What you should let your users do with your content
Let individuals add or remove content.
Let individuals organize content in their own order.
Let individuals organize content their way
Let people choose:
- What kind of information you display
- How to organize that information
- What information to leave out
- What order the remaining information ought to appear in
- What format you should apply to the information
This kind of personalization goes against all our traditions in writing. In the past, as writers, we got to define the structure of the information. Sure, we may have been considerate of the needs of our readers. But we never let them change our table of contents.
Here are some best practices, with examples from Lycos and Amazon.
Resource
Who am I writing for, and, incidentally, who am I? (Full chapter from Hot Text, in PDF, 566K, or about 10 minutes at 56k)
