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Many organizations still insist on using traditional linear-based writing tools to document their products. While this might have started out as a cost-saving measure when they were the size of a startup, it just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore in today’s fast-paced, AI-powered world. Many are also caught in the technical-debt trap. These outdated practices increasingly hinder productivity and competitiveness, especially in regulated industries where accuracy, consistency, and speed are crucial.

Managing business-critical content with traditional documents no longer cut it. If your teams are wrestling with outdated Word files, formatting nightmares, or duplicated translations, you’re not alone - but you’re definitely behind.

As an adjunct professor at the University of Paris Cité, when teaching my "Bureautique" course on office productivity suites I still encounter students interning at companies wrestling with tools like Microsoft Word or Google Docs for their documentation. While mastering styles or outline views can help, there's a natural ceiling to what these productivity suites can handle. You can only get away with using them for a certain amount of time or to a certain degree of product complexity.

Structured content is the way forward. It's modular (meaning it’s created in reusable chunks), metadata-rich (making it easily searchable and well-organized), and endlessly reusable across multiple outputs, which is key for scaling efficiently and leveraging advanced capabilities such as personalizing content and the big AI bang.

Migrating to Structured Content Authoring (SCA) doesn't have to be overwhelming, if you follow a structured path.

While I’m on the subject, much of the opposition comes from content teams with a high number of SMEs who contribute their content in Word. There are structured content solutions that still offer a familiar, Word-like interface, even though behind the scenes, they rely on a structured foundation. This means these profiles can work comfortably in an environment they recognize, while benefiting from the power and flexibility of structured content.

Ask yourself: What are you solving for?

What challenge are you addressing? Start with a clear business case.

Clarify your business objectives upfront. For example:

• Reduce translation costs
• Accelerate product launches
• Ensure/improve regulatory compliance

Then choose a pilot area, ideally content that:

• Has high frequency or volume (e.g. product documentation, SOPs, training content)
• Is frequently updated
• Has already strained under traditional workflows

Quick win example: A global Life Sciences leader began their structured content journey and saved time and cost with up to 60% content reuse.

You can’t fix what you can’t see.

Inventory your current documents. Identify:

• Duplicated content (same paragraph in 10 files?)
• Repetitive/inefficient formatting
• Inconsistencies in tone, branding, or terminology
• Translation bottlenecks

Sort your content into three buckets:

1. Must-migrate
2. Update and migrate
3. Archive or sunset

This audit helps you prioritize what to transform, and what to let go.

It’s now time to break the “document mindset”.

Think LEGO bricks, not Duplo blocks.

Work with content strategists like , or ��ɫ��Ƶ Solution partners to define:

• Component types (e.g. introductions, procedures, tables, warnings)
• Comprehensive metadata schemas (e.g. tags for audience, product, region, compliance, requirement ID)
• Relationships between components (e.g. which warnings link to which procedures)

��ɫ��Ƶ also provides Professional Services for Tridion.

This is your blueprint. Think of it as transforming content from linear paragraphs into modular LEGO blocks that you can easily combine and reuse.

Cool tip: Tridion Docs lets you manage this all within a familiar Word-like authoring interface, so your team doesn’t need to become XML experts. Build reusable, modular content without XML expertise.

You’ve got the model, now execute with precision.

Decide how you’ll move content into the new structure:

• Manual rewrite for high-value content that needs quality and nuance
• Semi-automated conversion using scripts or tools for predictable patterns and automated scripts for standardized format
• Bulk import with tagging for legacy reference material destined for the archives

Don’t try to do it all at once. Start with one document type or business unit, then scale.

The Key: Start small, iterate, and improve, then rinse and repeat across document types or teams.

Structured content changes more than your tech; it changes how teams think.

Support that shift by:

• Conducting role-specific training sessions: hands-on workshops focused on “what’s in it for me”
• Providing intuitive authoring guides tailored to each role
• Defining clear review and approval workflows for review, approval, and never forget translation
• Establishing clear and robust governance: who owns which content, and how updates happen

Pro tip: Look for tools that provide familiar elements, like a Word-style editor, to reduce friction during onboarding.

Continuous improvement is key to success.

Once you’re live, keep improving and track:

• Content reuse rates (how often components are shared across outputs)
• Translation cost reductions
• Content creation cycle times
• User engagement and feedback

Regularly refine workflows and processes to maximize impact and gradually broaden structured content practices throughout the organization to other teams and content types.

Structured content migration transforms your documents from static burdens into dynamic, strategic assets. Migrating to structured content isn’t just about swapping systems. It’s about reshaping your content operations to be smarter, faster, and AI-ready. 

By breaking the process into clear, step-by-step, human-centered stages, you make the transition manageable, practical, scalable, and measurable, without burning out your team.

This is the second in our series of blog posts on moving from unstructured to structured content.

Part one: If it's not broken, why fix it?.

Look out for blog three, coming soon.

When documents no longer cut it