I read a blog post written by Sam Wright titled “Designing The Words: Why Copy Is A Design Issue”. The article touches upon the importance of content and the need for content to be included in the overall design process. Much of the post talks about the importance of writing and copy.
What really caught my eye was that the practice of Communication Design was mentioned. Communication Design in a nutshell is the creation of appeal of an entity such as a product or brand with customers and the ability to interact with those customers to create a favorable impression for that entity. Along with the creative importance of user experience and content delivery, the tenets of communication design need to incorporate business partnerships and integration, problem resolution, and market analytics and research.
What are my thoughts of aligning principles of Sam Wright’s post to the Sitecore framework?
The core of the article is about a writer and/or copyrighter avoiding the declaration of self-importance, delivering the content in the wrong tone, and to be more self-aware of the work that is compiled together for content. Sitecore provides many tools to help identify these and other content related issues. The common ribbon interface that Sitecore provides the functionality making it easier for content producers to work with their copy either from the actual website through the Page Editor or within the Sitecore Content Editor backend. This functionality includes the ability for spelling and accessibility checks. Sitecore also provides the ability to create workflow to support Wright’s indication of the importance of editing and the ability to have the written word reviewed by someone with expertise to catch any overall problems with copy.
Sitecore DMS
When speaking about market analysis and reporting with the practice of Communication Design, Sitecore has the Digital Market System (DMS). The DMS that has several features including conversion rate measurement, behavior tracking with user profiles, promotional campaign tracking, multivariate testing to increase the relevancy of your content, and content personalization. With these major components already available, a company has the ability to take that next step with their content design.
Creating new media channels is also there for you in Sitecore. Sitecore’s Customer Engagement Platform provides the ability for interaction with your social channels including posting to social channels and monitor reaction for external site sources right through the Sitecore content editor interface. The tools are available to create blogs, video and photo sharing, user communities and forums, and more.
If your company is moving in the direction of Communication Design and looking to improve the quality and effectiveness of your content, Sitecore looks to be a perfect framework to be an integral part of that direction.
