Weeknotes — 19 July 2024
If Microsoft Word has no haters, then I am dead.
This week I’m looking back
This week marks 6 months that I’ve been working at the Scottish Government. I’ve decided to write down what I think I’ve learned so far.
Remit matters
Knowing what our service is for, and who our users are, is so crucial.
Without that understanding, we can create, publish and maintain content that’s not our responsibility to provide.
Then we risk getting in the way, providing content we do not have expertise in, and letting down users because our service does not meet their needs.
It’s a big conversation, but it’s an important one. What is this service, who is it for, and is it Scottish Government’s role to provide it?
Managing stakeholders is not “managing”
I read a lot about stakeholder management in content design books and articles before moving to the Scottish Government. It wasn’t such a big part of my job when I was at Shelter Scotland. Here, there’s a lot more engaging people and collaboration with fact checkers.
It’s really good. It keeps me right. I don’t have to read legislation and check things as much myself anymore. It’s useful working with people who know subject matter so well.
Instead of “managing” people, I think being sound, being friendly and being flexible goes a long way. It’s not fighting a battle for pure content design. It’s not managing. It’s not my way or forget it. Stakeholders aren’t a problem or a blocker. They’re just colleagues, doing the best they can, often in incredible busy roles. If they’re sound enough to help me out with checking something I’ve written, the least I can do is be sound about it as well. Going into a first meeting and being a normal human being is as good a start as any.
Two maxims I often used at Shelter Scotland were “we do the best we can with what we have at the time”, and “this is good enough for now”. Often, we do the best content we can with who can help us with it at the time. They might insist on some wording we don’t like. So be it. If overall, the content is easier to read, easier to scan, requires less concentration or navigating than it did before, and gives the user the action or the information they need, then I can include one or two phrases that make me wince. That’s good enough for now.
I’m not a content design evangelist
I just think websites can be a bit rubbish, and we have some understanding on how to make them better for users.
I’m comfortable following guidance that’s based on evidence
My team follows the GOV.UK style guide, which is obviously an industry standard. If something’s in there, I don’t need to know why. I don’t need to see the research that went into it. I’m comfortable saying “it’s in the style guide, it must be there for a good reason, so I’ll follow it”.
If I see some discrepancies on GOV.UK itself — like a rogue negative contraction — that doesn’t mean the style guide is wrong. It means someone might have missed something or didn’t follow the guidance. Maybe they didn’t have the time, or the right pre-publishing checks in place.
I keep a lot in my head
I’ve realised I’ve not written a single thing down to come back to. I’ve noticed other colleagues starting at the same time as me taking notes and referring to them. Turns out I’ve been keeping every stat, figure, name, process, style guide rule in my head, or if I can’t remember it, I’ve bookmarked somewhere. Chaotic. But it seems to be working so far…
I miss using Google docs
Until ctrl+shift+v means “paste as plain text”, Microsoft Word will remain my enemy.
This week I’m listening to
An exhaustive Scottish music playlist I was working on last week.
I’ve created a Spotify version called 76 Scottish Songs to share with people. Have a listen if you like.
