Interface content: it's not the size, but how you use it

Museums are increasingly looking for ways to connect to people on their own devices inside and outside of the museum space. Smartphones and tablets have helped drive the popular use of apps, traditional websites often don’t translate well to mobile devices, and increasingly, people are looking for a more immersive and creative online experience. Partly in response to this, in the past few years a new range of museum apps have cropped up. 

This means that interface content should be more important to museums than ever. The problem? People often overlook it or don't know how to apply content strategy practices to constrained copy. This workshop will introduce techniques specifically aimed at addressing button text, links, labels, menus, interactive components and other pieces of interface content.

We’ll look at ways that people concerned with content can ensure that their interface copy is clear, user friendly, predictable and consistent with their organizational voice. Although this will be most applicable to those who are thinking about developing their own app, it will also be useful for anyone who is interested in improving the smaller, interface elements of their website.

Through practical examples and hands-on exercises, we’ll cover:

• What is content strategy and how can it be applied to micro content
• What to include in a micro-content style guide
• How to audit and track interface content
• Creating strong and clear calls to action on buttons and links

This workshop will be designed with the under resourced museum professional in mind. This means people who often act in multiple roles including wordsmith, educator, technical expert and possibly even user experience designer.  No prior experience necessary. Bring your questions.