This webinar was presented as part of the MetaVis SharePoint MVP Webinar Series on June 5, 2013. It was a slightly modified version of the session I did with the same name at SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities in November 2012. To get the full context and see the slide notes, please download the slides.
Accompanying video demos are on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxSc1uqWwEXljBcsCYtUiPxvYBm_ePgfT
Session Abstract:
So you've been given a SharePoint site to administer for your team or project, but now what? How do you configure it? What types of content should you store there? How do you change the boring standard interface to something with a little more zing without involving a designer? How should your navigation be structured and what exactly do you put on the home page to draw traffic to your site?
This webinar will walk through the basic steps that anyone constructing a website, regardless of platform, should take into consideration and how these concepts fit into the SharePoint world. Basic usability concepts will be introduced, along with some quick and easy branding tips that will make a big difference in the look and feel of your site, and you don't need to have any design or coding skills to implement them. Whether you've been given a blank slate or inherited a site from someone else, you'll come away with several ideas you can apply right away to improve the layout and design of your site, thus helping to increase user adoption. Many of the concepts in this session apply to any version of SharePoint, however all demos will be done in SharePoint 2010.
Driving SharePoint End-User Adoption: Usability and PerformanceWendy Neal
Slides from the webinar of the same name presented on March 26, 2015.
For more details see: http://wendy-neal.com/2015/03/upcoming-webinar-driving-sharepoint-end-user-adoption/
What's new in SharePoint 2013 and is it worth migrating to. This webinar was recorded and available on http://en.share-gate.com/blog for you to view.
Whether you want to learn more about SharePoint's new interface, search, WCV, this presentation helps you discover them quickly.
Office 365 Tip: Create a team site on SharePointMicrosoft India
Work with your teams from where ever you are. Get started with your own Team site on SharePoint. Build your site in a few clicks. Just click new site and give your site a name, try different looks, customize it and get going. Have a query? Tweet us using #Guruvaarta and our experts will be happy to help. Follow us on Twitter @ModernBizIn to stay updated on modern tools for your small business.
Driving SharePoint End-User Adoption: Usability and PerformanceWendy Neal
Slides from the webinar of the same name presented on March 26, 2015.
For more details see: http://wendy-neal.com/2015/03/upcoming-webinar-driving-sharepoint-end-user-adoption/
What's new in SharePoint 2013 and is it worth migrating to. This webinar was recorded and available on http://en.share-gate.com/blog for you to view.
Whether you want to learn more about SharePoint's new interface, search, WCV, this presentation helps you discover them quickly.
Office 365 Tip: Create a team site on SharePointMicrosoft India
Work with your teams from where ever you are. Get started with your own Team site on SharePoint. Build your site in a few clicks. Just click new site and give your site a name, try different looks, customize it and get going. Have a query? Tweet us using #Guruvaarta and our experts will be happy to help. Follow us on Twitter @ModernBizIn to stay updated on modern tools for your small business.
When working with SharePoint On-Premises or on Office 365, we can't ignore our Security Management. Many things we do can lead to further problems or even worse security breaches.
This is a session recording of a webinar recorded and available http://en.share-gate.com/blog/sharepoint-security-management-lessons-learned which includes tips and best practises concerning your SharePoint Security.
SPSNYC 2016 - Big data in SharePoint and the 5,000 Item List View ThresholdBen Steinhauser
Run into that annoying SharePoint 5,000 Item Limit List View Threshold? Wondering why Microsoft says you can put 30,000,000 files in a library but also limits your list views to 5,000 items and locks your List/Library in the event it goes over? This session will discuss this issue, why it exists, how to plan around it so your organization can prevent it, and how to fix Libraries that are impacted by this threshold. Best practices, recommendations, and custom tools are included for demonstration.
In this session, we are going to brand a SharePoint site from start to finish. We will use SharePoint Designer, HTML and custom CSS to design a site how not to look like SharePoint. We'll touch upon themes, page layouts as well as master page design. As well as learn how to upgrade a SharePoint 2007 design to SharePoint 2010.
This session is focused on designers well versed with HTML and CSS but might not have the SharePoint development experience. Within the session, we'll also look at usability, accessibility and best practices on branding SharePoint public facing sites.
