UX CONTENT DEBT

Content debt accumulates in products where no attention has been specifically paid to product content elements such as button names, field names, error messages, navigation elements, tooltips, headings, and other content cues, as the product has been developed. It means the work of ensuring product language is clear, consistently applied, user-friendly, well-researched, easily scanned, free of jargon, etc. has not yet been done.

It's nobody's fault

For most early stage companies, all efforts and spend go towards building the product and finding customers. This makes sense and it's very common that UX content is not budgeted for in the first stage of company growth. Once there are enough customers, however, most companies realise they need to invest in the user experience to improve their product interface, reduce support overheads, and address churn rates. That's when they discover the content debt.

How to start paying it back

Hire a content designer or two, so they can start the work of paying it back. Their activities will include:

Revisit product basics: What it is for, who uses it, why, how, their goals, devices, industry, needs?
Assess every screen: Does it meet the needs, do the task, make sense, make it easy or hard for users?
Identify and document content patterns: What elements repeat and can be defined? Buttons, tables, tooltips, filters, etc.
Establish an information hierarchy: Define top actions, map user journeys, and classify tasks, e.g. frequency, complexity, urgency.
Prioritise and scope: What changes are possible now? What needs wider discussion? What needs to be on the roadmap?

Example screen assessment

Question the terms being used
Ensure key task is able to be met
Check that user actions match the field names
Review abbreviations
Check language/style
Suggest clear actions
Query the design of content elements
Identify patterns (e.g. x of n or x / n)

The lessons of content debt

Once content debt is seen, it cannot be unseen. And users feel it on every screen where it lurks. They feel it when they have to read something twice, when they hesitate, when they are unsure what to do or what to press. And especially when they crack it and shut down altogether. Content design is about paying debt back and avoiding future debt. It is the best money you will spend.

“Design adds value faster than it adds costs”

Joel Spolsky