Web content strategy vs. content design for apps: More similarities than differences?

I’ve worked in some aspect of UX content since 2010 (right out of library school), and people ask me how content strategy/design for websites differs from content for apps.

A lot’s changed over the years. But I think there are more similarities than differences.

People don’t always start where you expect them to. With websites, they might land on a page through a search or a shared or bookmarked link. With apps, they might enter through a notification, pick up an unfinished task or jump to a subtask.

In both cases, though, it’s important for your customers to know where they are in your app or website and what they need to do to get to where they want to go.

We can do this through things like breadcrumbs, clear page and screen headings, navigation labels, and buttons and links that tell people where they’ll go or what will happen next. Good labels provide what’s called information scent, clues that help people predict what they’ll find if they follow a link.

If you were to get dropped off on some random street without any information, you’d seek out signs to show what street you’re on, what neighborhood you’re in and what city you’re in, and you’d look for signs telling you how to get to where you want to be.

That’s what good information architecture and content strategy/design do. Some companies treat them as nice-to-haves, but for your customers, not knowing where they are and what to do next can be a deal-breaker.