to outshine its former competitor Facebook. Twitter currently hosts 230 million tweets a day, and half of Twitters 200 million registered users log in each month; a figure which is up 82 percent from the start of 2011.
Up until now Twitter has not yet provided an in house analytics tool, much to the surprise of many. Social Media outputs like Facebook, have for some time provided the analytics tool “insights” which has allowed business owners to keep a constant track to the success of their page. However as Twitter has become an increasingly fundamental part of the media strategy for content producers such as newspapers, TV networks and other media players, measuring the impact of a ‘tweet’ has become even more important. (more…)
The written word is often a vital part of the user experience on a website and tone of voice, grammar, punctuation, layout can all have an impact on the way your business is viewed and understood. The copy you write (or have written for you) can build your brand personality and identity and allow your users to engage with you.
But, are there times when the written word isn’t quite enough?
CONTACT
