why usability in a cms is overrated
DESCRIPTION
A common misunderstanding is that a CMS could be so simple and intuitive to use that training and support for editors wouldn't be necessary. This is probably the reason why, in most projects where clients look to upgrade or replace a tool for publishing information to the internet, "usability" and "ease of use" often are mentioned as important. At the same time, , many information and web managers with a decentralised editor organisation experience that there is a high and constant demand for training and retraining appointed editors without feeling that this training has the desired effect on the final experience of the end user. To improve, we need to be able to specify what we mean by terms like "ease of use" and at the same time adjust the training offered to content editors. This requires an understanding of your editors' needs and a way to describe it in relation to the tools available. The editor resource should be monitored and evaluated just as your publishing tool. The changing profiles, backgrounds and how frequently your editors use your WCM-tools influences how you should plan for system upgrades, improvements and training packages. My model for describing the needs of content contributors needs has been developed based on my work as a vendor neutral CMS-consultant and a facilitator in J. Boyes community of practice where I have discussed it in workshops with more than 40 web project managers, information managers and editors. The underlying principles are: 1. Focus on your core content contributors. When complaints of your current solution or wishes for a new one comes in the relevance of these should be decided based on whether they represent a group of editors who are important to the content or not. 2. Don't underestimate your need for super-user functionality. Features such as "in site editing" and "drag and drop" are all very good. But make sure super users can work efficiently in the tools too, especially if you rely on them to review content and trouble shoot. 3. Make editors focus on content before you introduce the tool. Learning to use a WCMS or other tool is always easier if you know what you are communicating. Making editors think about their content before you bring them to a training session is always worth while.TRANSCRIPT
Problem: The worlds best CMS doesn’t exist
Problem: usability to whom?
Technology is not a cure in itself
”By controlling access to functionality for editors we can control the content on our web site”
”With the right system we don’t have to do any training”
”Creating content will be as easy as using Word”
”The development in this area over the past few years should ensure that all our wishes can be satisfied OOTB. It is certainly much more advanced than when we last went looking for a CMS”
Gap analysis
First – define success
Raw material
Why do you need to improve the tool?
• Who is complaining?– What is the quality of their work– How much content are they responsible for?– Frequency of use
• Why are there complaints?– Usability?– Support functions– Governance
Who should get to influence your requirement specification?
Your Editors…
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1. Editor needs
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• Technical or communication training?
• Better support options?
• More freedom?
2. Editor governance
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• Why are have they been assigned?
• Who do they report to?
• Is their work acknowledged by their bosses?
3. Prioritising
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• Who should remain editors?
• Can the frequency be adjusted?
• Where is it most important to set in?
”We thought the distributed editors would benefit from being able to copy and paste from each others work, but it turned out the UI became too complex”
”We found that discussing what good content is, was more productive than trying to teach people about the CMS”
”The good communicators with budgets of their own are the biggest threat to our online presence”
”When we changed the CMS’ editing tool, we reduced time needed for support by 50%”
“We found that 90 percent of all support issues derived from 10 questions. The cause for 7 of them could be fixed in the CMS itself”
What do you need?
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Then invest in usability too
11 usability principles for CMS products
1. minimise the number of options 2. be robust and error-proof 3. provide task-based interfaces 4. hide implementation details 5. meet core usability guidelines 6. match authors’ mental models 7. support both frequent and infrequent
users 8. provide efficient user interfaces 9. provide help and instructions 10. minimise training required 11. support self-sufficiency
Some other principles
Wrap up
1. There is no perfect system, so don’t focus too much on the technology
2. Know the editor demographics before investing in usability
3. Usability principles are good – but do the homework and relate them to the context
Thank you for your time! – Questions?
Join the conversation:• J. Boye Blog: www.jboye.com/blog• Twitter: @jboye / @psejersen• Community of Practice: www.jboye.com/cop
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