Flex: I’m proud that I was able to facilitate the creation of the Content Design Manifesto a little over a year ago–and that so many hundreds of people worldwide have found value in it and its 28(!) translations. The Manifesto is a statement of what content designers do, the impact we make, and how we want to exist in the world.
When it first came out, there were so many people who wanted to be part of it: to sign it, to translate it, to be in community around it, to improve it. I got caught up in that excitement too! I created a Slack group and a very elaborate governance system…
Which brings me to the Fumble: I planned too big to start out with, and that made a too-heavy lift for a widely distributed group of volunteers. We had plans to consider suggestions from signers, but when it came time to specify and articulate the changes to be made, it was prohibitively difficult to manage as volunteers, working across time zones, taking into account tens to hundreds of opinions. It was even challenging just to maintain adding signatures and translations, as none of us were expert in setting up or maintaining the underlying tech.
At the end, we decided the best thing was to bring the governance group to a graceful end. I want to thank some folks who volunteered early and saw it through, with whom it has been a privilege to work: Susan Burgess, Jenn Butler, Shivani Sharma, Alison Burke, Ghada Kandil, and Laura Edgar. The signature form and the Slack group have been closed, but the Content Design Manifesto will remain as a durable resource indefinitely.
