September 20, 2023
August 16, 2023
July 2, 2019
Blend likes to begin all of our web projects – especially those that include strategy, design, or technical planning – with our “Audiences and Outcomes” workshop, which is simply an audience and expectation-focused discovery workshop that nails down the who and what of a site. This month’s chapter release focuses on those two directions: your audiences, and your outcomes/expectations.
November 12, 2015
Five hundred pages into a content audit, I had a laundry list of things we could to to make the redesign work. My client – a mid-Atlantic university – was angling for a new CMS and a new redesign, and I had spelled out some standard content updates. But I was still searching for that […]
March 6, 2014
I’ve written a few things over the past few months since publishing that chapter in Smashing Magazine’s New Perspectives on Web Design, but none of them have managed to land here. So let’s fix that.
May 30, 2013
We spend a lot of time worrying about where content will come from and what form it will take. Where we often stumble is aligning those decisions with our existing resources. Because while structured content and editorial calendars are fantastic, they take time – time a small business or non-profit may not have. So let’s talk a bit about how we can prioritize tasks and goals, all while taking our clients’ existing pool of time into consideration.
April 5, 2012
The theme of this year’s IA Summit – Cross-Channel Experiences – was well represented, and regardless of which wall of the user experience room you tend to lean against, it’s clear we’re all moving forward toward this universal promise of “future-friendly” web properties, where our content moves from one format to another through the magic […]
February 28, 2012
One of the most important parts of web design and development at Blend Interactive is what we call our Audiences and Outcomes process. The process – which borrows heavily from C. David Gammel’s Online and On Mission – helps determine site audiences and the expected outcomes of those audiences. It’s what drives decision making for […]
February 16, 2012
Earlier this month, Contents Magazine asked seven very smart people about their first principles – the things that ground every part of their work, whether in content or beyond. You should probably go read that. Then, Contents asked us to fill in the spaces by submitting our own answers to the question, “What are your […]
July 19, 2011
Here’s what I’m not. I’m not a pipe fitter. I’m not a garage door salesman. I’m not a software engineer or a big box retail executive or a business journalist. I’m not a butcher, baker or candlestick maker. Damn it, Jim, I’m not a doctor NOR am I a mechanic. As content strategists, we are […]
April 12, 2010
When you cross the line from general to specific, you also cross the line from tolerant to expectant. In other words, you’ll be given a pass if you’re talking in generals and leave something out. The second you cross into expert territory, though, you’re running with the big wolves, except these big wolves have specialized […]