Visit http://www.kanwalkhipple.com
Don't Suck at SharePoint - Avoid the common mistakesBenjamin Niaulin
Recording: http://bit.ly/SeyVK8
How do you avoid the most common mistakes when using SharePoint, if you've never used it before?
What makes SharePoint so popular is also its worse enemy, it's easy to use. As a platform, it allows you to build whatever you want to help the organization. But for it to be successful, you need to avoid the common mistakes made.
As a consultant, I have unfortunately had a lot of experience seeing or even doing some of the things in SharePoint that lead to utter chaos or disaster. That's why I would like to share them with you this time, show you how to not suck at SharePoint.
In this webinar we'll discuss:
-A brief overview of SharePoint as a platform
-Common scenarios SharePoint is used for
-Things that have miserably failed
-Bad architecture
-Solutions and Best Practices when starting
Stop Updating, Start Evolving - The Digital Workplace TruthBenjamin Niaulin
Time for us to Transform; Time for us to Wake Up. These were the last two slides of my keynote in London a few weeks ago. I feel they sum up a lot of what is happening currently. I'm not saying you should drink the Kool Aid either, but realize that our reality at the office is changing.
This presentation shows the reality of what's happening today in the workplace. With people comfortable enough to use software today and bringing it at work, it's getting tougher for IT to continue in the old ways.
Full Blog on: http://en.share-gate.com/blog/the-digital-workplace-truth
What Makes SharePoint UX Good?What is UX?
What defines good UX?
Evaluation Criteria for SharePoint UX
Key Tips from the Field
The Future of SharePoint & Office 365 UXUX is the short for User Experience
UX is the experience that the user has while interacting with your X
It’s more about how the user feels when they use your X
Many different parts compose the UX, no “one things” makes it
UX is NOT the interface or design of your X
UI is short for User Interface
It’s what you see in the browser
Help messages, buttons, modals, characters, style, menus, navigation, pages
UI is an incredibly important part of UX
Quick & Easy SharePoint Forms with StratusFormsApril Dunnam
StratusForms is a free jQuery library for building robust SharePoint forms. If you are familiar with HTML, CSS and JavaScript then StratusForms is a good alternative to InfoPath for forms creation. I will discuss it's features, limitations and a quick comparison of StratusForms and PowerApps.
Title :Advanced Office365 Sharepoint online Workflows
Event: Capital Area .NET SharePoint Special Interest Group
Url: http://www.meetup.com/CapArea-NET-SPSIG/events/229709059/
Date : 18 May 2016
Learn how to utilize search to create a dynamic and engaging intranet. We will discuss Display Templates and how they work with the Content Search Web Part and Search Results Web Part to customize the display of data.
WordPress Websites for Engineers: Elevate Your Brandgvaughan
Presentation: Are you an engineer looking to enhance your professional brand? Join our insightful webinar where Gary Vaughan, a seasoned IT professional and WordPress expert, will unveil the power of WordPress websites in boosting your career and professional profile. Whether you're a consultant, volunteer, or aspiring employee, a well-crafted website can be a game-changer in showcasing your expertise.
Speaker Bio: Gary's long career spans from Project Manager and Foreign Service Officer to IT Contractor at the State Department's Office of eDiplomacy. With a profound focus on WordPress software support, he now dedicates his expertise to pro bono website design for DC area non-profits and offers web design resources at dcwebrevolution.com. Gary specializes in WordPress web consulting, business planning, website design, and social media management.
When working with SharePoint On-Premises or on Office 365, we can't ignore our Security Management. Many things we do can lead to further problems or even worse security breaches.
This is a session recording of a webinar recorded and available http://en.share-gate.com/blog/sharepoint-security-management-lessons-learned which includes tips and best practises concerning your SharePoint Security.
SPSNYC 2016 - Big data in SharePoint and the 5,000 Item List View ThresholdBen Steinhauser
Run into that annoying SharePoint 5,000 Item Limit List View Threshold? Wondering why Microsoft says you can put 30,000,000 files in a library but also limits your list views to 5,000 items and locks your List/Library in the event it goes over? This session will discuss this issue, why it exists, how to plan around it so your organization can prevent it, and how to fix Libraries that are impacted by this threshold. Best practices, recommendations, and custom tools are included for demonstration.
