Why You Need To Understand Visual Hierarchy.
How a vendor training session reminded me of how important it is to know where you put things on the page.
One of my consulting clients recently asked me to take a look at a new community software platform they were considering. The platform vendor was promoting the fact that they had a full Content Management System (CMS) capability, and my client suggested I take a look.
The vendor had a full one-hour CMS Training video on their website, so I sat down to watch with interest. Without going into too much detail what they were showing wasn’t a CMS but a website visual design tool. - They are far from the only company that do this and this particular common naming malpractice is probably fodder for a future newsletter.
What really struck me in this training session was that the instructor repeatedly mentioned that they weren’t a web designer (so seemed a strange choice to deliver the training), and that was soon obvious. While they had a good grasp of how all the various widgets, wizards, and pieces of the functionality within the software worked (which is probably why they were picked to present the training) they clearly had no practical experience on how to put those pieces together to build an effective web page.
Where things go on the page matter. As the image at the top of this newsletter shows, graphic design, font size, and placement all influence the way that we process content.
Understanding and knowing how to build a visual hierarchy that aids the reader is vital to conveying the right information in the right order and with the right emphasis and context.
As a long-time comics reader, and occasional comics-writer I’ve often studied the craft of presenting a visual narrative. In comics it’s easy to see when a wrongly placed word balloon, or a bad panel layout interrupts the narrative flow. It isn’t so easy on a web-page, but the negative experience can be just the same.
Good visual design helps guide the reader’s brain to navigate the message you are delivering.
Every content developer should know the basics of visual design to help tell their story in an effective manner.
Alan
A Note of Appreciation
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Weekly Thought
The customer is at the center of every business transaction, and keeping the customer engaged has never been more vital than it is now. Investing in a strong customer engagement strategy and the technology to support that strategy will result in customers becoming brand and product advocates.
Customer Focused Storytelling Workshops
THE CONTENT POOL is pleased to announce that we are now offering our popular Customer Focused Storytelling Workshops
We are now taking bookings for Q3/2024, and we wanted to make sure that as a newsletter reader you got an early opportunity to lock-in a date.
“Weaving storytelling into the mix makes the content more compelling, accessible, and effective!”
Learn how to deliver content-driven experiences that your customers relate to on our two-day Customer Outcome Focused Storytelling workshop.
In this workshop, we will:
Examine content from the customer’s perspective.
Plan how to adapt content delivery to meet the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace
Examine why every business transaction is a story
Outline the 10 Rules of Storytelling as applied to Customer Experience
Apply proven storytelling techniques to your content.
Identify potential opportunities for incorporating storytelling techniques
into the production of your customer-facing content assets.Facilitate an interactive feedback session on your existing customer-facing content.
If you would like more details, or you like to discuss reserving a date for yourself and your team to benefit from a Customer Focused Storytelling Workshop, just email us at ajp@4jsgroup.com to reserve your date.
In The Bookstore
If you enjoy the contents of this newsletter and would like more, we have three books always available from XML Press.
You can also check out The Content Pool website or follow us on FaceBook or on Twitter/X at @TheContentPool
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Till next time - have fun paddling in The Content Pool.
Alan J. Porter
The Content Pool™ is a division of the 4Js Group LLC