Content + Design. It's a winning combination when it works. So how can we help these collaborations run smoothly and get the best from each other? In this talk Tom will share his experience as a designer working closely with content, discussing strategies for effective collaboration from the perspective of both disciplines.

1. The collaborative creator
Climate, mindset,
and mastery.
Tom Prior / Curio Conference 2019 / 29.11.19
Image credit: https://dribbble.com/shots/3669420-Funfetti-Pattern

2. Value
& impact
Environment
& mindset
Content
& design

3. Content Design+
Image credit: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-4886

5. RSA Digital
• Simplifying legalese
• Removing the burden of understanding
• Power of shared tools

7. Virgin Holidays
• Our strategic crossover
• Brand voice and UX
• Presenting together

9. Pitchup.com
• Pair research
• A lean content approach
• Content in context

10. Writers do more than ‘put words on a page’. Designers
do more than ‘make things look pretty’.
Great digital experiences rely on the bond between
language and design.
“
”Amy Leak
Writer and Designer: A content-first love story

11. The benefits
More effective at
delivering value
More
employable
More enjoyable
to work with

12. Collaboration and communication are under-valued
and under-cultivated in many organisations.
We call them ‘soft skills’, which underplays how
important — and how difficult — they are.
“
”Lauren Pope
Art and copy: bridging the gap between design and content

13. Content
Design
Image credits: Photos by John Westrock and Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

14. Content
Design
Marketing
CRO
SEO
Engineering
CX
Product
Biz dev
Image credits: Photos by John Westrock and Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

15. Becoming
collaborative

16. Think of a time..
Image credit: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-1937-224

17. Environment Mindset
Image credits: Photos by Dylan Nolte and Alex Holyoake on Unsplash

18. Psychological
safety
Image credit: Photo by Vinicius Henrique on Unsplash

19. The foundation of
high-performing teams
https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/

20. Psychological safety is a belief
that one will not be punished or
humiliated for speaking up with
ideas, questions, concerns or
mistakes.
“
”
Amy
Edmondson
Harvard Business School Professor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8

21. Simply put, it's an
interpersonal
environment
where people
believe their voice
is welcome.
“
”
Amy
Edmondson
Harvard Business School Professor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8

22. Amy Edmondson’s Psychological Safety
Be curiousWe are working
to learn
Acknowledge
your fallibility

23. Measure
• Are mistakes held against us?
• Is it easy to raise difficult issues and problems?
• Are people rejected from participation because they
have an alternative viewpoint?
• It is safe to take a risk on this team?
• It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help?
Image credit: Photo by Patricia Serna on Unsplash

24. Lead by
example.

25. Model behaviour
• Seek out alternative viewpoints
• Advocate other disciplines
• Ask questions, especially naive ones
• Listen actively for answers
• Invite feedback on your work and approach
• Be candid, and constructive

26. https://www.radicalcandor.com/

27. The art
of critique

28. https://clearleft.com/posts/critique-your-shortcut-to-better-designs

30. Dogma

31. Dogmatism is
counterproductive and
dangerous, but it can
provide temporary,
artificial certainty and
illusory comfort in
unpredictable times.
“
”Don Ambrose Ph.D
Professor of graduate education at Rider University
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogmatic-Creativity-Higher-Level-Educational-Psychology/dp/0415894603

32. Value
& impact
Environment
& mindset
Content
& design

33. Demystify our
job titles

34. Run a
premortem
Image credit: Photo by Elena Koycheva on Unsplash

35. Research
together
Image credit: Photo by Nicolas Weldingh on Unsplash

38. Deliverables
for direction
Image credit: Photo by Stock Photography on Unsplash

39. Page
tables
https://uxplanet.org/when-user-needs-get-lost-in-feedback-b1236bffac19

40. Priority
guides
https://alistapart.com/article/priority-guides-a-content-first-alternative-to-wireframes/

43. Share
your
tools

44. https://www.figma.com/

45. Share
your
tools.
https://www.figma.com/c/plugin/735770583268406934/Google-Sheets-Sync

46. Present together
Image credit: Photo by Daniil Kuželev on Unsplash

47. Space for deep work
Image credit: Photo by Mark Asthoff on Unsplash

48. Practice.
Patience.
Image credit: Photo by Justine de Gennes on Unsplash

49. Thank you
twitter.com/tomprior
thomasprior.co.uk
tompriordesign@gmail.com
Special thanks to Rachel McConnell, Peter Winchester, Lorraine Heller, and Claire Fellows for their help in putting together this talk.
Image credit: https://dribbble.com/shots/3669420-Funfetti-Pattern