In this session, we are going to brand a SharePoint site from start to finish. We will use SharePoint Designer, HTML and custom CSS to design a site how not to look like SharePoint. We'll touch upon themes, page layouts as well as master page design. As well as learn how to upgrade a SharePoint 2007 design to SharePoint 2010.
This session is focused on designers well versed with HTML and CSS but might not have the SharePoint development experience. Within the session, we'll also look at usability, accessibility and best practices on branding SharePoint public facing sites.
Visit http://www.kanwalkhipple.com
Don't Suck at SharePoint - Avoid the common mistakesBenjamin Niaulin
Recording: http://bit.ly/SeyVK8
How do you avoid the most common mistakes when using SharePoint, if you've never used it before?
What makes SharePoint so popular is also its worse enemy, it's easy to use. As a platform, it allows you to build whatever you want to help the organization. But for it to be successful, you need to avoid the common mistakes made.
As a consultant, I have unfortunately had a lot of experience seeing or even doing some of the things in SharePoint that lead to utter chaos or disaster. That's why I would like to share them with you this time, show you how to not suck at SharePoint.
In this webinar we'll discuss:
-A brief overview of SharePoint as a platform
-Common scenarios SharePoint is used for
-Things that have miserably failed
-Bad architecture
-Solutions and Best Practices when starting
Stop Updating, Start Evolving - The Digital Workplace TruthBenjamin Niaulin
Time for us to Transform; Time for us to Wake Up. These were the last two slides of my keynote in London a few weeks ago. I feel they sum up a lot of what is happening currently. I'm not saying you should drink the Kool Aid either, but realize that our reality at the office is changing.
This presentation shows the reality of what's happening today in the workplace. With people comfortable enough to use software today and bringing it at work, it's getting tougher for IT to continue in the old ways.
Full Blog on: http://en.share-gate.com/blog/the-digital-workplace-truth
What Makes SharePoint UX Good?What is UX?
What defines good UX?
Evaluation Criteria for SharePoint UX
Key Tips from the Field
The Future of SharePoint & Office 365 UXUX is the short for User Experience
UX is the experience that the user has while interacting with your X
It’s more about how the user feels when they use your X
Many different parts compose the UX, no “one things” makes it
UX is NOT the interface or design of your X
UI is short for User Interface
It’s what you see in the browser
Help messages, buttons, modals, characters, style, menus, navigation, pages
UI is an incredibly important part of UX
Quick & Easy SharePoint Forms with StratusFormsApril Dunnam
StratusForms is a free jQuery library for building robust SharePoint forms. If you are familiar with HTML, CSS and JavaScript then StratusForms is a good alternative to InfoPath for forms creation. I will discuss it's features, limitations and a quick comparison of StratusForms and PowerApps.
Title :Advanced Office365 Sharepoint online Workflows
Event: Capital Area .NET SharePoint Special Interest Group
Url: http://www.meetup.com/CapArea-NET-SPSIG/events/229709059/
Date : 18 May 2016
Learn how to utilize search to create a dynamic and engaging intranet. We will discuss Display Templates and how they work with the Content Search Web Part and Search Results Web Part to customize the display of data.
WordPress Websites for Engineers: Elevate Your Brandgvaughan
Presentation: Are you an engineer looking to enhance your professional brand? Join our insightful webinar where Gary Vaughan, a seasoned IT professional and WordPress expert, will unveil the power of WordPress websites in boosting your career and professional profile. Whether you're a consultant, volunteer, or aspiring employee, a well-crafted website can be a game-changer in showcasing your expertise.
Speaker Bio: Gary's long career spans from Project Manager and Foreign Service Officer to IT Contractor at the State Department's Office of eDiplomacy. With a profound focus on WordPress software support, he now dedicates his expertise to pro bono website design for DC area non-profits and offers web design resources at dcwebrevolution.com. Gary specializes in WordPress web consulting, business planning, website design, and social media management.
A presentation about how WordPress.Com can provide a basic website for individuals or organizations, and step-by-step tips on how to plan and implement a WordPress.Com site.
