One of the biggest virtues that any enterprise application should possess is the simplicity of its interface which allows rapid and enthusiastic adoption of the application by its intended users. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and specifically Web Content Management (WCM) solutions are no exception. However the majority of the Enterprise Content Management Solutions available today are surprisingly complex to operate. Though one of the biggest selling pitches used by vendors has been “the enablement of business users in content authoring”, time and again we have seen that reality is difficult to achieve.
One of the most common pain points for enterprises who have invested millions in implementing large scale Enterprise Content Management or Web Content Management Solutions is that their intended users are not able to use it because of its perceived complexity. To publish a simple article on a company website, a business author may have to perform five different activities involving different modules like static content, content object creation, workflow etc. involving multiple clicks and a myriad of steps. The whole experience is intimidating for any business user. To a great extent the complaints of the users are absolutely justified and part of that comes from the fact that in today’s world of Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools, the task of publishing has become tremendously easy and smooth. Once we get used to that level of user simplicity it is difficult for us to accept or even work with enterprise tools which are a generation or two behind in usability and simplicity. Striving to improve business agility through Enterprise 2.0 led initiatives, today’s enterprises are willing to invest in technology solutions such as ECM and WCM. Product vendors need to keep this in mind and make their applications user friendly and more logically intuitive than they are today. This will not only help the adoption of the tool but also go a long way to reduce the training expenses. At the end of the day enterprise users will always want to use applications which are user-friendly and simple to use.
However we still need to find a solution for enterprises that are saddled with complex content solutions. Simplification and user-friendliness of Content Systems can be achieved by developing a simplified intermediate interface between users and the content application. This tool can be used by the business users to enter content which will then be transferred to the content application automatically. Another option for simplification will be that of employing a team of highly skilled individuals of the content application to enter content on behalf of the business users. At Virtusa, we have come across such scenarios where clients have asked us to develop a tool and also provide a team of content authors who can be on the job from the word go. Typically during the tool development process our team of trained content authors maintains business continuity by entering content that they receive from the business users. What has been your experience while dealing with Enterprise Content Management applications as far as usability is concerned? Do you share similar concerns and issues? Feel free to share your experience and any solutions you have implemented that have effectively resolved usability issues.
[...] On Simplicity in ECM – Prithwiraj Deb One of the most common pain points for enterprises who have invested millions in implementing large scale Enterprise Content Management or Web Content Management Solutions is that their intended users are not able to use it because of its perceived complexity… The whole experience is intimidating for any business user [...]