This semesters first project was already on the move before I commenced my first week of this semester, and that’s because the week prior which was the induction week we had already been given our first task which was to create a smart watch. We were to do our research on smart watches and find some useful features we’d like to incorporate in our app. The project sounded very fun because we didn’t really have any technological limitations, meaning that it was okay for me to add any feature that doesn’t exist yet.
What I learned in this class is content is all around us and we consume it everyday. Content isn’t only images we see on our screens but the text displayed on our screens too, it comes in various forms and it serves to entertain, educate, promote, and inform users. Social media apps and websites have a personified automated content curating system that finds and shows the content that the user would be interested in. We consume and create a lot of content via images and stories we read online and even the podcast we listen to.
Content design is all about finding out what your demographic needs and doing the research to empathise with them, this
A full stack content bubble is necessary when creating content because it helps create a solid base for good content. This image showcases the layers that make up content. Content starts with researching which helps empathise with your demographic and then going through the creation process of building a brand identity, wireframing, putting in the adequate content, prototyping and testing and then finally production.
The push and pull content strategies serve to engage the audience. These terms are used to describe how content is either delivered and/or consumed by the audience
Push
This type of content involves pushing content out to the public with the goal of catching their attention. It’s useful for engaging users, keeping them informed, and prompting. This is usually done via notifications, emails, social media posts, and updates.
Pull
Pull content" refers to content that users actively seek out. With pull content, users are in control, they initiate the interaction by visiting a website, searching online, opening an app, or navigating through a social media platform to find the specifics that they want or need. This kind of content is curated well enough to attract attention and it’d done via videos, case studies, and advert landing pages.
Another major thing I gathered today is that as designers it is fundamental that we know what our consumers need in order to create a pleasing product because sometimes what they want isn’t really the solution to their problem.
Users are driven by their preferences and expectations, they usually want something that is aesthetically pleasing with a good UX. Wants are influenced by trends, and competition. Designers take these into account to keep a product relevant and appealing of course but focusing on enhancing satisfaction and enjoyment doesn’t always meet the requirements of the user.