The main focus for this month’s Melbourne Drupal Meetup was a presentation by Toby Wild. Toby took us through the importance of content authors and how to design intuitive content management interfaces for them.
Content authors are people too: “How not to terrify 1.42 million people” - presentation summary
This presentation offers insights into the often-overlooked role of content authors in website development. Toby’s presentation, titled "Content authors are real people too," delved into the critical importance of creating user-friendly content management interfaces. He shared personal experiences and offered practical advice on how to improve the content editing experience, emphasising the need for empathy and better user interface (UI) design.
Understanding the user journey
Toby began by recounting his own journey from a website publisher to a website developer. He highlighted the significance of understanding the user journey—not just for end-users but also for content authors who manage the website. He illustrated this with a dramatic example from 2018 when a false ballistic missile alert in caused widespread panic. The error occurred because a content author clicked the wrong link in a poorly designed interface, which lacked clear distinctions between options.
This example underscored the importance of designing interfaces with the content author in mind. Toby pointed out that content authors are a key user group, yet they are often neglected in the development process. He encouraged developers to think about who will be using the content management system (CMS) daily and to design with their needs in mind.
Enhancing the content editing experience
Toby shared specific examples of how to improve the content editing experience. He discussed a project where a project manager suggested giving content authors a Colour Picker tool to customise various elements. While this seemed like a flexible solution, Toby pointed out that it would have required content authors to manage six different colour fields and ensure compliance with accessibility guidelines, making the process overly complicated and burdensome. Instead, he advocated for a simpler solution: a dropdown menu with pre-set colour options based on the brand’s existing palette. This approach not only simplified the process for content authors but also ensured consistency and accessibility.
He also emphasised the importance of small design adjustments that can make a significant impact. Toby recommended using the Manage Form Display tab in Drupal to group related fields, use tabs and accordions for less frequently used fields, and carefully select field widgets that suit the content author’s needs. Customising the admin theme with CSS and JavaScript can further enhance the interface by aligning labels and inputs, making the overall experience smoother and more intuitive.
Empathy in design and development
A central theme of Toby’s talk was the need for empathy in design and development. He stressed that developers should consider how they would feel if they had to use the systems they build every day. Small inconveniences in the UI can become significant frustrations for content authors who spend hours working within the CMS. Toby urged developers to put themselves in the shoes of content authors and to design interfaces that are not only functional but also pleasant to use.
He also discussed how government projects, like the Hawaii missile alert system, often fail due to a lack of consideration for the human factors involved. Instead of blaming users for mistakes, Toby advocated for designing better systems that anticipate and mitigate human error. He concluded with examples of improved UI designs that could have prevented the Hawaii incident, highlighting the need for clear, intuitive interfaces.
Conclusion
Toby Wild’s presentation at the June 2024 Melbourne Drupal Meetup offered valuable insights into the often-overlooked role of content authors in website development. He called for greater empathy in design, better UI practices, and a focus on the needs of content authors to create a more efficient and enjoyable content management experience. By prioritising the content editing experience, developers can ensure that the websites they build are not only user-friendly for the public but also for those who maintain them daily.