Content Insights Blog

Planning an innovative or effective digital experience today usually demands research and analysis. But, how do you figure out which methods to use? A new book, Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions, has the answer. One of the book's authors, Bella Martin (pictured right), recently took time away from her work at Delta to answer some of my questions about this handy resource.

Tell us, why did you decide to put together a book showcasing design research methods?  Read More >

By now you’ve heard of Pinterest, the virtual pinboard that lets you share and organize images on the web. You may also have read various articles on Pinterest’s policies that have recently come under fire and prompted the company to rewrite their Terms & Privacy statement. (It goes into effect April 6, 2012.)

There’s still a great many unknowns about Pinterest’s value to individuals, companies, and industries. One area that is largely unaddressed is the process of ensuring your website is pinnable, meaning: your is site chocked full of images or video that can be detected and bookmarked on Pinterest.com.   Read More >

If I had to describe the past 5 years of my career in one word, I'd say variety. Nothing keeps my geek juices flowing better than consulting with a government agency one month, a large corporation the next, and a startup the next. Why? Because my brain has to adapt quickly. So, I see patterns that aren't obvious to me otherwise. (The patterns help me shift from context to another.) One pattern I've noticed is that just about everyone offers a product. But, not everyone knows it.

Yes, Even You Offer a Product

A product is a good, service, or idea for a market. Let's take a university, for example. Does a university offer a product? You might be thinking no. I'm convinced the answer is yes. Hear me out for just a moment. The product is education, and it commonly takes form as a degree program. The exact products and their features might vary for different universities. For example, University of Georgia offers 3 types of MBA programs, while Georgia State University offers 4 MBA programs.  Read More >

Our recent Content + Credibility Study focuses on the perception of web content. Being a designer, I was very curious about the outcome of the study because we all know design is the most important and influential part of any communication, right? (Well, not really, but we designers like to think so!) Also, I knew visual design would play a part in the depiction and acceptance of the study itself. So, as I became involved in the study, I thought, how would I take numbers and make them interesting to look at while still seeming credible...and do justice to all the smart thinking and hard work that went into this study? I was off and running…

The Hurdle

As the report designer, I had to focus on visually giving this study credibility in and of itself. The rigorous testing and analysis were all there, but I then needed to execute the physical representation of our report with the same veracity used in the methodology of the study.  Read More >

We just finished the first phase of our Content + Credibility Study. What did we discover? A lot.

We surveyed 800 people in the U.S. and 800 people in the U.K. about their perceptions of web content credibility. This infographic shows a few key findings for the U.S.



My first reaction to this was disappointment. We've made so much progress in the interactive industry with technology, but we seem to be far behind with content. People are using the web more than ever to find content they don't feel they can trust. I didn't spend my career here to have people view content as "hit or miss," at best. (I'm sure you didn't, either.)

But, after having time to soak this in, I'm excited about the opportunity we face. Making even small improvements for credibility is likely to set your content apart. What's more, detailed findings from our study suggest that people are more open than we expected to non-media sources of content—that means companies, brands, government agencies, nonprofits, and other organizations. So, if you're one of those organizations and boost your content's credibility, people are likely to pay attention.

We assembled all of our findings, along with some discussion and recommendations, in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand report. We included some wonderful visualizations of the data, too. My hope is the report helps you both make the case for credible content and think of ways to make it happen. There's some extra detail for the health, travel, and finance industries, too.

Discover More

Here are some freebies, a way to register for an upcoming webinar, and a way to get the full report.  Read More >