Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Tony Headrick

About five or six years ago, I was introduced to a content first approach in web design by the amazing content strategist, Andy Welfle. I had the privilege of working with Andy at a small boutique web consulting agency on the outskirts of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Before Andy showed me the light, I would design web sites and printed materials using lorem ipsum and never give a thought to how valuable content was. I was merely focused on making the best design I could and then encouraging the client to pump their content into it, all while hoping nothing looked awry after the result. Well, the truth is, it always looked bad. Every design looked wonky, unfinished and in some cases, the content areas I planned for were never used, thus leaving whole sections of web pages and printed materials unfilled and out of balance.

I was in denial. I thought to myself, “The problem is not my design, it is the lack of effort from the client in regards to catering their content to my excellent design.” I even went as far as suggesting to the client that they let our agency write the content for them because that would solve their content issue. I was wrong on all fronts. The design was not the problem. The client’s content was not the problem. The lack of content strategy and adopting a content first approach was the problem.

It took Andy a lot of teaching and patience to get me on board. After all, this is what I learned in college. I was taught art, layout, some basic UI/UX before such terms were widely used, and I hoped for the best. However, once I understood the importance of content and the weight it carried, everything sort of “clicked.”

And all of a sudden, with a content first approach, my designs got better, my work started winning awards, the clients were more happy with the finished result, and unnecessary guess work got eliminated. Our agency became more efficient and proficient. All of this because we gave a damn about content first and the role it played in our design.

Then, and today, content is still king. The message your creative is trying to put out into the world is far greater than the supporting creative. However, few people will read your critical messaging if the creative is deemed subpar. By giving content its due up front, and spending the necessary time to get the message right, the creative and marketing strategy can work in harmony with the content to provide a much better end result.

So here is my addiction and dilemma: I have experienced how well a content first approach works on the web, that now I cannot quit it. Seriously! If I am designing a brochure, a PowerPoint presentation, a print ad, a banner ad, or anything that involves words, I want to spend the time up front to set the goals of the project and coordinate these aims with the messaging before I dive into creative.

I do not believe that having a content first approach is just for the web. On every project that approaches where a message is presented, I am willing to delay the coolness of some fresh creative, to focus appropriately on the message, and how it needs to be given.

I find that by planning the goals of the project and aligning the content around the goals, everything from the color choice to the photography is no longer artistic guesses, but strategic, creative decisions that align with goals and desired outcomes.

As I continue to design for an ever-expanding list of devices and audiences, I find the need to plan for content up front more important than ever — despite the creative medium. The unsexy world of content planning with clients can be time-consuming and challenging. However, in my experiences, the best work and best results come from including some necessary focus and planning around content from the start.

I Can’t Quit Content First Design was originally published in prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I Can’t Quit Content First Design

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