In web design, much of user experience design is focused on the needs and expectations of end-users. However, when developing within an open-source content management system (CMS), it becomes essential to also consider those who will be using the CMS.At the University of Houston Libraries, the Web Services department learned how essential it is to balance usability and functionality when developing a CMS after they really started using and getting feedback on their over-engineered intranet implementation in Drupal.This talk will include lessons learned from our initial mistakes, but focus primarily on the challenges and successes of the CMS built for the Libraries’ website and the methods we used for engaging users to help determine the initial direction for the development of the CMS. Attendees will leave with ideas on how to simultaneously provide flexibility and advanced tools to improve the user experience and apply “therapy” to their own CMS implementations. Background article: Improving the Drupal User Experience, http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/4578

1. Therapy for your CMS:Improving the User Experience Rachel Vacek University of Houston Libraries J. Boye Conference Philadelphia May 4, 2011

2. About the University of Houston Established 1927 3rd largest university in Texas 12 colleges, 320 degree programs 38k FTE Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university Located in Houston, TX

3. About the UH Libraries Member of Association of Research Libraries 201 library staff Multiple libraries on campus Multiple CMSs 50+ content editors on intranet 30+ content editors on main website Varied familiarity with technology

4. OLD Intranet

5. Intranet Redesign - 2008 Chose Drupal Powerful Modular Flexible Active user community Peer institutions using Drupal

6. Planning & Development Had clear goals Conducted surveys Utilized focus groups Added needed functionality Built what users wanted

8. It improved communication throughout the Libraries. Users could collect data via webforms. It was visually more appealing. Many processes and workflows were automated. There was much more info about departments and committees.

9. But issues began to surface

10. For example, users had to choose between 24 content types.

11. Some modules, such as Panels, were too confusing.

12. Web Services spending too much time helping people. Drupal terminology was unfamiliar. The search functionality was miserable. The Blocks page took 3 minutes to load. Too many modules! Users needed ongoing training for the advanced as well as simple stuff. Took too long to do simple tasks.

13. Web Services spending too much time helping people. Drupal terminology was unfamiliar. CMS UX FAIL The search functionality was miserable. The Blocks page took 3 minutes to load. Too many modules! Users needed ongoing training for the advanced as well as simple stuff. Took too long to do simple tasks.

14. Don’t the users of a CMS deserve a good user experience too?

15. CMS UX Therapy Do research on modules FIRST Pay attention to your peers Follow the “use only what you need” philosophy Find balance between usability and functionality Don’t give users toomany options

16. CMS UX Therapy “Remove” the extraneous stuff Create templates for multiple page layouts Create roles for basic users as well as advanced users Documentation How certain tools work Reasoning for choices Create and embed self-help within CMS Use Google Analytics on your Intranet

18. CMS UX Therapy An investment in CMS simplification and respect for the user experience can yield an extremely powerful system run by satisfied, happy users.

19. Main Website Redesign – 2010 Applied lessons learned from Intranet CMS failure Created help video tutorials Picked more appropriate modules to help with creating a good UX Admin module Content locking module Workflow module Pathauto module Custom modules WYSIWYG editor

20. Main Website Redesign – 2010 Conducted continuous usability testing with content editors on the new CMS during development Today, content editors are more eager to use the CMS and are more interested in keeping their content current

21. For example, we limited content types to six.

22. Editing pages is now simpler, and extraneous fields are hidden.

23. We also buit custom tools to make it easy for content editors to maintain their resources.

24. Whether developing a website or a CMS, always consider the user experience!

25. Thank You! Email: vacekrae@gmail.com Twitter: @vacekrae Presentation available: http://slideshare.net/vacekrae Background article: Improving the Drupal User Experience, http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/4578