Web Content Analysis & Content Strategy
Scope: Guest interface of airbnb.com
Content Strategy & User Experience Assignment - Certificate in Storytelling & Content Strategy, University of Washington, 2017-18
Introduction
In this project we had to choose any product of our choice to:
Analyze the existing content
Identify content gaps (if any)
And suggest improvements
Traveling rejuvenates and enriches me to get back to life. My travel diaries start with planning—I plan all our vacations and enjoy doing so. Therefore, when looking for a brand, I chose a travel brand that has been helping people plan memorable travel experiences since more than a decade. I wanted to take a deep-dive to see if I can add value to their existing user experience from a design and content strategy point of view.
Approach
I took a user-centric approach instead of an organization-centric approach to define the brand voice, tone and values. More than how the brand described or defined itself, it was important to discover how the brand was perceived by the users. Therefore, the primary basis of my analysis was my close interaction with a small group of existing Airbnb users.
To analyze the user content journey, I started by looking at the big picture. Ideally, content strategy should be a part of the entire organization ecosystem. Though for the purpose of this project, I had focused only on airbnb.com and its guest interface, to understand the user sentiments, I had to look beyond the website content. Analyzing the user’s emotional graph through the three broad phases of the journey, helped me gauge the positive and negative impact of the content in real life. Airbnb helps create human experiences. So it was important to derive solutions that impacted human interactions.
Content Analysis
Content Strategy Plan
1. Trigger curiosity through interesting cultural and contextual nuggets of information.
2. Provide relevant travel information based on ethnicity, language and geography.
A quick "good to know" information section, to be shown post booking confirmation, on the Itinerary page.
3. Encourage, appreciate and highlight those who host a more diverse group of guests.
Challenge
Deriving the GSOT (Goal-Strategy-Objective-Tactic)
Content strategy is a higher level approach to content vs. execution of content. Thus, a Content Strategy Goal states the overall purpose and intent of the content and a Content Tactic describes how to achieve the goal. But the process of deriving the tactic from the set goal might become daunting, depending on the content’s role in establishing the brand values. For example, if the content plays a major role in building the brand’s image, then deriving the actual action items from the set goals can be overwhelming. On the contrary, if content is just a part of creating the entire user experience, then it might be difficult to solve a problem through content improvements alone.
Airbnb’s user experience is a combination of online and offline interactions. Therefore, I had to plan the content action items keeping the humane factor in mind. And the Goal-Strategy-Objective-Tactic was an organic way of achieving that. It taught me how to think not only like a Content Strategist, but also like a Content Designer, and the difference is subtle but impactful. When working in a team, it is important to speak the same language. As a Content Designer, I have learnt how to communicate with another Designer mind, with the sole objective of creating an overall effective design solution for the end-user.