What getting lost in a building taught me about content design
Once upon a time, I had to return keys to an office I was no longer going to use.
So, I go to the building where one returns keys and walk in through the front door.
About ten steps in from the main entrance, I encounter this sign.
“Oh great!”, I think. Lots of people come in here to return keys, and they’ve made the task easier for me by telling me exactly where to go.
I do what the sign tells me, and I go up the stairs to the first floor.
Something’s wrong. There’s nothing up here. It’s a closed office space and no keys to be found anywhere.
“What is going on?” I think. I head back down the stairs to read the sign again. Clearly it’s telling me to go up! Why is there nothing… Oh.
Only then do I see it.
The small, almost invisible, gray print.
“Continue down the hallway to the rear elevators and take them down to floor 1.”
Is this not the ground floor? I check the office numbers near me frantically. No. I am on the second floor. The building’s main entrance is on the second floor. Am I supposed to have known that? If this is the second floor, why is the sign telling me to go up with an up arrow then?
I suppose I understand how an up arrow could also mean walk forward, but not when you place it in front of a staircase, surely?
Now, it’s quite possible that I’m the only person in the entire world that misinterpreted this sign. It’s also quite possible that everyone else in the world would have read the entire sign before moving. But, it’s not probable.
The person that made this sign wanted to help their users (thank you!). But they did so from the context of the building/employees, not from the context of the user. Everyone in the building knows that’s the second floor. Not every user walking in the door does.
This simple sign teaches us a foundational lesson about content design.
Create content from the perspective of the user.
When you’re writing content, put yourself in the position of the reader. Think from the perspective of the person that wants to complete the task. What do they need to know to complete the task? In what order should you tell them that information?
And, the sign also teaches us something about writing copy.
Make the most important thing the most obvious thing they see.
The most important information should be the most obvious on your sign! Assume people are going to scan–not read–and make what they need to know the most obvious thing they see.
In the end, I did find the keys office and returned the keys. But only after I took the wrong elevator and had to switch to a different one. 🤦♀️
After this experience, here’s how I would have written this sign:
The most important information is the most obvious. The next line has my instructions. And the last line is just a fun explanation as to why I can’t use the elevators immediately to my right.
(Forgive my horrible design work. Thankfully, Pickle Jar has the phenomenally talented Rich Endean who makes really stunning stuff. 😁)
