Jonathon Colman

Jonathon Colman knows how to build content teams and integrate them into big digital programs. He deftly navigates the challenges that come with creating complex products in fast-growing organizations, always championing the best content practices.

Jonathon's career arc mirrors the growth of content strategy and content design. He started out as a technical writer and webmaster. He was a content marketing pioneer. He worked in both SEO and UX at REI. Recently, he has practiced and managed strategy and design work at Facebook and Intercom. Wherever he's been, Jonathon has always been at the forefront of the content profession.

Jonathon and I talked about:

his background as a technical writer, Peace Corps volunteer, webmaster, content marketer, SEO, inbound marketer, information architect, UX designer, content strategist, and content designer with IBM, the Nature Conservancy and other nonprofits, REI, Facebook, and Intercom

the relationship between brand and customer service at REI and how that helps build trust and respect and makes activities like SEO easier

the growth of the field of content strategy, especially Kristina Halvorson's work at Brain Traffic and her Confab content strategy conference

how the team at Intercom practices content design - the liberating benefits of having co-founders there with a design background

the long history of content design at Intercom

their focus at Intercom on concept design - and how it drives content design and interaction design there

the diverse backgrounds of content strategists and designers at Intercom, coming from marketing, tech writing, design, information architecture, etc.

how systems thinking, in particular Donella Meadows' book Thinking in Systems, inspires him and his team

how focusing on ability and organizational obstacles over job titles can help break down the barriers to the practice of content strategy and content design

how content professionals need to "get a lot better at introducing ourselves and talking about what we do"

how his work at Facebook shaped his approach to managing content work

how focusing content teams' efforts on one or two products, as opposed to ten or more, yields better results

the troublesome dynamics behind widely spread content teams and the benefits of focusing content strategy and design teams on one or two products

the importance of gaining the trust of other leaders to get content teams embedded in projects

the difference between "dusting the content" and being an impactful contributor to better products

how a "product ecosystem" approach can help other leaders understand the profound contributions that content people can make

how the successes that he and Ella Mei Yon Harris had on their teams at Facebook drove 5x staff growth in just one year

a good way to think about the lessons he has learned: "do less, better" (for more on this, check out this Intercom podcast)

Jonathon's Bio

Jonathon Colman (@jcolman) leads the global content design team at Intercom. He's a Webby Award-winning content designer and a keynote speaker who’s appeared at over 80 events in 8 countries on 5 continents.

Previously, Jonathon led UX content strategy for Facebook’s Platform and Marketplace teams. Prior to that, he was REI’s principal user experience architect, managed global digital marketing for The Nature Conservancy, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer for 2 years in Burkina Faso, West Africa. He completed a master’s degree in Information Management at the University of Washington’s Information School in 2013.

Jonathon’s worked on the web since 1994 and is grumpy that it’s not done yet.

Video

Here’s the video version of our conversation: