In this guide, we'll share insights derived from teams experienced in managing extensive content libraries. We'll explore three distinct strategies for categorizing your library, each suited to different needs and scenarios.
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The goal is to provide you with the knowledge to select the right approach for setting up your copy library's foundation. Keep in mind that the copy library is a flexible store and allows for changes in the future.
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Motivation
So, you’ve had enough with having all your UX content scattered in different tools and decided to level up by storing it in one place. However, storing content in a single source of truth isn’t enough if it’s not organized properly. Without proper organization, you and your teammates won’t be able to find anything quickly, adding a lot of frustration to your work.
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To maintain a highly effective source of truth, we have to systemize the content. To systemize it, we first need to decide on a system that will allow easy reuse and access. Before we suggest ways to systemize your content, let’s go over the goals and the motivation behind it:
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- Get visibility on content under the same group or category to ensure alignment and consistency.
- Make every piece of content easily accessible by writers, designers, PMs, and developers.
- Allow smooth sync and handoffs with other tools and processes like coding, localization, and other content repositories.
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Now that we understand why we need it, here are three different structures that we see work well for teams that use Frontitude’s copy library:
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Developer-driven categorization
đź’ˇ This approach is rather technical than structural. It can be combined with any of the other strategies.
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Developer-driven categorization is a strategy that aligns content categories with namespaces in the target strings file (in the code). This approach ensures a seamless transition from code to content without imposing additional burdens on developers to align categories manually.
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Benefits
- Smoother transition: The content structure mirrors the code, facilitating an effortless transition from content creation to development and vice versa.
- Developer friendly: This strategy supports a code-first approach, making it easy for developers.
- Easy to set up: In cases where developers already use strings files and namespaces, it’s easy to migrate the same structure to the copy library. Frontitude will automatically create categories for namespaces if you use a nested JSON file.
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Who should use this
No matter what your product is, if your developers already manage their UI strings in a well-organized schema using namespaces, this strategy would be ideal for you.
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To get started, all you need to do is import the strings files to the copy library, go over category names, make sure they make sense to you and the design team, and you have it all set up. From now on, you just need to keep maintaining the current structure.
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Product-driven categorization
Product-driven categorization involves organizing content categories around specific product areas or features.
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Benefits
- Enhanced collaboration: Product teams gain clear visibility into content within their respective areas, allowing more focus and better collaboration.
- Scalability: This approach easily adapts as your product evolves and expands.
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Who should use this
This strategy is particularly valuable for products with numerous areas or features or teams that develop multiple products. If you want a clear separation between products or product areas, use this approach.
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Example
Imagine a fintech solution with diverse product areas like user account, partners application, dashboard, and more. Product-driven categorization would create categories such as "User Account," "Partners," and "Dashboard," simplifying content management within each product area.
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Content-driven categorization
Content-driven categorization revolves around organizing categories based on common topics or themes. This strategy is highly effective for content-rich applications, including professional content like notifications, tips, descriptions, and more.
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Benefits
- Easy content management: Writers and content creators can easily find content related to specific topics or themes.
- Efficient content reuse: Common topics facilitate the efficient reuse of content across different parts of the product.
- Streamlined content creation: Writers work more efficiently when content is organized by themes.
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Who should use this
This strategy is particularly valuable for content-rich products like healthcare, education, and fintech applications.
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Example
In a mental health care app, content-driven categorization would include categories like "Symptoms," "Screening," and "Anxiety," making it simple for users to access content related to these subjects.
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As a content designer or UX writer, choosing the right library category strategy is pivotal in optimizing your content management workflow. The choice between developer-driven, product-driven, or content-driven categorization (or mixing them) depends on your product type and team structure.
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If you need any further guidance or information on implementing these strategies effectively, please contact us.
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Happy writing!
