Words in progress
By Christine Cawthorne and Robert Mills
We’re currently working together on a website project - Rob as a content designer and Christine doing the content strategy.
In this series we talk through the challenges that crop up – and how we get through them.
Words in progressMar 04, 2022
Episode 10: The project retro - what went well and what could have been better?
Rob and Christine reflect on the project, discussing what went well and what could have been better.
Expect introspection as the pair look back over their work and decisions.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 9: How do you finish a project?
Christine is thinking about setting up a content community of practice while Rob reflects on how the pair and trio writing processes are being embedded into the organisation.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 8: Getting stakeholders to fact check content
Rob defines what he does - and doesn't - want the subject matter experts to check and Christine has started bringing all the parts of the content strategy together.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 7: A crisis of confidence
Christine's worried she is just rearranging mess into a different order while trying to improve the content creation workflow and Rob sets boundaries over stakeholder engagement and his remit.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 6: *Special edition* All about the trio writing technique
Rob discusses how he adapted the pair writing technique to work for translating content. Along with a translator and a user researcher, he created user centred content in two languages, using the translation process to improve the original content. A fantastic listen about using an existing technique in a different situation.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 5: Who has the authority?
Rob's been mapping user journeys with stakeholders and Christine wonders if she has the authority to make improvements to the content creation process?
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 4: Suddenly it's all happening
This week Rob reveals how he's going to write content with not one but two other people, Christine ponders what you do when scope creep threatens and both reflect on their bumpy sprint planning session.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 3: The reader is in trouble
This week, Christine worries she hasn't done a lot while Rob has feedback on his content and user research to go through.
In this episode we mention two pieces of research and a book:
- The Public Speaks: An Empirical Study of Legal Communication
- The Public Speaks, Again: An International Study of Legal Communication
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk and EB White (1959)
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 2: Writing the first piece of content
Rob's started on the first piece of content while Christine's been working on the website proposition.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.
Episode 1: Getting started on a new project
Christine and Rob introduce themselves, the project they're working on and get right into the nitty gritty of what to do at the start of a content project.
Episode music credit: Give A Little by Shane Ivers.