Hi, Brian. I think this is an interesting angle for a class and definitely worthwhile. I've worked with almost all these CMS tools fairly extensively and have actually learned a fair amount about UX (what to do or NOT to do) from them. I've never articulated the question so clearly as you have, but you made me realize I'd been thinking about the answer for some time now. In short, I think CMS is one of the best focus groups for a UX study if only because the various programs are so widely and fundamentally varied in their approaches to (more or less) the same concept (word processors, by comparison, tend to be more or less the same).
To start with, it's a great discussion on usability vs. features and whether features themselves are an element of good UX design. The best comparison here is probably Drupal vs. Joomla. Drupal was (in my opinion, whatever may have been stated on drupal.org) created by and for php developers and its paradigm and logic reflects these roots. I think Drupal's UX made sense if you placed a high priority on maximum flexibility and unlimited features. It also helped if you could think like a php developer, but the point here is that one of the core values of Drupal was being able to do anything with it. That IS the user story and so that is part of the UX scope, even if the interface itself doesn't always (or hardly ever) make sense to those who expect things to work like MS Office (not to say that Office is limited, just that it goes about things a certain way). For those people (which is most of the population), Drupal's UX is a nightmare, though it has certainly improved in the last couple years thanks to a very active community (and probably because of the new expectations that Joomla introduced). I have always loved Drupal because I tend to start with kno wing what site I want to create and then finding a way to make that site, whatever it may consist of. Drupal allows for this and therefore my interface with the program is secondary to the ability to the tangible realization of my genius (ha!). Joomla is at almost the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I personally found it incredible confusing because, again, I had an idea of what I wanted to create and Joomla just wasn't able to do that. Once I flipped my expectations around, though, I immediately found why so many people loved it. Joomla has placed a heavy emphasis on usability in the sense of what we normally discuss on this IxDA list: how people interact with the product. Once you understand the flow (Section > Category > Page > Menu Item), it's pretty simple and lots of people with very little tech knowledge are either creating new websites with it or are suddenly able to sell their services as 'web designers'. For Joomla, though, interaction trumps features. It works as long as you go in willing to create the sort of site that Joomla can create (which is why I had a tough time at first). The creators of Joomla, it seems, sat down and thought through what most users really needed to accomplish and m ade that part of the UX requirements. So here you've got a great discussion, with the two most popular CMS apps as case studies, of what makes for good UX design. Is it allowing the user to accomplish their goal or is it the interface along the way? As my voice coach used to ask (talking about training for opera, of course), are we after process or product? Ideally, of course, it's both, but we almost always tend to lean one way or the other. There are lots of other ways that Content Managers can be used as a lens through which to view UX practices, but hopefully that helps to move the conversation along. __________________ Sterling Koch -----Original Message----- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Brian Henkel Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 6:58 AM To: disc...@ixda.org Subject: [IxDA Discuss] How does knowledge of CMSs make you a better UX designer? I'm planning to teach a course on how knowledge of Content Management Systems makes us better user experience designers. In this course, we will survey many prevalent CMS tools (slated at the moment: WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Sharepoint, Expression Engine) to review how they work, analyze their capabilities and limitations, and overall, make non-technical designers more conversant with these technologies. It is my belief that this background not only helps a designer when formulating/proposing a solution, but is also valuable in discussions with other (perhaps more-technical) project team members. I'd like to get thoughts and ideas from the community: How does knowledge of Content Management Systems make us better user experience designers? Literature on this topic seems to be scarce, so a recommendation for further research is welcomed as well. Brian Henkel User Experience Manifest Digital 1200 West Lake Street Chicago, IL 60607 manifestdigital.com 312 235 3024 v 773 331 7645 c 312 803 9669 f ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