How to untangle the puzzle that is ecommerce SEO
There is little doubt that competition within the online marketplace is fierce, performing SEO on any ecommerce site is not desirable, it now an essential ingredient for any business selling online.
Not only is it extremely difficult to compete against the ecommerce giants that are currently dominating the landscape, but most ecommerce sites by their very nature go against good SEO.
Digital Marketing Course Week 3: Digital AssetsAyca Turhan
Third week slides of eMarketing Course at Hacettepe University taught by Ayca Turhan Topics covered within the presentation include:
Digital Assets, Websites, Mobile Websites, Mobile Apps
User Experience
Testing
For more please visit: www.aycaturhan.com/man423
The Ultimate Website Development RoadmapAdina Zaiontz
The 10 Step Guide to Building and Marketing a Sales-Driven Website.
Step 1: Research Competitors
Step 2: Make a List of Functional and Content Requirements.
Step 3: Assemble Team
Step 4: Wireframe
Step 5: Content Creation & Collection, Content Schedule
Step 6: Design
Step 7: Programming
Step 8: Beta
Step 9: Live Launch
Step 10: SEO & Maintenance
This presentation will present insights into web user psychology, how to think about and write for the web, how to identify common content mistakes and how writing for the web will improve your search engine rankings.
Web Development is website development which is explained by Derin Dolen in this PPt in very detail and simple words. Derin Dolen ppt on web development is must be read and share.
Decoding Digital Week 2: Design & ImplementationSymphony3
In week two we discussed how businesses can go about designing and implementing a website. We look at a website brief, choosing and CMS and website design.
Need a great website for your business or organization, but don't have a huge budget? Feel like you're getting the runaround when you talk to web developers about your project? This non-technical course teaches business professionals how to develop and maintain a high quality web site within tight budget constraints. Study budgeting, vendor selection, technology and design evaluation, content development, promotion, online/offline marketing integration, and success measurement. Understand the process, ask the right questions, get or design the best web site for your budget.
Similar to SharePoint Site Usability and Design Tips for Non Designers by @SharePointWendy (20)
Elevating Tactical DDD Patterns Through Object CalisthenicsDorra BARTAGUIZ
After immersing yourself in the blue book and its red counterpart, attending DDD-focused conferences, and applying tactical patterns, you're left with a crucial question: How do I ensure my design is effective? Tactical patterns within Domain-Driven Design (DDD) serve as guiding principles for creating clear and manageable domain models. However, achieving success with these patterns requires additional guidance. Interestingly, we've observed that a set of constraints initially designed for training purposes remarkably aligns with effective pattern implementation, offering a more ‘mechanical’ approach. Let's explore together how Object Calisthenics can elevate the design of your tactical DDD patterns, offering concrete help for those venturing into DDD for the first time!
Why You Should Replace Windows 11 with Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 for enhanced perfor...SOFTTECHHUB
The choice of an operating system plays a pivotal role in shaping our computing experience. For decades, Microsoft's Windows has dominated the market, offering a familiar and widely adopted platform for personal and professional use. However, as technological advancements continue to push the boundaries of innovation, alternative operating systems have emerged, challenging the status quo and offering users a fresh perspective on computing.
One such alternative that has garnered significant attention and acclaim is Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, a sleek, powerful, and user-friendly Linux distribution that promises to redefine the way we interact with our devices. With its focus on performance, security, and customization, Nitrux Linux presents a compelling case for those seeking to break free from the constraints of proprietary software and embrace the freedom and flexibility of open-source computing.
Alt. GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using ...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Welcome to the first live UiPath Community Day Dubai! Join us for this unique occasion to meet our local and global UiPath Community and leaders. You will get a full view of the MEA region's automation landscape and the AI Powered automation technology capabilities of UiPath. Also, hosted by our local partners Marc Ellis, you will enjoy a half-day packed with industry insights and automation peers networking.
📕 Curious on our agenda? Wait no more!
