Digital

  • 5 things I learned from my first content crit

    4th December 2019 by

    Just days into my role as a new content designer I faced a baptism of fire – my first content crit. This meant the whole content design team – 10 of us – gathered to give frank feedback on my first content piece. No pressure! I rise from the flames to share what I learned:…

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  • 8 common content design myths that content designers want you to stop believing

    12th November 2019 by

    There are lots of assumptions, misconceptions and myths about content design that just won’t die. Here are just a few and why they’re not true. 1. Content design is about words This is a popular one. Words are one way to present complicated content, but they’re not the only way. Examples of other types of…

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  • Developing content standards for better public services

    16th August 2018 by

    We’ve produced a set of content standards to help colleagues in the Scottish Government, and our public sector partners, deliver effective content. Our ultimate aim is to help improve public services. Why content standards are helpful Everything that public sector organisations publish should meet their users’ needs. Our standards will: provide tools, techniques and processes you…

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  • What content designers do when they’re not writing

    13th August 2018 by

    This post was inspired by Leisa Reichelt’s excellent summary of what user researchers do when they’re not researching. Content designers: work as part of cross-functional service teams in the Scottish Government support public sector colleagues who are designing new services, or improving existing ones create and maintain content on mygov.scot People who haven’t worked with content designers…

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  • The 6 stages of the content lifecycle

    2nd August 2018 by

    This post is by Angela Morrison. Your content isn’t finished once you hit publish. It has a lifecycle which represents the stages each item should pass through, from planning and design right through to publishing and archiving. Sometimes this is called a content delivery workflow, or publishing workflow. Why it’s important Following a consistent content lifecycle helps your organisation create content that: is…

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  • What the UK Government Interchange is and 3 reasons why you should take part

    15th May 2018 by

    If you’re like most people I’ve spoken to about the UK Government Interchange, your first question probably is, what is it? It’s part of the UK Government’s Devolution and You Campaign, a Civil Service learning campaign that’s been running since 2015, and I took part in it earlier this year. It aims to help the UK…

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  • The start of my content career

    24th April 2018 by

    This is a blog by Euan McGeechan, former Modern Apprentice and now Associate Content Designer in the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate. After school I went straight to university, but left when I realised the course wasn’t for me. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I definitely had to find a job. When…

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  • Designing justice content: subject matter experts’ views

    25th April 2017 by

    We know that effective engagement with subject matter experts plays a huge part in creating content that works. It helps users quickly find easy-to-understand and accurate information, without having to know the ins and outs of Scotland’s public service landscape.

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  • Improving mygov.scot for businesses

    23rd January 2017 by

    We’d like to explain some of the work we’ve been doing to try and improve mygov.scot for business users. The aim of mygov.scot is to provide joined-up business sector user journeys across public services, based on user need. Over the last 18 months, key business websites have been integrated into mygov.scot. The business portal and…

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  • Diversity myths debunked

    17th January 2017 by

    This is a blog post by Dawn Kofie, one of our content designers: A group of volunteers from across the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate have been considering how to increase diversity in the digital sector in Scotland. We’ve come up with a plan to get a group of digital professionals together to discuss what’s stopping the…

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