1. Workflow that works
under pressure
Building tools that make publishing
faster, safer, and saner
!
!
!
#congility2014 : @eaton : 18-06-2014
1

2. Hi, I’m @eaton!
I’m with Lullabot.
web strategy, design, and development
2

3. Lots of content
3

4. I have a lot
of feelings
4

5. 1. The potato button
5

6. 1. The potato button
6

7. “ The latest version of our
CMS has a fresh new design;
it’s simple and easy to use!
7
Every vendor since vendors started vending

8. 1. The potato button
2. A false dichotomy
8

9. Creator
9
Consumer
Editor
Writer
Author
Ink-stained wretch
Visitor
Customer
End user
Reader

10. 10
Legal Counsel
opywriter
Freelance
Photographer
Hapless
Intern
Editor in
Chief
Social Media Manag
Fact
Checker
Subject Matter
Boss’s Assistan

11. one size does
not fit all.
11

12. 1. The potato button
2. A false dichotomy
3. Hard-won lessons
12

13. Don’t overwhelm
‣ Inexperienced users need clear paths
‣ Experienced ones need shortcuts
‣ Both need consistency
‣ Use their vocabulary to label, organize
‣ Use selective disclosure, sensible defaults
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14. Speed tasks, not forms
‣ Let go of the 1:1 mapping
‣ Understand the processes and goals
‣ Maintain context, state for multi-step work
‣ Automate repetitive tasks
‣ Map offline work, know the cutovers
14

15. Workflow should work
‣ Your 12-step approval system sucks
‣ Model state, then responsibility, then process
‣ Give visibility before veto power
‣ Restrict access to risky actions
‣ Consult the lawyer, trust the team.
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16. Divorce the design
‣ Take a hard look at responsibilities
‣ Capture priority, emphasis, grouping
‣ Slim down the markup, use tokens
‣ Treat curation and assembly as content
‣ Don’t be dazzled by amazing demos
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17. 1. The potato button
2. A false dichotomy
3. Hard-won lessons
4. Success stories
17

18. MSNBC
18

19. decoupled
control
19

20. decoupled
control
19

21. 20

22. 20

23. The GRAMMYs
21

24. 22
4pm-10pm Feb 10th
Roughly 1,000,000,000,000,000,00
Est. GRAMMYTraffic

25. 23

26. WWE
24

27. Grouping and
Labeling
25

28. 26

29. The New York Times
27

30. 28
open.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/scoop-a-glimpse-into-the-nytimes-cms

31. 29
open.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/scoop-a-glimpse-into-the-nytimes-cms

32. Making
it happen
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33. There’s always a
budget for “not failing”
‣ Map content to business goals
‣ Know the cost of public errors
‣ Know the cost of lost time
‣ Grab the low-hanging fruit
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34. There’s always a
budget for “not failing”
‣ Map content to business goals
‣ Know the cost of public errors
‣ Know the cost of lost time
‣ Grab the low-hanging fruit
31
http://xkcd.com/1205

35. Yay, it’s old-fashioned
CS and UX work!
‣ Interviews and user stories!
‣ Card sorts and taxonomy!
‣ Domain and content modeling!
‣ Inventories and governance plans!
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36. Your secret weapon:
two hours and a pizza
‣ Get your editors involved early
‣ Ask what they want and hate
‣ Watch them do real work
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37. Your tools will evolve:
Ask, build, and iterate.
‣ You can never solve it all in one go
‣ Iterative refinement lets you learn
‣ Your solutions will not be universal
…But they’ll work for your team.
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38. Want to read more?
Check out…
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When Editors Design
!
Baby Got Backend
Battle for the Body Field
!
Interviewing Users
Card Sorting
Mental Models
Web Form Design
www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/06/26/
controlling-presentation-in-structured-content
www.lullabot.com/blog/article/baby-got-backend
alistapart.com/article/battle-for-the-body-field
!
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/card-sorting
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models
rosenfeldmedia.com/books/web-form-design