10:00 Welcome note - UiPath Community in Dubai
Lovely Sinha, UiPath Community Chapter Leader, UiPath MVPx3, Hyper-automation Consultant, First Abu Dhabi Bank
10:20 A UiPath cross-region MEA overview
Ashraf El Zarka, VP and Managing Director MEA, UiPath
10:35: Customer Success Journey
Deepthi Deepak, Head of Intelligent Automation CoE, First Abu Dhabi Bank
11:15 The UiPath approach to GenAI with our three principles: improve accuracy, supercharge productivity, and automate more
Boris Krumrey, Global VP, Automation Innovation, UiPath
12:15 To discover how Marc Ellis leverages tech-driven solutions in recruitment and managed services.
Brendan Lingam, Director of Sales and Business Development, Marc Ellis
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
Le nuove frontiere dell'AI nell'RPA con UiPath Autopilot™UiPathCommunity
In questo evento online gratuito, organizzato dalla Community Italiana di UiPath, potrai esplorare le nuove funzionalità di Autopilot, il tool che integra l'Intelligenza Artificiale nei processi di sviluppo e utilizzo delle Automazioni.
📕 Vedremo insieme alcuni esempi dell'utilizzo di Autopilot in diversi tool della Suite UiPath:
Autopilot per Studio Web
Autopilot per Studio
Autopilot per Apps
Clipboard AI
GenAI applicata alla Document Understanding
👨🏫👨💻 Speakers:
Stefano Negro, UiPath MVPx3, RPA Tech Lead @ BSP Consultant
Flavio Martinelli, UiPath MVP 2023, Technical Account Manager @UiPath
Andrei Tasca, RPA Solutions Team Lead @NTT Data
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
PHP Frameworks: I want to break free (IPC Berlin 2024)Ralf Eggert
In this presentation, we examine the challenges and limitations of relying too heavily on PHP frameworks in web development. We discuss the history of PHP and its frameworks to understand how this dependence has evolved. The focus will be on providing concrete tips and strategies to reduce reliance on these frameworks, based on real-world examples and practical considerations. The goal is to equip developers with the skills and knowledge to create more flexible and future-proof web applications. We'll explore the importance of maintaining autonomy in a rapidly changing tech landscape and how to make informed decisions in PHP development.
This talk is aimed at encouraging a more independent approach to using PHP frameworks, moving towards a more flexible and future-proof approach to PHP development.
3. • Website Usability 1011
• Planning your SharePoint Site2
• Design Tips for Non Designers3
• User Adoption Tips4
TODAY’S OVERVIEW
4. WEBSITE USABILITY 101
“The main thing is that
everything become
simple, easy enough for
a child to understand.” -
Albert Camus
5. RULE #1: DON’T MAKE ME THINK
Websites should be:
• Self-evident
• Obvious
• Self-explanatory
If you remember
nothing else about
usability, remember
this rule!
6. TYPES OF NAVIGATION
• Navigation by browsing
– Primary navigation
– Secondary navigation
– Utilities links
• Navigation by Searching
7. NAVIGATION BEST PRACTICES
• Secondary links
relative to where
you’re at
• Active links highlighted
• Page titles match link
names
• Breadcrumbs
YOU ARE
HERE
• Concise and consistent primary navigation
– Identical no matter where you are
– Max 9 links
8. HOME PAGE DESIGN
• Attract attention
• Good balance of images
and text
• Answer these questions:
1. What is this?
2. What can I do here?
3. Why should I be here?
• Place important content
“above the fold”
9. HOME PAGE DESIGN (CONT.)
• Omit needless words
– Don’t write a book;
people won’t read it
anyway
– Provide short blurbs
and links instead to
wordy content
• Keep content succinct
and uncluttered
“Get rid of half the words
on each page, then get
rid of half of what’s left.”
– Steve Krug
11. DESIGN FOR DIFFERENT SCREEN SIZES
• Typical minimum screen
size is 1024 x 768
– Test your site on different
screen resolutions
– You want to avoid left/right
scrolling at all costs!
– The “fold” will be in
different places depending
on screen resolution
13. SHAREPOINT 2010 USABILITY REPORT CARD
Element A B C D F
Primary navigation
Secondary navigation
Breadcrumbs
Page titles
Search
Screen size compatibility
http://www.sharepointwendy.com/2013/02/sharepoint-2010-usability-report-card.html
15. WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?
Yourself?
Your team?
Your department?
Entire company?
Partners?
16. WHAT CONTENT SHOULD YOU PUT
(AND NOT PUT) ON YOUR SITE?
