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Why Content-first and Not Design-first
Why Content-First?
- Reduce project delays caused by underestimating the difficulty of content creation.
- Do not waste time and money designing and developing templates and functionality that can not handle real content.
- For a better user experience, make smarter, content-focused design decisions.
- Deliver fantastic sites that clients can maintain (this builds trust and leads to repeat business!)
Pros
- Improve SEO ranking, readability, and clarity.
- Content is placed at the center of the process, increasing a team’s ability to make effective design decisions and assist a website in meeting its business and user goals.
- Content strategy enables organizations to deliver the right content to the right people at the right time and for the right reasons.
- Make better strategic, functional, user experience, visual design, and business decisions.
How does it improve the project progression?
- Kick-Off: Content arrangement, sitemap/navigstion, userflow
- Smooth project planning with following the actual content.
- Design the actual content for PC/mobile.
- Ready for client to provide feedback
- Using checklist provided and do revision if needed.
- Send final invoice
- Receive payment.
- Able to meet the deadline
- Ready to launch website live
- Clients are happy with the outcome and smooth process
When to use Content-First?
- if your old content is not showing any good results, getting leads or traffic.
- if you have not thought about content strategy before.
- if you do not have someone in charge on producing/rewriting the content.
- if you want an accurate quotation, else be ready for ups and downs on the cost.
- if you do not have a digital content style guide.
Why not do Design-First then content?
- It creates project delays, budget overruns, customer tension, and the failure to send final invoices. This is neither healthy for morale nor for the bottom line!
- Cause projects to be left in limbo due to a lack of content.
- Cause hours to be wasted because the content was sent in the wrong format for the design and/or CMS, which will result in additional fees!
Start design for mobile or desktop first?
Mobile first is a design philosophy that seeks to begin the design process with the mobile version of a product and then adapt it for larger screens, such as a computer or tablet.
From Google
Design a User Experience for Social Good & Prepare for Jobs: Introduction to Course 7
With mobile-first designs, users can get to content quickly because they have to load fewer elements and features. This is important because mobile phones do not have as much computer power as desktop computers. If you start by designing for a bigger screen, it can be hard to fit all of the design elements of a complicated screen into a smaller screen without slowing down the load time. This is just one more reason why designing for mobile first can be helpful.
Design with the 4 Cs
When you're building a new product, it's important to focus your design process on one device first. Start on the device where your target audience, also known as target users, spends the most time doing tasks that are similar or related to the tasks you're designing for.
Consistency: Having a uniform design, so users can expect the design to feel familiar across devices and products
Continuity: Providing users with a smooth and uninterrupted experience as they move between devices
Context: Designing for the needs of a specific device and the way in which the user will use that device in any given situation
Complementary: Taking into account how the product design on each device can make the overall user experience better