Get to the point: why I chose content design

I got into content design because I have read a lot of bad content. 

At university, I regularly encountered academic writing littered with jargon and run-on sentences that spanned half a page. I have no doubt that most of those writers had insightful points to convey, but they were undermined by bad content design. 

Once you notice bad content it’s hard to stop. I became resentful of reading because I felt nothing had been written for me. Writers seemed more concerned with demonstrating their skill than conveying the information I needed to learn. I can’t help wondering what I might have gotten done if they had just gotten to the point. Maybe I would have had time to expand the scope of my research, or maybe I could have finished early and gone to the pub.

It’s much easier to point out confusing content than it is to improve it. I didn’t know how I could write anything better, other than using fewer words. This is when I began to learn about content design. 

Learning about content design

I started by reading blog posts and books about content strategy. Understanding your users and their needs, and speaking to them in language they would use, are such simple concepts, but I had never thought about them before. I later attended a Content Design Bootcamp run by Padma Gillen, where I was able to put theory into practice and learn more about designing based on user needs. 

Learning how to write good content was more difficult than I anticipated. Bad content is easy to spot, usually because you end up paying more attention to the structure of a sentence than its meaning. Good content design isn’t obvious. If you’ve done it right the user rarely notices. 

It’s about more than putting the right words on a page, it’s considering the wider user journey. Ensuring the user sees the right content at the right time and place, in a format they can use.

Working in content design

I have worked in content design for the last 2 years, on various projects and a range of subject matters. It has been challenging, but it’s rewarding to have a job that gives you the opportunity to make someone’s life a little bit easier. It’s also been nice to work in a community who advocates for user needs and works hard so that users don’t have to. 

Learning to write content in a way that is clear, concise and accurate is a generally useful skill. I’d recommend learning about content design to anyone who is frustrated by bad content and wants to make getting to the point easier.