ABOVE: Tiffin Box by Vivo.

Note to readers: We enjoyed this unusual application of modular design thinking that we left the piece in its own words with just one exception – a hard thing to do for the likes us of wordy folks!

By Clare McDermott

Bento [and tiffin -Ed.] boxes satisfy the obsessive-compulsive disorder-side of my personality, organizing those fishy morsels of sushi goodness into visually beautiful patterns of color and flavor.

The bento and tiffin box is a great visual metaphor for the role of information design in content marketing. Information design is the art of presenting content on the page (or screen) in a way that makes it easier for your readers to understand and remember your message. Just like the bento box, a well-organized article or report should include highly visual modular elements that separate sections of your work and embellish key points.

The lesson hit home for me personally when Chief Content Officer (CCO) magazine launched in January. A few bloggers pointed out (thank you) that our articles were too long and linear. Readers wanted to be entertained both in word as well as story format. The CCO team gathered and gave me marching orders:

• Take each feature article and break it into pieces
• Add sidebars and pull-quotes
• Add skimming elements
• Make it more visual and less daunting to read.

Some people refer to this strategy as creating modular content. (‘Modular’ makes me think of boxy-modern, orange furniture. I would rather visualize pieces of sushi snuggled together.) In CCO magazine next month, we are adopting the bento and tiffin box model of content marketing. Rather than having one 1,200-word feature article, we are running articles half as long, supplemented with short-form sidebars and callouts.

ABOVE: Tiffin Lunch Set by Aladdin.

Why is modular content so important?

We are an impatient bunch

Particularly in the context of business content, we are reckless skimmers, racing through web pages and PDFs to find useful nuggets of information.

Content marketers are often writers by profession, and so we are understandably focused on delivering smartly-written, high-value content, forgetting to consider visual presentation. Visual tools like section headers, callouts, sidebars and infographics help your impatient readers decide whether they want to read more and help them arrive at the sections they are most interested in browsing.

Some of us remember information visually rather than in word

That’s why infographics play such a crucial role in relaying complex information. I consider McKinsey to be an infographic powerhouse. Other companies manage to create infographics that are more beautiful or intellectually challenging, but the designers at McKinsey are experts in simple, educational graphics.

Sidebars add depth without weighting down the main article

Perhaps you have a case study or an expert interview you would like to include, but you worry that your article is already too long. Sidebars allow you to add depth and nuance while keeping your main article tight and focused.

ABOVE: Lock and Lock Bento Box by Innobaby.

Make it Modular

Here’s a quick information design checklist to walk through during your next content marketing assignment (sidebar, baby!):

• Consider a quick-hitting summary presented up front that allows readers to decide whether they should read on (could be included as a secondary title, a short executive summary, or a sidebar). PricewaterhouseCooper’s 10 Minutes series does this well.
• Make it modular with sidebars. Are there sections of your article that could stand alone as a sidebar? Sidebars shorten your main article, pull out key information visually and allow you to expand on more complex ideas.
• Use section titles that allow your readers to skip sections or locate key sections, and use callouts to highlight key concepts or quotes.
• Use bold print (judiciously) to highlight key phrases or sentences. This is a tactic CMI uses in its daily blog.
• If your article contains complex information (could be quantitative, a multi-step process, a series of decisions, a cost-benefit analysis) consider an infographic to simplify the information.
• If your article is educational in nature, consider a half-page self-assessment that allows readers to test their knowledge or test their company’s level of sophistication on that topic. This is a great reinforcement tool.
• Make it easy to share with a checklist or synopsis. Pull it all together with a beautiful PDF checklist (don’t forget to brand it). See Ahava Leibtag’s content checklist as a great model.

Our July issue of CCO magazine will truly be the first issue that embraces this new modular mantra.

via Content Marketing Institute