Employing a Collaborative Model for Structured Content

It is considered best practice in website development to create a content model. The content strategist assesses the existing content, defines the fields, and passes it to the designers and developers to execute.

But the content model can be much more relevant if we ask questions that are often neglected. What is the context in which the project will live? What are the relationships between the entities unique to this project? What metadata is needed to support the design? What are our expectations of the design and build teams?

When content modeling takes these questions into consideration it can support the creation of meaningful communications, thus providing clarity for design and development. We can make the job of the designer and developer more effective if we include them in the conceptualization of the content model.

In this session, we will discuss the importance of the content model in driving and supporting design and development. We will look at how to use the content model to document the context of the project, as well as to aid in designing visual patterns, metadata, and message.

You will come away from this session having learned:

• The importance of scalable, reusable content
• The need to work as a team to create a common vocabulary
• The relationship between structured content, design, and metadata

Designers, developers, content creators, and UX experts will all leave this session with a fresh appreciation of how content can create a common framework for project success.