What to put in SharePoint
• Documents where versioning is
required
• Collaborative documents
• Electronic forms
• List items such as calendars, links lists,
discussion boards, etc.
• Blogs and wikis
• Picture libraries
What NOT to put in SharePoint
• Blocked file types (.exe, .bat, .dll, .msi,
.com, & others)
• Very large files
• Large media files
• Log and backup files
• Transactional applications or files
which require locks
• Server side scripts
17. DETERMINE THE SCOPE
• Define your criteria of
success
• What will you include
and not include?
– Quick wins
– Remember the 80/20
rule
• Use an iterative
approach
18. PLAN YOUR PERMISSIONS
• Determine permissions
levels needed
• Keep permissions as simple
as possible
• Utilize SharePoint and/or
Active Directory groups
– Try not to put individuals
directly in the site/library/list
level
19. SUB SITES VS. PAGES
Sub sites:
• Hierarchical global
navigation automatically
cascades down
Pages:
• Global navigation hierarchy
must be manually created
How they affect navigation
• Use sub sites when:
– You need several supporting lists and libraries
– You have separate permissions needs
– You don’t want to manually create/manage top
navigation links
20. CREATE A SITE MOCKUP
• A mockup is your site’s
blueprint
• Paper sketch is fine
• Mockup tools:
– Balsamiq
– Visio
– Excel
22. DESIGN TIPS FOR
NON DESIGNERS
"Design is easy. All you
do is stare at the screen
until drops of blood
form on your forehead"
- Marty Neumier
23. FINDING INSPIRATION
• Browse other sites you
like for ideas
• Start with a photo or
image
– Choose color scheme
based on that
• Use an online color
scheme tool
25. FINDING IMAGES FOR YOUR SITE
• Free images and icons
– http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/
– http://www.freeiconsweb.com/
– http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/06/35-
really-incredible-free-icon-sets/
– http://www.instantshift.com/2009/08/19/75-free-
useful-icon-sets-for-web-designers-and-developers/
• Stock images (not free)
– http://www.vectorstock.com $1 per image!
– http://www.istockphoto.com
• Google or Bing image search
– Be careful of copyright infringements
26. WORKING WITH IMAGES
• Download Paint.Net http://www.getpaint.net
– FREE image and photo editing software
– Similar to PhotoShop
27. RESIZING LARGE IMAGES
• Large images take longer
to download
• Be sure to “Maintain
aspect ratio” so you
don’t distort the image
32. DEMOS
Demo Link
Paint.Net Image
Editing Demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBWIOgazSWE
Change Site and
Home Page Images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIc4p-15Yq0
Change Site Theme
Colors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtCYqF6vlXU
35. USER ADOPTION TIPS
“If you make it easier to
use than not to use, it
will get used.” – Kerri
Abraham
36. IF YOU BUILD IT…
• You’ve built a
great site, but
now what?
37. FREQUENT UPDATES TO CONTENT
• Announcements
• Did You Know?
• What’s New?
• Quote of the
Week
• Team Member
Spotlight
38. PROMOTE YOUR SITE
• Lunch and learns
• Contests
• Set up user alerts
• Bulletin boards
39. EAT YOUR OWN DOG FOOD
• Lead by example
• Use SharePoint for
collaboration and
document sharing
40. ADOPTION COMES BACK TO USABILITY,
PLANNING, AND DESIGN
Ensure that your
site is:
Easy to use
Planned properly
Well-designed
41. CLOSING THOUGHTS
A well-designed website
is like a clean house…
It doesn’t always get the
full appreciation it
deserves, but when it’s
messy, everyone notices!
At my company, we give SharePoint sites to teams and groups that request them, and most of them aren’t familiar with SharePoint at all; so a lot of the first questions we get are:How do I configure my site?What types of content should I store there?How should our navigation be structured?What do we put on the home page?So I put this together as a training class for my end users; and I also thought it may provide value to others in the SharePoint community. In fact, I’ve written a few posts on my blog about these topics, and they’re some of the most visited articles.
