Cultivating Quality

I spent some time this weekend weeding and pruning in my front yard. If you were one of my neighbors, you’d probably be thinking, “it’s about time!” And that’s kind of the point. I live in a city neighborhood and my yard is visible to everyone who drives, cycles, walks, or runs past it. In a sense they are among my stakeholders.

Why make that comparison? Because as I was working in the yard, I thought about how similar the process is to managing a website or content set. I’m hardly the first to make the connection between weeding and doing content management but let me back up a little and add some context.

When I bought my house, it was the first house I had owned and like many a new homeowner, I was excited to make it mine. And like many a newbie gardener, I didn’t wait a season or two to see what was already there, I immediately started planting stuff that I like and wanted to have in my garden. But as any seasoned gardener will tell you, that’s a problem. Because I didn’t take stock of what was already there, let alone know when and how it would grow and bloom, my additions didn’t always fit in. I planted shrubs over the top of bulbs that were hidden, waiting for spring to appear. I planted bushes that would turn out to be way too large for the space. I planted flowers whose colors didn’t blend well with the existing ones. I planted ground cover that didn’t flourish in that soil. I planted plants I regret because of the way they proliferated on their own.

Similarly, when managing a website, it’s crucial to first understand the existing content before adding new elements. Without a clear inventory and understanding of how each piece fits into the overall structure, the website can become cluttered and less effective.

After that first burst of enthusiasm and energy, I got very busy with work. And everything grew (I live in the very fecund Pacific Northwest) and grew. Periodically, I’d trim things back but my aversion to removing anything meant that the yard just kept getting more and more out of control (or, as one kind neighbor tactfully described it, “boisterous”)!

Sounds a lot like a website that has been neglected, right? Over time, content accumulates, and without regular maintenance, it can become overwhelming and hard to manage. Just as an overgrown garden can deter neighbors, a cluttered website can drive away users.

So, I finally decided I needed professional help. I met with a landscape designer who interviewed me in a way that very much resonated with my experience doing stakeholder interviews with clients. She asked me what I value, what I like and don’t like, how we use the space, and, crucially, how much time I have to put into maintaining it. Kudos to her for the slightly skeptical look she gave me when I said I’m able to spend time pruning and maintaining—because, as it turns out, she’s a neighbor. So she is one of those people who frequently walks past and, with her professional eye, has a pretty good read on what I’m capable of.

So, much like conducting stakeholder interviews during a website audit, we talked through what’s there—what must stay, what can go, what gives me the most happiness, what although I love, I find hard to keep up with. For example, there is a big patch of a variety of sedum that I don’t love—but the bees do. In the summer, it positively swarms with bees—who then go on to pollinate all the roses and dahlias that I love. So the sedum stays because the planet and I need those bees. And the flowers that draw hummingbirds? They stay. The bushes that are too tall for the space and overpower everything else? They go.

The parallels between my auditing my yard, with the help of the designer who gathered requirements and developed an organized, sustainable design, and doing a content audit based on stakeholder needs are clear. The optimism and good intentions we bring to what we cultivate must be tempered by a realistic assessment of our resources and ability to manage it over time. We need to be able to kill our darlings when they aren’t suiting the purpose any more. A curated, tended garden, like a curated, tended website, will work better for me as the owner as well as anyone who interacts with it. Especially those bees! Understanding the needs, preferences, and constraints of those who interact with the site is essential for creating a sustainable and effective content strategy.

A well-designed landscape, whether floral or digital, requires understanding the context and complexity of its purpose, its audiences, the complicated interactions between elements, the optimal placement and presentation for maximum impact.

As I look at the detailed blueprint the designer created for my yard, I have to accept that while I have a particular set of skills (as they say), visual design is not one of them. And I don’t have the depth of botanical knowledge to make the right decisions, at least without doing a lot more research than I have the time to do. So I am happy to have access to a professional who can make those decisions, based on my input, and provide a beautiful path forward.

So who are your bees? Who are the users who make your business a success? Are you cultivating an environment in which they’re getting what they need? Are you at the point of realizing that your content has become overgrown and weedy and too much to manage? Ready to speak with a professional? I may not be the best gardener on the block, but I’m pretty darn good at auditing content and helping clients achieve—and maintain—order. So let’s talk.