Content Micronization: A Key to Smart User Enablement, Knowledge Management, and Product Adoption

Content micronization helps users see the most relevant information related to their question in a digestible format.

Typically, if a user is not adopting a product, software or tool, a vendor may jump to the conclusion that a flaw in the design or a product technical issue is the cause. While an error could be the fault, the reality is often more complex. Product adoption depends not only on the product itself but also on the ecosystem built around it. An integral part of that ecosystem is product knowledge and informational resources – in other words, the content that is supplied throughout the ecosystem to support users and help maximize the value of a product or service. 

An organization may have plenty of well-written, heterogenous content that is available and served through multiple platforms and systems to their users, however, the experience of navigating through the information noise is typically frustrating for users. They can’t find the answers they need as quickly as they would like. The result is a poor experience, lack of understanding of the product value, and lower adoption rates. To avoid this trap, vendors should develop a robust content strategy: the holistic process for creating content that considers everything from ownership and management to distribution and updates.

Create Once, Use Anywhere” Approach to Content Strategy 

Content strategy guides content development and execution in a way that truly enables users to engage and adopt the product. It ensures that content is appropriate for the target audience, defines the content formats and delivery channels, identifies the taxonomy and content management workflows. A holistic content strategy also ensures that general principles of content authoring and structure are shared across teams to break down disjointed silos. 

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A critical aspect of an efficient content strategy is the idea of “create once, use anywhere”—an approach also referred to as single-source authoring. When implemented correctly, this method saves time and resources associated with content creation. Single-source authoring avoids making multiple pieces of content for different outlets; instead, it leverages a single piece of content through various channels with updates applied automatically. “Create once, use anywhere” approach works with any type of content; however, the best value it brings is when content is micronized.

Content Micronization, a Critical Part of Single-Source Authoring

Content micronization is breaking information into small chunks and then reassembling in various combinations to be used in different channels. These micro-pieces are packaged in an engaging way for interacting with users across all integrated systems. Micronization helps future-proof content because it allows updating only small snippets of information, thus, streamlines versioning, curation, and recommendations.  

Essentially, content micronization helps users see the most relevant information related to their question in a digestible format. For example, if patch notes or support materials are released about a software application—instead of handing off a massive PDF to the end-user—a company could create multiple thirty-second videos that break down the update into convenient, bite-sized pieces of information. 

And, content micronization works not only with videos; technically, any large content format (internal SOPs, FAQs, e-learning courses, user guides) can be micronized and reused across portals for user education, digital adoption, self-service, by support teams and call centers, even picked-up by chat-bots. 

Another example is a user adopting a new digital product. A micronized onboarding tutorial can teach the user the basics of the software while also pointing the user to other resources such as additional notes, videos, or even a live representative. Micronized content can overlay the software interface in a format of hints and prompts supporting the user at the moment of need when she is stuck or needs a refreshment on the workflow. 

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Content micronization seeks to create opportunities to educate the customer naturally and seamlessly as they use a product. Additionally, micornization makes user education and how-to guides as attractive, easily consumable, and efficient as possible. That’s why instructional design is pivotal for working with micronized content. This ensures that content micro-pieces are presented in a way to support knowledge acquisition and retention, which is crucial for users to in the long run. 

Synchronizing Processes, Content Strategy, and Infrastructure for the Highest Impact

Integrating systems and product knowledge into one ecosystem requires both content strategy and engineering efforts. The channels used for interacting with users should be interoperable and support unified data processing. Data analytics are required to ensure dynamic delivery of the micronized content across platforms. The more data is collected through the entire ecosystem, the more precise the content recommendations will be. 

Organizing processes, establishing content strategy, and implementing technology infrastructure are not easy tasks, but the pay off is significant. When all these components are synchronized together, a business can ensure effective use of resources, excluding duplicated efforts with a unified content strategy. With single-source authoring, the product value is conveyed consistently due to the streamlined control of the content updates. The user experience across platforms becomes seamless, providing dynamic content delivery that anticipates user needs. Micro-content helps users learn the product in an easy, convenient way. 

This holistic vision on user support and education enables clients and partners to engage and adopt the products and services, use them to the fullest extent, enjoy user experience and stay loyal to the vendor. Nevertheless, these strategies and processes can be technical and require high levels of orchestration. For any company that wants to improve user enablement and product adoption, a potential approach could be to find a qualified partner who possesses hybrid expertise in platform development and integration, content strategy and engineering, and instructional design.

[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]