I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks, in terms of my understanding of where content design is in the charity sector.
I had about 10 conversations with people in content-focused or content-adjacent roles in a range of different charities and different contexts. None of them knew what content design was. I’m not sharing this to scoff at or shame anyone, but because it surprised me.
I know content design isn’t a common practice in the sector, and that it’s even rarer for charities to have content designers on staff. But I still thought that they would have some familiarity with the concept. It was a good reminder that I need to poke my head outside my little bubble of content nerds more often.
The balance to this was a really positive experience introducing a content design practice to a client this week. They needed something reworking with a fast turnaround, so we got on call and worked through a very condensed process. We defined an audience, a user story, and objectives for the content, and looked at ways to improve the readability and structure of the information. They were so enthusiastic about the process — especially the focus on accessibility and inclusion — and saw value in putting it into practice elsewhere. As always, showing works better than telling.
