Higher Education websites - made to stick?

What is it about some ideas that make them catch on and stick in our memories, while others are instantly forgettable? Why do we have no trouble recalling the details of urban myths but often have difficultly remembering vital facts that could benefit our health?

In their book "Made to Stick", authors Chip & Dan Heath argue that while there's no secret formula for coming up with a good idea in the first place, it will have a much better chance of sticking if it is:

• simple
• unexpected
• concrete
• credible
• uses emotion
• tells a story.

You may have spotted that spells out SUCCESs (which they openly admit is about as clichéd an acronym as you'll ever get - they could have used some different words and changed the order but CCUCES wouldn't have been quite as memorable).

What's that got to do with the web?

Although it's not a book specifically written about the web, the techniques that it describe can be applied to any form of communications, whether that's giving a presentation, contributing to a discussion, or indeed, writing web content.

The issue of simplicity was the one that resonated the most initially - as anyone who has attended a Writing for the Web session will have heard - simplicity is a vital part of producing web content that is easy for your readers to take in. So that means avoiding jargon, discarding any content that isn't essential to your core message, providing one clear call to action instead of seven vague ones, putting the most important information up front, etc.

Reading this book happened to coincide with some work we've been doing that has involved us looking at some of our competitor's websites. Amongst the more memorable ones I started to notice more aspects of the stickiness model at work:

Unexpected

I definitely didn't expect to see exploding buildings (Boston) or claims of the benefits of teenage pregnancy (LSE) on the homepage of a university website. They definitely caught my attention and encouraged me to read more.

Concrete

There's a greater chance of ideas being memorable if they contain concrete things that people can relate to, like names, actions, faces and places.

One challenge that universities face is making academic research understandable and appealing to a general audience. Many do this well by showing how it relates to real world problems that people can identify with, rather than using more abstract language that doesn't carry as much meaning amongst a general audience.

Take this example from Carnegie Mellon, which uses the act of making a cup of coffee as a "hook" that helps you to understand research about the world's water resources.

Credible

Most universities can claim to be the best at something or other, but it sounds a lot more believable when it's coming from someone else. Realistic quotes from staff and students can often be a lot more believable than anything that comes directly from the institution.

Using emotion

Sites such as Imperial are very good at using emotive language that helps you to imagine what it would be like to come to study there - "be inspired" and "an Imperial degree is something special" rather than just presenting a list of facts.

So, plenty of food for thought. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for more ways to make web content that "sticks".