This is what we’re going to cover today. I like to give my users a very high level overview of website usability, just to keep in the back of their minds when they’re designing their sites. We’ll talk about the planning your should take before you just “dump all your stuff” into SharePoint. Then I’ll share with you some design tips that I’ve learned over the years, and a few tips to get users to actually use your site after you’ve built it. And we’ll also do a live example with demos throughout the sessions.
According to Wikipedia, Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. This can be anything human-made: a tool, a machine, a book, even a software application or website.So website usability refers to how easy it is for users to use and learn a particular website.The terms User-Friendly and Intuitive are things that come to mind when thinking about website usability.
This is a great book on usability by Steve Krug. Quick, easy read. Doesn’t go into a lot of usability theory or other boring stuff. Just a lot of common sense things to make your site better.Don’t do anything out of the norm. E.g. Make buttons look like buttons; Don’t call your Search button Locate or Find; even though they’re similar terms, it still makes people stop and think; Don’t name your page title something totally different than the link name they clicked to get there
Primary navigation is sometimes referred to as Main navigation. It’s usually a horizontal navigation bar at the top of the site, but not always. SharePoint OOB does have the primary navigation as horizontal and is also referred to as the top link bar (non publishing site) or the global navigation (publishing site).Secondary links are also sometimes referred to as the sub navigation. It’s usually a vertical list of links on the left or right side of the page. SharePoint refers to these as the quick launch links (non publishing site) or the current navigation (publishing site).Utilities links include things such as login/logout, privacy policy, terms of use, edit my profile, etc.A lot of people these days rely on search to find what they want, so good websites need to have search functionality! The good news is that SharePoint has search built in.
Primary or global links should not change. Think of those as the aisles in a grocery store. Studies have shown that the maximum number of links a human can process are nine.Secondary links will be different depending where you’re at. Using our grocery store example, think of them as the items on the shelves.Navigation should be used not only to assist you in getting to where you want to go, but it should also tell you exactly where you’re at along the way. Just like those maps you find at rest areas when travelling.
Home page design is probably the hardest part about designing your site.“Above the fold” is a term that newspaper firms use to describe the content that appears at the top half of the front page of the newspaper, so that when it's folded, the most important stories are visible. For web sites, "above the fold" loosely refers to the content that users see on the screen before they have to scroll down the page to see the rest of the content.
Many people are tempted to put their team’s entire mission statement on the home page. Don’t do it!
Good things: I know exactly what I can do here. Short, succinct, whitespace, uncluttered. 7 top nav links.Not so good: Active tabs aren’t highlighted; page titles don’t match nav links when you click to a different page
All sites that I create, I design them so they’ll fit on a minimum screen size of 1024 x 768 without left/right scrolling.
Do you want users to leave your site? Do they have an easy way to get back to your site?
Let’s take a look at the navigation areas in SharePoint.For the most part, SharePoint does pretty good about following navigation and general usability rules [point out all the different areas]
Primary and secondary navigation get very high marks, but only as long as the user sets them up properly. If they are, then functionally the navigation works as expected. Breadcrumbs get a D because it’s not evident where they are on the page. You have to know exactly where they’re at, and then if you find them, they’re not in a format that typical breadcrumbs follow.Page titles are a little misleading as well, as they appear to be breadcrumbs but they’re not.Search is really good, as long as it’s turned on! An admin has to do this.And screen size compatibility gets a B because it can be a little tricky to work with sometimes to get everything to fit without left/right scrolling on smaller screen resolutions.
Just like architects create a blueprint before they begin building, anyone creating a SharePoint site should plan out exactly what they want before they just start throwing content into it.There are several key questions you should ask before starting to build your site (see next slides).
If this site is just for yourself, you probably don’t need to put as much thought into it, since you’ll remember where you put things.If it’s just for your team, perhaps it’s OK to put the funny Dilbert comic on your home page. If the audience is the entire company, then it’s probably not.
It’s helpful to know what content is a good candidate to put into SharePoint, and what isn’t.This doesn’t mean you have to put the items in the left column in SharePoint, it’s just to give you ideas.When SharePoint gets installed, there are over 100 blocked file types by default! And there aren’t too many administrators who will unblock many of them.
I chose an HR site because every company has an HR department, and I thought it would relate to the most people.
