Before you get in the comments asking me to wind my neck in, hear me out.
I've worked with a CMS where the text box didn’t have basic editing functionality. It was the CMS equivalent of Notepad. In another organisation, if you wanted to add/change content to the site, you had to download a spreadsheet, figure out which tab related to what page of the website, then what box was configured to that part of the webpage, make the change and upload the spreadsheet. Hence the need for transformation.
But this wouldn’t have happened in the first place if they involved someone who creates and publishes content every day.
Digital transformation programmes are normally triggered by two things:
- Replatforming
- Rebranding
So it’ll be led by devs or designers, respectively. They're both vital in any transformation but equally essential but often forgotten is content.
We're needed to add something critical in the customer experience – what people need to know, how they need to know it, where they need to see it and when they need it.
You can’t put together software requirements if you don’t know how the platform will be used to engage and lead customers through the funnel through storytelling.
As with any book, you don't know how long it'll be, what point of differentiation it has and what format it'll come in without the story. And the story needs a writer.
It's the same with websites or apps. You can’t build out user stories, epics and tasks then assign MoSCoW ratings without knowing what functionality is needed to best present the wealth of information your business needs to communicate to its various audiences.
You can't wireframe pages without know what elements are needed on a page to build audiences, make the site sticky, present information in the right way and have the right amount of space to do it all in without overwhelming the page.
Design, development and digital needs to be led by content because I’m willing to bet my entire old-school-hip-hop-on-vinyl collection that in all user testing, it’s copy that gets the most amount of feedback.
Maybe the size of the banner image, maybe the colour of the box but always not having enough clear information in the right place.
In the transformation projects I've worked on, I insisted on content modelling, taxonomy, information architecture, conversion tracking, auditing existing content, and futureproofing templates and components to make sure it’s fit for purpose and optimised for search engines. Most of these requirements wouldn’t generally be considered by devs, designers, BAs or PMs.
So if you’re a Digital Director or work in a PMO make sure you ask your Content Lead or Head of to be the sign off on all technical requirements and design concepts, at the very least.
We survive as soldiers of words. If you have a digital transformation project, if no one else can help with optimising content and you can find them, maybe you can hire The C-Team.
Content… The C stands for content…
