Want to make an impact when designing content? In this post Tim Guest — a content designer working on My BT — explains how thinking like a news editor has helped him make better content decisions.

Before moving into content design, I spent over five years as the homepage and content manager of bt.com where the focus of the page was purely editorial.

Our job was to hook readers in and get them to click on one or more of the news, showbiz, lifestyle and tech stories featured on the homepage — everything from political shenanigans to the latest Strictly rumours and gossip. With up to thirty different stories jostling for readers’ attention at any one time, we had to find ways to focus on the stories that converted best.

We used tools like Chartbeat and Google Analytics to A/B test different headlines and subheadings. In the vast majority of cases, the shorter, snappier headlines and subheadings got the greatest number of clickthroughs. So far, so Buzzfeed, you may think. But in a world where our attention span has decreased from 12 seconds to 8.25 seconds in just 15 years, the need to grab people’s attention quickly is more important than ever.

Keeping it brief

Our content design guidelines state that ‘We respect our customers’ time with descriptive titles, headings and links, and accurate meta data so people can find what they need’. And they also remind us that ‘We use plain English to make our digital products and services accessible to all’. When I moved into content design, I realised that keeping our titles and subheadings clear, specific and written in plain English is not an easy job.

These content features in particular are more likely to fall victim to ‘message creep’, where a stakeholder insists on adding in extra detail, a special offer, or a product benefit that simply must be mentioned. So consequently, titles and subheadings become longer, and less focused. They’re also much less effective. And if a page has multiple blocks of copy with long titles and subheadings, users will run for the hills.

So, as a content designer, what do you do? Think like a news editor and keep your titles and subheadings as brief as possible with a clear call to action — even if that action is just to make sure the user understands what you’ve written.

In terms of length, we aim for a subheading that’s only one line longer than the title (aiming for less than 60 characters, including spaces, so it’s not cut short in Google results). And we always make sure the subheading doesn’t contain the same information as the title and is optimised for search with keywords at the front.

Different approaches yield different results

In this first example, the copy details the various benefits of a product — but it contains multiple messages and is much too long. Realistically, hardly any users are going to read this (apart from the person inside the organisation who insisted you include all the info in the first place).

In the next example, the title and subheading have been reduced by a line, but they’re still too long. Imagine a page with several of these ‘blocks’ and you can see how onerous the on-page reading experience would be.

In the third example, the title works well. It’s one line and tells the story. However, the subheading still contains a confusing secondary message, and is still much longer than the headline.

The final example has a clear, concise message that’s easy to consume. The subheading is only one line longer than the title, adds context, and can be understood independently of the title.

I’d recommend trying a title testing tool to see how this works in practice. If you don’t have access to Chartbeat or similar, try opening two versions of the same live page in Google Chrome, and changing the copy in one to shorter, snappier chunks. You can then guerrilla test this with users and see which one they respond to best. Let us know how you get on in the comments below.

Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash

What working on a news site taught me about content design was originally published in EE Design Team on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How did you feel about starting in the BT Design Team during lockdown?

Rachel Hoskins (RH): I had the usual mix of excitement and nervousness for starting a new job, but I also moved back down to London the week before, during a global pandemic. In the end I didn’t have time to think about starting at all! I was glad to be at an organisation I knew would be able to handle onboarding remotely (hello technology) but was still really impressed by how prepared everyone was to get me started from home.

Mark Winter (MW): I knew that I was in for a win the moment I got a call from one of the guys that interviewed me. He wanted to reassure me everything was good and he was looking forward to having me start. To get an unofficial call before I start from someone that I later realised I wasn’t reporting into… just amazing. What a welcome. I knew that if I started with this positivity that he had given me, I’d be more than OK.

Rachel McConnell (RMc): I felt quite apprehensive to start with, but at the same time it was nice not having to get used to a new commute or building and be able to focus on getting to know people. It can be overwhelming when you start somewhere new so starting ‘from home’ was actually less daunting.

What kind of work environment had you come from prior to BT?

RH: I’ve arrived fresh from the charity sector, so my work environment was passionate but under-resourced. Thanks to a few amazing colleagues, the charity I worked for was very advanced in user-centred design but the wider organisation as a whole was years away from fully buying in.

MW: Prior to BT I was working for an agency that was at a somewhat slower pace than I’d become used to. In the build-up to starting my new role I had a month of life at home, which later turned into lockdown. A bizarre transition that I didn’t fully notice at the time.

RMc: I was in a small agency in Brighton before but often working from a client’s office in London. That said, my previous team was very small, only 26 of us — so coming into a team the size of BT Consumer Digital meant I had a lot of new faces to get to know! Having names on Teams calls definitely helps, it’s like everyone is wearing a name badge!

What’s been most useful in helping you get settled in and started?

RH: Making time to chat to colleagues. Even if it’s the first five minutes of a meeting, I’ve found it really important to maintain the social side of my new job.

MW: More of a ‘who’ than a ‘what’ but, shout out to the DesignOps team. They’re always on hand and made settling in possible. Everybody needs a DesignOps team!

We also use a tool called Miro. The collaborative nature of this program has allowed me to bring my ideas to the team quickly. Combining it with video call meetings, it’s given work a fun tone that makes me feel part of the BT family.

RMc: Everyone’s been very helpful and welcoming, and made time for me to chat and ask questions. That was really useful. And having a virtual assistant to get me logged into systems and set up was a godsend. It feels like people go more out of their way to help now we’re remote which I’ve really appreciated as I know from experience how tiring it is being on calls all day!

