You met Jordan's path to purchase in Module 3: trigger, search, compare, buy, and buy again. At every stage Jordan is looking for something. Now you plan the content that gives it to them.

User needs before organisation wants. Organisations tend to publish what they want to say: news about themselves, awards, a long "about us" page. Users arrive with a question or a task. A content strategy is the plan for what content to create, for whom, why, where it lives and how it's kept up to date, and it starts from user needs. Content design is the writing end of the same idea: start from the need and choose the clearest form to meet it. That might be a table, a short answer or a video rather than an article.

UK example: GOV.UK. The government's design principles (first published 3 April 2012, last updated 2 April 2025) begin with "Start with user needs", and add: "If you don't know what the user needs are, you won't build the right thing." GOV.UK's content guidance says content design starts by taking a user need and meeting it in the best way possible. A government website isn't selling anything, but the discipline transfers: every page should exist because someone needs it.

Writing a user need. Use a simple form: "As a [who], I need to [do or know what], so that [why]." For example: "As a first-time buyer, I need to know when my order will arrive, so that I can be in." Find needs in your research from Module 2, customer emails, reviews, the questions staff get asked, and what people type into your own site's search box.

Pillars, formats and homes. Group the needs into three to five content pillars: the themes your organisation will be useful on. Then decide each piece's format (page, guide, video, email or post) and where it lives. Content that answers a lasting question belongs on your own website, where people can find it again. Social posts point to it; they don't replace it.

Ownership. Content goes out of date: prices change, offers end, people leave. Give every important page an owner and a review date. Out-of-date content costs trust, and it can break the rules you met in Module 5, for example an old price or a claim you can no longer support.

Choosing less. Ask one question of every planned piece: which user need does it meet? If the answer is none, don't make it.

Content can meet a real need and still fail if people can't work the page. Usability is how easily people can do what they came to do. In Module 4 you checked Process as one of the 7Ps; usability is that process seen through a screen. You don't need a lab to judge it. You need a few principles and an honest five minutes.

Five basics.

• Clear labels: buttons and links say what happens next ("Choose your delivery date", not "Submit").
• One obvious next step: the main action stands out, and everything else is quieter.
• Short forms: ask only for what you need now. Every extra field is another reason to stop.
• Helpful error messages: say what went wrong and how to fix it, next to the field ("Enter a postcode, like DE1 1AA"), and keep what the person already typed.
• Mobile first: people often arrive on a phone, straight from a social post or an email. Design for a small screen and a thumb, then check the computer view.

Nielsen's heuristics. In 1994 Jakob Nielsen published ten usability heuristics: general rules of thumb, first developed with Rolf Molich in 1990. The Nielsen Norman Group still publishes them. Four are especially useful for marketers:

• Visibility of system status: people can see where they are, such as "Step 2 of 3".
• Match between the system and the real world: use the customer's words, not internal jargon.
• User control and freedom: an easy way back, or out, without losing work.
• Error prevention: stop mistakes before they happen, such as a date picker that won't accept a date in the past.

The five-minute check. Pick one key page, such as a product page, a booking page or a sign-up form. Pretend you're a new customer with one task. On your phone:

1. In five seconds, can you tell what the page is for and what to do next?
2. Can you finish the task without zooming, guessing or going back?
3. Make a mistake on purpose. Does the error message help you fix it?
4. Count the form fields. Which could go?
5. Repeat on a computer, and note what changes.

Write each problem down in one line, with where it happened. Don't fix anything yet: you're collecting evidence. The journey map in the next lesson shows which problems cost the most.

Read the worked example later in this topic first: it maps Larkfield's subscription sign-up from start to finish.

Which journey? The path to purchase you mapped in Module 3 crossed many places, and one of them is usually your organisation's website or app. Choose the journey where the path turns into action: a sign-up, booking, checkout, donation or enquiry form. If your communications plan from Module 7 sends people somewhere, start there. Paid visitors lost at this point are money lost.

The journey map. A user journey map is a step-by-step picture of one task, for one type of user, such as your target segment. For each step, write:

• what the user does ("taps Subscribe");
• what they think ("Do I have to create an account?");
• how they feel (confident, unsure, annoyed);
• where they get stuck, and your evidence.

Finding drop-off in the numbers. Drop-off is the point where people leave without finishing. Analytics tools can show it as a funnel report: how many people reach each step and how many fall out in between. In GA4 this is called a funnel exploration. The headline figure is the completion rate: people who finish divided by people who start. You met baselines in Module 6; now the completion rate becomes this journey's baseline, and any redesign is judged against it. Remember the consent gaps from that topic: analytics undercounts, so read the shape of the funnel as well as the totals. If you can't see your organisation's analytics, count the steps and fields as a visitor and label any drop-off you estimate as an assumption.

Finding the why by watching. Numbers show where people leave; they rarely show why. Watch one real person try the task, ideally someone like your target customer. Give them the task, not instructions ("Sign up for a coffee subscription"), ask them to think aloud, and stay quiet. Note every pause, frown and step back. Ask their permission first, as you did for research in Module 2. One person can't tell you how common a problem is, but they'll show you problems you'd never have guessed.

Reassurance before payment. Many sticking points are worries: hidden costs, being locked in, not knowing how to cancel. Answer them on the page, before payment, where the worry happens.

From map to fixes. Write one fix for each sticking point. Try first the fix at the step with the biggest drop-off and the strongest evidence. Keep your map and fixes in your portfolio document: they go into your campaign plan in Module 10, in the Creative Brief and Campaign Plan Builder.

Accessibility means designing so that disabled people, and everyone else, can use a service. It covers people with sight, hearing, movement and cognitive impairments, and it helps anyone using a phone in bright sun or with one hand free.

The standard. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) come from the W3C, the web's standards body. WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023. It has three levels, A, AA and AAA; AA is the usual target.

UK example: the law in outline. GOV.UK's guidance (last updated 30 September 2024) says most public sector websites and apps must meet WCAG 2.2 AA (some bodies are exempt) under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, and publish an accessibility statement. Private organisations aren't covered by them, but under the Equality Act 2010, service providers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission describes the duty as anticipatory: think about all potential disabled customers, not only the ones you know about. This isn't legal advice.

Six checks anyone can do.

• Contrast: normal text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background. Pale grey on white often fails.
• Alt text: each meaningful image has a short text alternative saying what it shows and why it's there. Decorative images get empty alt text, so screen readers skip them.
• Headings: real headings, in order, so screen reader users can jump through the page.
• Links that make sense on their own: "See delivery prices", not "click here".
• Forms: every field has a visible label, errors are explained in words rather than colour alone, and nobody has to type the same thing twice (Redundant Entry, new in WCAG 2.2).
• Tap targets: at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with some exceptions (Target Size (Minimum), also new in 2.2).

Plain English. Short sentences, everyday words, the most important thing first. GOV.UK's content guidance asks for content that is clear and written in plain English. It helps people reading in a second language or in a hurry.

Inclusive words and images. Use the words people use about themselves, and show the range of your customers in photos, as you checked in the regulation topic.

AI activity. Paste one public page from your organisation's website into an AI assistant (no personal data). Ask it to rewrite the page in plain English, then describe two images and ask for alt text for each. Check every change: is each fact still true, has it added a claim or figure, does it still sound like your organisation, and is the alt text accurate and short? Fix what it got wrong, and note what you changed and why.