Frequently asked questions

What on earth is a usability consultant – and an information architect for that matter – and why should I care?

I could waffle on for ages about what usability consultants and information architects do, but you're busy and ultimately, there is only one important thing about my experience as both:

I think about the website user first, the business second.

Now, before you run away screaming (or at least close the browser window to go and find a copywriter who actually gets the business part of B2B copywriting), let me explain why this is so important (and why it makes me a fine B2B copywriter for what it's worth).

Your customers don't see, understand or think about your business the way you do.

Your customers use your website, not you.

There's no getting away from it; you will never get a website right if you don't put the user first. If your first question is not “What do people need to be able to do on my site?” or “What is the information that people will want to find quickly?” or any variation on those themes, then your site will get into trouble.

If the first question is instead “How do I make the most money from my site?” or “How do I make my brand come across best?” or “How many flashing buttons can we get down the left hand side to make people spend money?” then your users are likely to be unhappy.

They are likely to get lost on your site, or be so repelled by the horror that they will go somewhere else. Like… oh, let's see, your main competitor.

I'm being brutal, but it's a 'cruel to be kind' thing. I have seen countless examples of business websites that have been created with the user needs last on the list. This goes for writing too – but I'll save that rant for a blog post. Suffice to say that I will never let that happen to you, no siree, not as long as I live and write for your business.