Information Architecture

Information architecture, one of the main components of UX, is the process of making something easy to find.

The process is done in the grocery store, on websites and apps; anywhere that people are going to find something.

Let’s use a public library as an example (easy for me because I almost got my Masters in Library Science after working in libraries for 5 years!):

The Dewey Decimal Classification is the system that your local library uses to help group books into categories so they can be found easily.

Knowing this system makes it SO easy to walk into your library, look up a book in the online catalog and find it within minutes- it’s honestly one of my favorite activities.

For example, the 900’s are for history and geography. Since libraries all follow this system, you can easily walk into a library that you’ve never been in before, look for the signs on the aisles and walk straight into your favorite section to find a piece of information.

Information architecture for websites or app designs works in the same way. Good design means that even if someone has never gone to your website, app, store, or library before- it’s going to be easy for them to find what they’re looking for.

Imagine if your local grocery store didn’t have items grouped into categories; grocery shopping would be a much more frustrating experience.

Good UX means that the information architecture has the user in mind; why is the user seeking out this content/service/product? What expectations do they have?

Without understanding the user, information architecture can’t really address the complexities and nuances of that user’s experience.

So before you design your thing or try to sell your thing, remember that CONTEXT matters just as much as content. Good design is about editing out the noise, and making your product/content/service easier to find.

User Personas 101

1. Your product/service not about you

   Branding, marketing, messaging, copy- your customers don’t care about any of the behind-the-scenes of your business. They care about one thing- THEMSELVES. They aren’t selfish; they’re human. So, how will your product/service help them? That’s what they want to learn, especially if they’re a potential customer/client. How can you remind them, over and over again, of WHO they are and how your thing can help them?

2. Create community before you sell

   Think of your business like a club- not everyone can join, and not everyone wants to. There’s not a business out there that aims to serve everyone; not even Wal-Mart. Though they sell practically anything you’d need- their users are people who value low prices. What kind of community is your business? What “club” are your clients proud to be a member of? For example, if you visit REI’s instagram feed, you hardly see any products for sell. You see a community of like-minded individuals. Create community first, THEN sell.

3. Focus on the WHO not the WHAT

   When you visit your website or your business Instagram feed, can you immediately tell WHO your business is for? Or do you simply see images of a product or a description of a service? Your business should have one main function, to help someone. Not everyone; SOMEone; a certain one. A CERTAIN person; a specific type of human. Who is the human you’re focusing on? If you can point your marketing strategy at a very specific target, you’re more likely to hit a bullseye than if you were aiming at several targets.

Why good user-focused copywriting matters

People aren’t buying the thing you’re selling. They’re buying the result.

They’re not spending $12 on a super-food smoothie because they love the taste of the ingredients- they’re buying it because it makes them feel healthy and strong.

They aren’t buying a technology because they think the actual components of it are special, they’re buying it in the hopes that it will make their life easier.

People aren’t buying the thing that’s being presented to them, they’re buying the way that they hope it will make them feel.

That’s why good copy is one of the most effective ways to sell you’re saying.

Like poetry, like art, you can frame their experience so they get a glimpse of how you’re saying your thing will make them feel.

You can write in a way that helps them feel just enough of their desired emotion, to make them want more.

It’s not the flashy videos, the amazing graphics, or the perfect jingle that’s selling the thing; it’s the emotion behind the creative work. That’s what art does, it makes humans feel something. We’ve known that for as long as we’ve lived in caves.

No matter how much technology improves, it’s the heart behind your thing that will sell it.

SEO is for your users, not your business

SEO doesn’t have to be complicated and neither does this blog post.

Don’t over complicate your SEO and focus on the most “viable” search terms.

Think of SEO as your arrows and your user as the bulls-eye; your target.

If you’ve got a small budget, you have just a few arrows, so you’ve got make sure your target is lined up perfectly in front of you.

Here’s what I mean:

Go straight for the buyer-interest search terms.

These are SEO terms that are more than one word, and are VERY specific to where your customer is, in their buying process.

Focus on search terms that are at the bottom of the sales funnel.

The most basic example I can use is a search for therapy. A high level, research-based term would be “therapist”.

