A little video about content strategy...

by Danielle Cooley

I especially like the part at 1:18 where they take useless content away!

http://www.hotstudio.com Little Bits is a short video about content strategy by the small content strategy team at Hot Studio, an experience design company based in San Francisco and New York. We're small team of content strategists in a world of designers and developers and we find ourselves explaining what we do for a living a lot.

Georgy Cohen on Homepage Content

by Danielle Cooley

The Homepage.

It might be the most politically-charged page on any Web site. As a result, it often ends up being a "more content" nightmare. (See this vintage post on the American Airlines homepage by Dustin Curtis.)

I hope by now we can all agree that's a less-than-desirable outcome. But if putting everything on the homepage isn't the answer, how does one decide what does go there? Georgy Cohen has some fabulous suggestions: 

http://meetcontent.com/blog/planning-for-homepage-content/

Cut the crap

by Danielle Cooley

At the 2011 Content Strategy Forum in London, Ove Dalen (@ovedalen) presented the first real case study I’d seen showing the amazing potential of decreasing the amount of content on a web site. 

The slideshare isn’t rendered terribly well, but James Perrin (@Koozai_James) posted a nice recap shortly after the event. (2nd story on the page) In short, they removed 80% of the site’s content and saw a 100% conversion increase. Wow.

Less... on my phone?

by Danielle Cooley

Who needs all of the complexities of a smartphone? 

Well, a lot of us, admittedly. But does your kid? Does your grandmother? No. And there isn’t a lot out there for them. 

OwnPhone saw the need for a simple phone, with a lot LESS stuff, and created a business plan.

Just a simple phone that places and receives calls. No browser. No games. No maps. No voicemail. Clearly-labeled with a maximum of 12 pre-stored numbers to call.

I think this is brilliant. I see this being useful for parents wanting to be able to communicate with their kids without giving them all of the features of a smartphone. (Photo buttons coming soon, which makes it great even for preschoolers.) Or for the elderly who just need a phone for emergencies. Or for anyone who just wants to unplug for a while but still be able to be reachable for critical situations or just to check on the kids without the temptation of email and Bejeweled at their fingertips.

Pricing is a little high, imo, but they are just getting started. I look forward to seeing this in the US soon.