This is a continuation of the previous post on CMS Usability. In the previous post we had touched upon usability issues revolving around CMS Dashboard, Search, and Content Authoring Forms among others.

6)    CMS Login: Single Sign on or the ability to login to CMS using your desktop credentials is a must-have requirement for content authors.    Even though it is a simple feature, it has a great importance in ensuring a satisfactory user experience.

Most of the content authors do not use CMS solutions on a regular basis. They may need it once a month or sometimes even less than that. It is very likely that they will forget their CMS user id/passwords. The inability to use the CMS solution will cause more barriers in terms of the acceptance of the CMS solution. (more…)

Content Management System (CMS) roll outs frequently present many challenges, one of the biggest being usability. Some of the commonly heard customer feedback and queries include:

• “My business users are not able to understand this new technical tool. What they need is a very simple way to add/edit some text, add images, videos, submit for approvals and publish new stories. We do not need all the technical bells and whistles!”
• “What is the use of this button on this screen? I do not need this. Please remove it!”
• “Why do I need to perform extra 3 clicks to do this task? Why can it not it happen in a single click?”
• “Have you configured this right? I would like to validate it with a product vendor or some external CMS experts to ensure it is correctly configured.”

CMS Usability: 10 Tips to Consider

CMS usability is one of the primary concerns among business users. While rolling out a new CMS platform, it is important to consider CMS usability from the project initiation phase. It should be well integrated into the CMS design process. Below are a few tips and techniques from a CMS usability standpoint to consider while planning and preparing for a CMS rollout (more…)

How about a data Web that understands not only the meaning of data but also the relationships between them like humans do?  Something that ensures targeted and personalized content delivery to the user, delivering intelligent data in its true sense. A Web that anticipates and answers your questions even before you come up with them! Semantic Web or Web 3.0 does it all through use of hyper-structures leading to entities of hypertext.

Semantic Web and Enterprises

To remain competitive in the marketplace, enterprises need to effectively use information to make better decisions. Enterprises in general collect and analyze large amounts of ever changing information from multiple sources, available in multiple formats. However, for the enterprises, the need is for actionable information which can help them build competitive advantage. This is where Semantic Web technology comes into play for an organization. (more…)

Enterprise applications delivered from the cloud have become a hot talking point in the tech industry recently. Fueled by an increasing focus on cost cutting, ease of use, scalability and faster time to market, cloud applications are being discussed in detail at various seminars and industry conferences. Taking a cue from these market indicators, most major enterprise application vendors have already started offering their applications via the cloud. Any enterprise application you name, including database, ERP, CRM, etc., is already being offered, in some form, through a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) or cloud-based model. A Content Management System (CMS) is no exception as we have begun to see the arrival of plenty of CMS applications delivered from the cloud. However, do these cloud-based CMS applications really bring a new paradigm for managing your content? Or, is it just old wine in a new bottle with all the associated industry pain points still present? (more…)

It’s rare for any major application or website to go live without going through performance testing. It’s an extremely important activity that requires effective planning and execution.  Based on our experience in implementing web applications including websites for global clients, we believe a well-planned approach to testing new web applications goes a long way in ensuring enhanced user experience. Below are 10 tips for planning and preparing for performance testing of a new website or a web application. (more…)

In my earlier post, I outlined the key reasons behind many organizations’ poor quality of product line content. The reasons, varying from unstructured content to proliferation of different media channels to operational issues, are resulting in marketing message dilution and inconsistencies.  It is important for organizations to get their content act together and come up with a uniform approach to product line content management.

Let’s see how companies can improve the quality of their product line content for enhanced marketing effectiveness and results. Listed below are a few steps, to be implemented in the order listed, that can play a key role in ensuring higher content quality (more…)

The advent of new age media, coupled with the presence of traditional channels, has resulted in enterprises depending on multi-channel marketing initiatives for reaching out to their customers across different demographic segments. Today, a wide range of physical products (i.e. automobile, clothing, electronic goods) and service-based products (i.e. telecom and internet services) are being advertised in media both new and old – in print and on the web, on mobile and through social networking – all to get most out of their advertising dollar. Amidst this rush to quickly reach out to customers, enterprises sometimes struggle in conveying a consistent product message across channels, thereby confusing consumers, damaging their brand and eventually losing market share. In this post we will be discussing the key reasons behind an enterprise’s failure to ensure product content quality. (more…)