Session: What we really mean by content-first design

Who is this session for?

Content, Designer, Management

Session description

One perennial battle between subject matter experts and website managers is whether content or design should come first in a redesign project.

Our subject matter experts often want to visualize what they’re drafting content for. Otherwise, they won’t know how long the copy should be, what it should say, and how it will visually relate to other components on a page. They want to see a mockup with their content inside before they make any edits.

This is a very relatable desire. How much is too much? How much is not enough? These are hard questions to answer in a vacuum.

That said, we’ve seen design projects fail when content isn’t considered. Certain patterns in the design system are overused, and others are barely touched. Design elements are added to create visual interest rather than serve a distinct purpose. Site managers start hiding information in accordion features to simplify pages that are hard to parse.

In this talk, we’ll cover:

• The reasons behind a content-first website redesign project
• What typically goes wrong with taking a layout-first approach
• Ways to support SMEs and writers who want to know “what it will look like” before they draft
• Talking points to help stakeholders understand the process

By the end of this talk, attendees will better understand how to work with stubborn stakeholders who feel paralyzed by content-first expectations and really want to see design mockups before producing new content.