I had the honour of presenting a keynote at this year’s ContentEd Conference, held in Liverpool. This blog contains a transcript of pretty much what I said, plus links to many of the resources I mentioned.

In the behavioural economics book Nudge there’s a beautifully simple example illustrating the importance of feedback. It’s a great way to explain why it’s so important for content designers to actively engage in hypothesising, prototyping and testing with users. 

I had my first experience volunteering at an online conference at SDinGov Virtual in March 2024. Having volunteered at in-person conferences before this event gave me a chance to try something new and to get more involved in the delivery of sessions. It was also a good opportunity to grow my confidence.

I recently did some content improvement work with the Postgraduate Recruitment team that taught me a lot about the use of standout elements and how they influence user behaviour.

The annual web content-themed conference for higher education professionals is happening in Liverpool this year, from 8 to 9 October. Lauren and I are contributing sessions, and we’re looking forward to a couple of days of learning and networking with colleagues across the sector.

I joined the Prospective Student Web Content Team in September 2023, and immediately headed out on campus with everyone to conduct usability testing with new students. It was a great way to immerse myself in the Team’s user-centred approach and learn about a technique that should be part of every content designer’s skill set.

Last week we hosted the second unconference organised by UKEducamp. Some of the team have been part of the organising committee throughout, and most of us took part on the day. We all took something from this fantastic volunteer-led free event and recommend more higher education digital colleagues get involved.

On Friday, I attended my first unconference. It turned out to be one of the most fulfilling days I’ve had in a long time.

UK EduCamp is a volunteer-run organisation who run unconferences to bring together digital professionals in higher education. We’re hosting the upcoming event on Friday 12 January. It’s free and open to book a place.

I gave a presentation recently at the Communications and Marketing department all-staff meeting, in which I shared some of our team working practices. We use regularly scheduled sessions to ensure good communication and support within the team, and to ensure we deliver a steady stream of updates to our stakeholders across the University.