How are you finding working in an agile environment at a distance?

RH: I hadn’t worked in an agile environment before so constantly being in communication with my squad helps keep me on top of things. It’s challenging to learn it all remotely, but its benefits are shining through.

MW: As a single squad, we’re great. We’re informed, honest and we trust each other. My current blocker is improving the way we communicate with other squads. We’re failing fast and learning quickly how to bridge the gaps and we’re making great progress. It’s definitely a challenge, but we all share the same beliefs and frustrations, which, for me, makes for a great team — one that wants to make change for good.

RMc: The first couple of weeks were intense with back to back calls. Because you’re focusing to take in so much new knowledge it’s really mentally draining. I’m getting better at block booking time to actually focus on work I need to get done alone. Collaborative workshops have been great on some of our shared tools — really productive.

Have there been any unexpected benefits of starting during lockdown?

RH: Well I’ve never actually done my new commute, but it’s nice to not have to do one! I like being able to have more elaborate lunches too.

MW: Perhaps the strangest benefit I’ve felt is the speed in which I’ve got to know people. I tend to keep a low profile when I start somewhere new. The focus on connection has really helped me feel like I can be myself sooner. It makes video calls a lot more fun when you can be yourself. I feel like I’m producing better work for it and I’ve met a lot more people than I know I would’ve done in real life.

RMc: The name labels on calls have been a big plus (as I’m useless at remembering names!). And the lack of a two-hour commute either side of the day is also great.

We create brilliant digital experiences for everyone through technology, data, and human insight and we need great people to help make that happen. If you’re interested in joining the BT design team, search for user researcher, content designer, or product designer on the BT careers site.

How to join BT Design during lockdown was originally published in EE Design Team on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I’ve worked for many years as a copywriter for both print and online. Until recently I slavishly followed the process of receiving a brief, writing the copy, and handing it over to a designer to enter into a page or website.

I’d then pore over the content in situ and then bombard the product designer with several more rounds of changes, all of which made me decidedly unpopular.

One of our digital mantras is ‘build, measure, learn’, which means we work to test and refine as we go. But this doesn’t mean product designers are happy if we pester them with edits as and when we spot them. Because the BT Design Team is relatively new, we’ve had an opportunity to try out some new design tools that help us collaborate more and work with less to-ing and fro-ing.

Using Sketch to create content in context

I first used Sketch alongside our product designers during a piece of work to improve the ‘My Account’ area of bt.com. We wanted to help BT customers complete tasks related to account management (like checking their bill) more easily. I quickly realised how different my written content looked, read, and was understood during usability testing when I entered it directly into the page design. It also stopped me regularly having to utter the dread phrase: “…and just one more small change”.

As well as seeing how the copy interacts with the design, Sketch let me play around with different options and saved a huge amount of time. Once the prototype or design is in place, you just click in the text boxes to change your copy. There’s also a free plug-in from Google that lets you change the same copy throughout your document if it appears in multiple places. I could also tackle widows and other formatting issues at the source.

All this meant we were able to prototype with real content sooner, which made us think about the potential of that content earlier and allowed us to test proposed solutions before major design decisions have been made.

The tool helped when presenting copy in a content crit session (more about how we do those soon), as it was easier for other content designers and stakeholders to understand the words in context and give feedback.

The biggest change to the act of creating content was a reduction in the number of words I feel I need to use. I could immediately see where simplifying content had an impact on the overall user experience.

The right tool for the job

When Sketch proved to be useful, I decided to look around for other tools that allow you to enter copy into designs at any stage of the design process, from basic prototyping to designs in progress, and even live pages. Here’s what I found…

Google Chrome

If you want to test out a change of copy on a live page, Google Chrome is your best friend. Just open a page, right-click the area you want to change, choose ‘Inspect Element’. The page code will appear. Double-click in the code and you can change the copy to whatever you want. Click the page again and hey presto — your amended copy will appear. It makes it easy to check for widows and other formatting errors — and you can check how the page will look on mobile and tablet views as well. The changes you make only appear in your browser, so you don’t have to worry about going public with your work-in-progress.

InVision

This online-based suite of design software lets you prototype, design, and add copy at any point in the design process. You can also add comments to finished designs and set alerts so other users can see what you’ve changed. Because it’s web-based it’s much more collaborative than other ways of working.

Figma

Figma lets a content person work with a product designer on the same file in real-time — with a name label hovering over your changes as you make them. This means that any stakeholders can peer at your changes as you work your content magic. File management is easy and there are some plugins available that are particularly useful for content designers, such as Hemingway.

We recently started trialling Figma in some of our squads, and we’re already seeing great improvements in collaboration and quality of the final product. After I’d experimented with the tool, I ran a ‘lunch and learn’ session to share what I’d learnt to help others get to grips with the basics.

Following those trials, we’re now moving the whole of BT Design Team to work on Figma — members of the design team are building out our component libraries within Sketch right now to make sure our team has everything we need. It’ll be exciting to see the improvements in productivity and product across the team in the months to come.

Trial and error

We’re still trailing different tools that, like Figma, will help improve our processes and workflow and bring content design and product design closer together. If you’re using any of the ones I’ve mentioned in this post — or have a favourite I haven’t mentioned — do let us know.

Transform your writing with design tools was originally published in EE Design Team on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.