Baby Got Backend

Delivered at the 2011 CMS Expo, this session covered the dark art of creating an effective administration experience for your CMS's backend users.

Transcript

1. BABY GOT BACKEND Content administrators are users too
2. Hi, I’m @eaton. 2
3. 3 P O W E R E D b y S E R V I C E™
6. “THE SITE SHOULD BE EASY!” …FOR WHO? 5
8. DRUPAL DEVS WORK TO MAKE THINGS EASY FOR BUILDERS
10. THE BUILDERS WORK TO MAKE THINGS EASY FOR VISITORS
12. WHO’S LOOKING OUT FOR THE CONTENT ADMINS?
13. CONTENT CREATORS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT USERS ON YOUR SITE. 9
14. THEY’RE THE PEOPLE WHO USE YOUR SITE EVERY DAY. 10
17. GOOD NEWS: YOU HAVE TONS OF TOOLS! 13
22. BAD NEWS: INTERFACE WIDGETS DON’T EQUAL USABILITY 15
24. BETTER WORKFLOW EQUALS USABILITY 17
26. Step 34: Pick up the phone and call Joe, Brooke, Karen or, in a pinch, Doris. Tell them that you've just created a new file and it needs to be approved before your work can continue. Once they have approved the file, proceed to step 35…
27. DRUPAL PRESENTS A DATA MODEL, NOT A TASK MODEL 19
28. DRUPAL PRESENTS A DATA MODEL, NOT A TASK MODEL 20
29. DRUPAL PRESENTS A DATA MODEL, NOT A TASK MODEL 20 THE TASK MODEL IS YOUR JOB.
30. HOW TO DO IT
31. HOW TO DO IT 1.Listen to the content administrators. 22
32. IF YOUR CONTENT CREATORS DON’T HAVE A VOICE, YOU’RE THROWING MONEY AWAY. 1. Listen to the content administrators. 23
33. ANALYZE TASK COMPLETION LIKE IT’S AN ECOMMERCE SHOPPING CART. 1. Listen to the content administrators. 24
34. GET THEM TO ROLEPLAY AND DOCUMENT BOTH ONLINE AND OFFLINE WORKFLOWS. 1. Listen to the content administrators. 25
35. HOW TO DO IT 1.Listen to the content administrators. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 26
36. CONTENT CREATORS INVENT ALL KINDS OF WORKAROUNDS. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 27
37. UNDERSTANDING HOW FIELDS ARE USED WILL SAVE COUNTLESS HOURS CLEANING UP MESSES. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 28
38. EVEN NEW SITES EVOLVE QUICKLY. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 29
39. HOW TO DO IT 1.Listen to the content administrators. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate. 30
40. THINK LIKE THE BUSINESS. WHY DO THEY NEED TO DO A CERTAIN TASK? 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate 31
41. DON’T JUST REPLICATE EXISTING MENTAL MODELS. 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate 32
42. FAST-AND-CRAPPY TURNS TO POLISHED-AND-GOOD WITH THE RIGHT FEEDBACK. 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate 33
43. HOW TO DO IT 1.Listen to the content administrators. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 34
44. REAL CONTENT PRODUCTION IS A PROCESS, NOT A SINGLE SCREEN. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 35
45. USE SELECTIVE DISCLOSURE: IF IT DOESN’T MATTER, DON’T SHOW IT. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 36
46. METADATA MAKES FOR EASY INTERFACES AND COMPLEX WORKFLOWS. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 37
47. GIVE USERS CONTEXT (BREADCRUMBS, DASHBOARDS, PREVIEWS...) 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 38
48. STREAMLINE & AUTOMATE AROUND CONFUSION: TREAT DEFAULT FORMS AS POWER TOOLS. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 39
49. BULK TOOLS. EASY TURNS HARD WHEN YOU HAVE TO REPEAT IT 10,000 TIMES. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 40
50. HOW TO DO IT 1.Listen to the content administrators. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 5.Use repeating concepts, not just UI elements. 41
51. PROPER CATEGORIZATION AND CONSISTENT LABELING GO A LONG WAY. 5.Use repeating concepts, not just UI elements. 42
52. USE SIMILAR VISUAL CUES FOR WORKFLOWS ACROSS THE SITE. 5.Use repeating concepts, not just UI elements. 43
53. PLACE SIMILAR FIELDS IN A CONSISTENT PLACE ACROSS ALL SCREENS. 5.Use repeating concepts, not just UI elements. 44
54. NIRVANA! …ALMOST. 45
55. THE BETTER IT FITS ONE TEAM, THE HARDER IT IS TO REUSE. 46
56. “There’s a big difference between the ‘site’ and ‘shop’ mentalities. Devs who work on a site for a long time always make some code that no one else can use. Shops and the Drupal community usually make stuff that can be reused over and over. Blake Hall 47
57. HOW TO DO IT 1.Listen to the content administrators. 2.Don’t just understand the data, understand what they’re doing with it. 3.Keep asking “why?” and iterate, iterate, iterate. 4.Optimize the workflow, not individual screens. 5.Use repeating concepts, not just UI elements. 6.Accept that many good answers will be unique. 48
58. Thanks! http://lb.cm/backend 49
59. SUPER EXTRA BONUS SLIDES 50
63. 54 welie.com developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns ui-patterns.com boxesandarrows.com