Determining the scope is very important; if you don’t set limits and define your criteria of success, then you never know when your project is done.For first phase, implement some quick wins, or low hanging fruit.80/20 rule: 80% of the benefit can be achieved with 20% of the work; the remaining 20% benefit takes 80% of the work. So don’t make things too complicated, keep it simple
Keep your permissions simple; you don’t want to add several groups and permission levels, it will just make things complicated and become a maintenance nightmare.
Utilize OOB SharePoint groups whenever possible.You typically only want 1 or 2 site owners; the entire team doesn’t need to have those rights. Usually contribute is sufficient for them.
A lot of my users have questions about setting up their navigation, they don’t understand when to use pages vs. sub sites.
Now we’re ready to map SharePoint solutions with our requirements.
Whenever I design a site, I create a mockup of the layout. This might be overkill for simple out-of-the-box solutions, but it can be very helpful, especially if you have customizations, to give you and your stakeholders a visual representation of your site before you begin building it.
Mockups are meant to be very lo-fidelity, meaning that they are very plain with no colors or formatting. The idea is to garner stakeholder feedback on the CONTENT and FUNCTIONALITY; you don’t want to distract them with design at this point.The very first mockup I ever did several years ago, I make it look very pretty with colors and images. And even though I told them, ignore the design, I just want your feedback on the functionality, the first feedback I got was, I don’t like that color; or can we move this button over here?
I am not a designer; I can’t draw; I can’t create images from scratch in PhotoShop. If you gave me a blank canvas I’d probably stare at it for hours. However, I do know what I like when I see it. Yet I’m able to work a little bit with images and design websites that look pretty decent. So I thought, if I can do it, then anyone can; and I’m going to show you how I do it.
So if you’re like me and you’re not a designer, where do you begin?Color scheme tools can help you find complimentary colors.
Here is just one example of a color tool that can help you find complimentary colors. You choose a color (the color in the center of the wheel) and it creates a palette of pleasing colors that you could use with it.
I highly recommend Paint.Net – it has all the features I need, and it’s free!
Even though you can resize the image directly in SharePoint, it’s still downloading the large image from the server, and if you have a lot of very large images on your site it can cause performance issues.
To color: #6293AD (ctrl + left click)From color: #7CA6D8 (ctrl + right click)
Demo
Demo
Ask people to help you test the different permissions levels.I’ve already built the site structure and add some sample data for time sake.
Always upload the image to your site. Don’t just link to the image directly.
Mention my theme colors blog post
A lot of the time when you move content or functionality into SharePoint that used to live somewhere else, you are changing the way people work. Maybe those files used to be on a file share, or on an Intranet that was built on a different platform. It is crucial that the tasks that people used to do outside of SharePoint, are just as easy if not easier than they were previously. These next slides will detail some ways you can attract visitors to your site, as well as tips on making your site “easier to use than not use.”
Just because you’ve built it, doesn’t mean that users will use it.
You always want to have fresh content on your home page, but make it easy on yourself to update. Use an announcements list, for example. Also very important: Someone needs to own this and make sure it gets done on a regular basis. You can populate the lists ahead of time and use a date field to determine when the content displays.You may be thinking, these are great ideas for making sure my content doesn’t get stale, but how do I get users to my site in the first place?
Advertise your site as much as you can, in every avenue that you can. Where I work, believe it or not one of the best ways for something to get noticed is to post a flier in the bathroom right by the paper towel dispenser.
If you want someone to do something, you need to first do it yourself. I’ve seen a lot of IT departments who don’t even use SharePoint themselves, and then wonder why the business isn’t quick to move their content into SharePoint.
Kerri wrote a great article on NBSP that explains in great detail how to create consistent instructions. She sits with users to see where they may end up frustrated or confused and then documents those tips in a how-to tutorial.Admittedly where I work, we don’t use this advice as much as we should.
So we’ve come full circle. The key to making a site “easier to use than not use” is to ensure that you’ve employed good usability practices, put in the time to properly plan it, and spend a little effort in making it look nicer than the standard SharePoint out-of-the-box interface. And by using some of the other tips mentioned here, you should ensure that people will keep coming back to your site.
People may not realize or appreciate the amount of time you put into either cleaning your house, or designing your SharePoint site. But if you don't put that time in, everyone will notice!