Marquis Côté .com

Writing for the Web is different than writing for print. People do not read the same way on a screen. They scan content and jump from topic to topic. Web writing should be about communicating with words that drive actions. Consider that a low percentage of Web readers read content word-for-word, the rest they just scan it and reading from computer screens is slower than reading from paper.

I’ve compiled some tips to help you prepare Web content.

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What defines a good Web site? In my years as a Web strategist I’ve followed the teachings and direction of leaders in Web design best practices – Without a doubt sites that are user-centric focused are amongst the most successful. User experience design provides an overall experience and satisfaction to the users while visiting the site. “User Experience (UX)” should be been the building block while planning, designing and the production of a Web site.

Planning a user-centered site

User experience planning is a multi-disciplinary effort, incorporating psychology (human factor), information management, information technology, graphic design and communication. Consulting a Subject Matter Expert (SME) should be an important part of the UX planning process.

I’ve come to design a simpler approach to Peter Moville’s UX Honeycomb. Peter successfully transforms the 3 IA circles to the 7 hexagons facets of UX; I’d like to take this approach back a little and regrouping the basics into a simplified 4 diamonds UX design diagram.

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I’ve been a consultant for most Government departments and agencies since 1996. From 1999, I’ve seen CLF implementation in all shapes, sizes and colours from internal guidelines to exceptions to the rules, I’m glad to announce the next step of wide Government Online CLF updates, CLF 2.0:

The Government of Canada’s Common Look and Feel 2.0 (CLF 2.0)

The Internet is an increasingly important communication tool providing an effective means for the public and the government to exchange information and for the government to offer its services in the official language and at the time and place of Canadians’ choosing. The consistent and predictable presentation of government services and content offered by Common Look and Feel standards facilitate effective online interaction.

The new Common Look and Feel Standards for the Internet were developed to reflect modern practices on the Web, changes in technology and issues raised by the Web community over the past six years as well as to improve navigation and format elements. The standards were rewritten to eliminate duplication and conflict with other Treasury Board policy instruments and were reformatted to improve their structure and organization.