Comments on: Ginny Redish’s “Letting Go of the Words” http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/ UIE\'s latest insights on the world of design Fri, 5 Dec 2008 14:36:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Sam http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-140306 Sam Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:59:31 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-140306 Letting Go of the Words is fantastic and it has helped my writing so much. I finally figured out why people weren't reading my writing online. I edit my articles repeatedly, although I imagine there will come a time when I don't need to as much. Thanks for the post! Letting Go of the Words is fantastic and it has helped my writing so much. I finally figured out why people weren’t reading my writing online. I edit my articles repeatedly, although I imagine there will come a time when I don’t need to as much. Thanks for the post!

]]> By: Jonathan Murphy http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83884 Jonathan Murphy Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:04:56 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83884 Jim: Good points. I agree, a strong focus on content is nothing new to technical communicators. However, in our testing, we continue to encounter examples of websites that don't put an emphasis on writing effective content that helps users achieve their goals. As Stephanie & Dan already pointed out, in many cases, web content is lifted from marketing material or written by people who might be great writers but don't have a grasp of how writing for the web is different. That's why I think it's essential to keep reminding design teams of the importance of prioritizing content. Jim: Good points. I agree, a strong focus on content is nothing new to technical communicators. However, in our testing, we continue to encounter examples of websites that don’t put an emphasis on writing effective content that helps users achieve their goals.

As Stephanie & Dan already pointed out, in many cases, web content is lifted from marketing material or written by people who might be great writers but don’t have a grasp of how writing for the web is different. That’s why I think it’s essential to keep reminding design teams of the importance of prioritizing content.

]]> By: Daniel Szuc http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83869 Daniel Szuc Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:54:44 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83869 Hi Jim, suggest there is what we know (technical communicators, Designers, Usability, UX etc) and what our audience (people we sell our services to) needs to know. So having books like this help us market what we do more effectively to people that need to know. Hi Jim, suggest there is what we know (technical communicators, Designers, Usability, UX etc) and what our audience (people we sell our services to) needs to know.

So having books like this help us market what we do more effectively to people that need to know.

]]> By: Jim http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83854 Jim Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:32:39 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83854 I owe a lot to Ginny Redish. Her work has proved immeasurably useful in my career. But based on this summary alone, I'm wondering what's new in this work and why it's so groundbreaking. These are the same basic principles that technical communicators have been practicing for well over a decade, as their work moved from paper to online. Perhaps this is the first time that this information has been packaged for this particular audience. I owe a lot to Ginny Redish. Her work has proved immeasurably useful in my career.

But based on this summary alone, I’m wondering what’s new in this work and why it’s so groundbreaking. These are the same basic principles that technical communicators have been practicing for well over a decade, as their work moved from paper to online.

Perhaps this is the first time that this information has been packaged for this particular audience.

]]> By: Daniel Szuc http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83850 Daniel Szuc Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:00:49 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83850 We also see "content" being seen in organisations as the "poor cousin" of web design and maintenance efforts. The content is usually migrated directly from marketing materials and suggest some of this relates to not seeing the web site as a strategic channel in the first place i.e. how can we sell better on our web site? How does our web site compliment the sales process via other channels? What questions do our users want answered on our web site that they can do faster themselves? We also see “content” being seen in organisations as the “poor cousin” of web design and maintenance efforts. The content is usually migrated directly from marketing materials and suggest some of this relates to not seeing the web site as a strategic channel in the first place i.e. how can we sell better on our web site? How does our web site compliment the sales process via other channels? What questions do our users want answered on our web site that they can do faster themselves?

]]> By: Stephanie http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83840 Stephanie Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:08:44 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/08/01/ginny-redishs-letting-go-of-the-words/#comment-83840 To answer your questions, for a lot of the sites I've worked on, the content is not considered part of the site design or is where my clients choose to save money. It gets left for the organization's administrative staff to write when they have time or recycled from ancient print marketing materials. I've worked on a few projects that were prettier, easier to navigate and more accessible when they were done but I didn't feel they were any better because the text still sucked :( To answer your questions, for a lot of the sites I’ve worked on, the content is not considered part of the site design or is where my clients choose to save money. It gets left for the organization’s administrative staff to write when they have time or recycled from ancient print marketing materials. I’ve worked on a few projects that were prettier, easier to navigate and more accessible when they were done but I didn’t feel they were any better because the text still sucked :(

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