Microsoft® Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

Make the right content choices

To make the right content choices, first ask these high-level questions:

• Who is the intended audience?

• What is the user’s goal? What is the user trying to accomplish?

• What is your goal for providing the content?

• What type of content will best meet the user’s needs and your objectives?

• Will a user access the content from a desktop, phone or other mobile device, a console—or all of these?

• Will the content be translated or localized? For more information, see Chapter 3.

• How will the user find the content?

• How will success be measured?

• What are the budget and schedule constraints?

Your answers to these questions will help narrow your options so that you can focus on the best approaches for your user. For example, you might decide ...