RE: when to implement a CMS

At 23:38 20/08/2003, Adam Gaffin wrote:

>Yeah, we tried the old "install a new CMS and do a sitewide redesign at the
>same time" trick and it was awful (OK, in part because we had layoffs right
>in the middle of it all). We wound up launching the redesign first, then
>implemented the CMS. I think this approach worked better for us because by
>the time we were done with the redesign we knew exactly what we needed to
>get the CMS to do. Had we done the reverse, we might have had to make
>compromises on the design because of "oh, the CMS can't do that"
>considerations - instead, we just hunkered down and figured out how to make
>the CMS do what we wanted.

This is definitely the approach I'm recommending in
my seminars and articles:

* Redesign the site first (page layout, site structure, etc).
* Do all this in prototype form, and conduct usability testing
   to make sure you've got it right.
* Describe these designs in your tender docs
* Evaluate CMSs for the ability to implement the design, along
   with the other business requirements.
* Migrate content into the new structure, on the new CMS.

Of course, the CMS might have some powerful features that
might influence the design, but on the whole, since the
designs were user-focused, they should need to be changed.

Cheers,
James


-------------------------
James Robertson
Step Two Designs Pty Ltd

Knowledge Management / Content Management / Intranets

http://www.steptwo.com.au/
[email protected]

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