Cynthia Gelper

I’m a content strategist and practitioner of human-centered content design. Based in Chicago, I got my start as a marketing and technical writer for digital agencies but was drawn to the usability side of things when I saw the sometimes profound disconnect between marketing goals and user objectives. In my blog on contentstrategyanswers.com or on Twitter as @ContentLama.

Presentations

UX Camp Fall 2018

What Content Strategy Can Teach UX

In my talk, I’ll discuss the role of content strategy in a project and how usability, no matter how researched and executed, stands and falls on the shoulders of content. This includes what user experience designers need to know to perform content strategy functions – even if the project doesn’t have the budget to hire a dedicated content strategist.

I’ll describe how content strategy contributes to a project, including a structure for creating a project goal and plan, from message architecture through editorial calendar to style guidelines. I’ll give examples of how content strategy can help accomplish business goals without leaving the users behind and help you think about how content will be sourced, managed and measured.

I’ll also give cautionary examples of what happens when you don’t include content strategy in your planning and when you put content last, instead of first.

Finally, I’ll talk about how UX and content strategy folks can help enhance the other’s work and collaborate for better results.