You could reach a more mid level part of your funnel with “therapist near me”.

But if you’re on a budget and don’t have much spend, try “therapist for codependency near me”.

You can tell that this searcher/potential buyer has already done their research- that’s why you want to use keywords that are more defined as to what you offer and what they need.

=They know exactly what type of therapist they need and they’re ready to buy.

So, don’t over complicate your SEO and if you’re on a tight budget, you only have a few arrows, so make sure those arrows (keywords) exactly describe the step your customer will take right before purchasing.

Find Out What Your Customer Needs

Safety, belonging, and mattering are three things that humans crave. 

Once we feel that our core needs are met and that we’re going to survive, we can then turn our heads up and find community. Once we find our community and feel loved and supported, we feel like we matter.

So whether you’re selling a water bottle, an online personal growth course, or a technology service…

How can you make sure your messaging (and ALL of your marketing collateral) make your clients and potential clients feel safe, like they belong, and like they matter?

I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all method to this. But just like with music, art, or even fashion- you can try things out and see how it sounds.

The key word to compare your copy, content, and marketing collateral to is this:

Resonance

Does your message resonate with the people you want to serve?

Your business, as much as you put into it, isn’t about you- it’s about them.

Maybe I’m old-school and too poetic but I believe the customer is always right. Without them, does your business matter? Without them, does your business feel safe? Without them, does your business have community?

No.

So the next time you need a campaign for your new product/service/offering, remember the three key points you want them to FEEL as they read your words and take in your images.

Safety

Belonging

Mattering 

I’ll break it down a little further because if you’re still reading this, you’ll want me to.

Safety: For your target market or your most viable customer, what does safety look like, for them? What would their life feel like, if they had all their needs met? Can your thing/service/product help them feel more safe and if so, how can you communicate that to them?

Belonging: What do they want to belong to? Are you a tech company and they want to belong to a group of people who value the ease that technology can bring to their business? Are they lonely introverts who want a physical community that they can grow with and how can you cultivate that for them? If they truly felt like they belonged, what would that look like?

Mattering: What matters to them and what do they want to matter to? Are you a recruiter and they want to matter to a potential employee? How can your marketing convey that your thing can help them find their purpose or their sense of mattering?

Let’s loop this back around to innovation.

What if an innovative business is one that speaks to the fragility of the human experience that’s happening right now?

What if an innovative business was one that they didn’t recognize as a business but as a friend or potential peer? 

Innovation doesn’t mean you have to invent something totally new- it could be about communicating in a way that many businesses aren’t-

With the authenticity and richness that most of your potential clients appreciate.  

Business can be heart-centered without hiding it.

Business can be like a work of art- constantly evolving and open to critique for it is created to be viewed by others.

User Generated Content

Imagine you’re on a road-trip and you see a sign for a gas station. Outside the store-front, there are ads for cold drinks, homemade deli sandwiches, and they even carry your favorite chips. You’re excited!

You walk in and the shelves are mostly empty. They DON’T have the chips that were on the sign and the deli sandwiches look like they’re a week old.

You walk out without buying anything and you don’t stop there on your way back.

That store doesn’t have enough content (substance) and what they do have is outdated.

Their business won’t grow unless they update their content.

The stores needs to have FULL shelves, FRESH sandwiches, and they either need to take down the ice cream sign or stock that shit back up.

You wouldn’t eat a stale chip; no one wants to digest “stale” content.

So whether your business is new or you’re a few years in, reviewing and appropriately updating your content will increase your revenue and your impact.

Do you have UGC (user generated content)?

Content like video or text reviews, unboxing, or even podcasts that are generated by users of your product are IN. According to a 2021 survey by Stackla, of over 2,000 consumers across the UK, US, and Australia showed that consumers want more authenticity from brands.

Image via Stackla report

Users are now interested in seeing people like them, using the product or service they want to buy.

Gone are the days of reading consumer report articles.

Welcome to the world of user generated content where buyers don’t want to exit their social media app to figure out if they should buy the thing that’s being advertised to them.

Back to the gas station analogy:

Review your content, through in some UGC, watch them pull over and come inside.