An overview of content testing and different techniques and best practices

1. 1
4 Ways to Get Started
With Content Testing

2. 2
Content Testing
A fast, low-fidelity way to prototype and iterate on
a touchpoint, a flow, or even a full customer journey

3. Talk Bubbles
3
NO. 1

4. Talk Bubbles
What It Is
4
Imagine and draft the conversation your company should
have with your customer.
• Give everyone copies of the talk bubble template.
• Take 10-20 minutes for everyone to write. People can work alone
or in pairs.
• Put each draft up where everyone can see it.
• Have each person read their conversation out loud. The rest of
the group takes notes on what they like or don’t like, as well as
ideas and follow-up questions.
• After everyone has a turn, debrief and take note of common
themes.
• Depending on the time you have left, you could do another round
of writing to apply the feedback and refine your drafts.

5. Talk Bubbles
When + How to Use It
5
Discovery
• Identify guardrails: tone of voice; words to use (or avoid!); design principles
• Establish overall flow + hierarchy of information
• Get partners involved + build empathy for customers
Design + Iteration
• Get partners involved + build empathy for customers
• Gauge customer expectations before they test something
• Co-write a revised version of a message or experience

6. The Highlighter Test
6
NO. 2

7. The Highlighter Test
What It Is
7
People read a print-out of your content. They highlight
phrases that make them feel confident, as well as
those that make them feel confused.
• Have research participants read the copy.
• While reading, they highlight the things that make them
feel confident in one color.
• They use the other color to highlight places where they felt
confused or concerned.
• After they’re done, have the participant explain, in their
own words, was the message was about.
• Dig deeper into why they marked certain phrases as
confidence-inspiring and why others were not.

8. The Highlighter Test
When + How to Use It
8
Discovery
• Use this as a method to audit existing content and benchmark what works and where there are areas for
improvement.
Design + Iteration
• Test how well your first version of your content resonates with your audience.
• Retest after receiving and implementing feedback from your partners to ensure the message is still clear and
inspires confidence.

9. Build Your Own Message
9
NO. 3

10. Build Your Own Message
What It Is
10
People build the ideal message using content “building blocks” provided by your team.
• Print copies of different content sections or elements, such as greetings, different benefits of a service or
feature, terms + conditions / caveats (examples: “limited time offer” ; “normal business hours”), closings.
• Make sure you only have 1 idea per slip of paper.
• Give the participant 1 set of your paper slips and ask them to build out the message in the order they’d want to
see or read it and with the phrases that resonate best with them. Include a couple blank slips of paper in case
there’s something you didn’t include and they want to add it in.
• Have the participant read the final message start to finish. Discuss the order they put things in and why they did
what they did.

11. Build Your Own Message
When + How to Use It
11
Design
• Nail down message hierarchy.
• Have a fully-baked draft of content ready for visual design. #noloremipsum

12. Read It Out Loud
12
NO. 4

13. Read It Out Loud
What It Is
13
Have someone who is not familiar with your work read it to you.
• Show them what you’re working on, be it a screen in Sketch or a draft of an email in Word.
• Ask the person to read your content out loud.
• Watch and listen closely. Take note of where their voice sounds puzzled or when they stumble over phrasing.
Look for the furrowed brow or a quizzical head tilt to one side.
• Debrief. Ask them what worked and what didn’t. Brainstorm or co-write different ways to say things.

14. Read It Out Loud
When + How to Use It
14
A.B.R.
Always Be Reading!

15. For Further Inspiration
15

16. Inspiration
16
Sara Zailskas Walsh
When Should We Turn to Content Testing
John Saito
5 Fun Ways to Test Words
GOV.UK
A Simple Technique for Evaluating Content
Content + UX Slack Group
Request An Invite

17. THANK YOU!
17
Shannon Leahy
@sullivan_s
RVA Content Strategy
@rvacontent