Content Management Matters ™

Gone are the days when you needed to create paper prototypes of a page and test them in front of focus groups or run them through usability testing. Technology has evolved this process.

The Google Website Optimizer now helps one test and optimize a website all in the comfort of a real live visitor base.

What better excuse to go to San Francisco in August than to attend UX Week 2008.

Touted as the premier user experience conference, UX Week 2008 offers a mix of inspiring presentations from recognized thought leaders and hands-on workshops delivering takeaway skills. Intended for user experience professionals at all levels -- directors, managers and practitioners -- the schedule offers day-by-day registration and features engaging and interactive daily themes.

Words are critical to task completion on websites and in applications. Yet they are still chosen carelessly.

No matter how good you think your Web site's design is, accept that it can always be better. Web design is no place for the content. You must forever resign yourself to the fact that your site's usability is not going to be perfect. This is not to say your site isn't good. In fact it may be great -- but it could be better.

Or so says Jakob Nielsen in his recent article, Extreme Usability: How to Make an Already-Great Design Even Better.

Shouldn't there be a law against having politicians' pictures on websites, particularly on homepages? Taxpayer money pays for these websites. So what gives politicians the right to take taxpayer money and hijack government websites and turn them into campaign websites?

E-government is not about technology. It is about saving time and making life easier and more efficient for citizens and business.

Web government is about helping citizens and businesses make easier, faster, better-informed decisions.

Every time you add navigation options you add confusion and complexity. Too much choice is the bane of web navigation.

Sitecore has announced that the latest version of their Web CMS “redefines web content management usability and control.” 75 organizations have been testing an early release version that is apparently turning heads. According to one Fortune 500 CIO tester it is “by far the most advanced CMS on the market now.” That’s a strong statement to make, but marketing is the name of the game when trying to sell one’s product.

Making your websites more interactive is a meaningless strategy. Make your website more useful instead.

Speaking of designer's guide for research, there are many ways to learn more about how to create your Web site so that it not only looks nice, but serves the needs of those that use it.

As your plan your summer calendar for professional (or personal) development, consider Human Factors International's How to Design for Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust (PET) 3-day course. This course, scheduled for July 22-24 in Baltimore, MD, aims at providing attendees with the information essential to transitioning from being a "classical usability engineer" to becoming a complete user experience designer.

Human Factors International (HFI), a company dedicated to software usability, presents Trends in user experience design: What you need to know in 2008 that can help your business. This free, live webinar is scheduled for Thursday, February 7 at 3:30 pm ET (US).

SharePoint Server 2007 has announced the Accessibility Toolkit for SharePoint 1.0, better known as the AKS Solution.

Microsoft partnered with accessibility technology vendor HiSoftware to build the toolokit. It provides files, programs and utilities that enable SharePoint Server (MOSS) and SharePoint Services (WSS) sites to follow the accessibility guidelines put forth by the W3C (WCAG 1.0 AA).

The AKS Solution can also be used to address exceptions that have been identified in the Section 508 of the US Gov's Rehabilitation Act Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) documents for MOSS 2007.

It's all about Gilbane this week, of course. The latest news from the Boston conference relates to Hot Banana's Web CMS, which topped the poll for Overall Ease of Use in Gilbane's "Survey on Web Content Management User Experience."

No matter how you feel about measuring your site's stats, whether you think it to be an unfortunate driver of style over substance or as the gold standard of usability, the truth is that user experience (UX) metrics are factored into most marketing and design strategies.

Yet, there hasn't always been a clear method of how to best interpret and use UX metrics. Until now.