11 usability principles for CMS products

James Robertson of Step Two Designs has published an article titled "11 usability principles for CMS products"

The article discusses indepth the following principles:
  1. minimise the number of options
  2. be robust and error-proof
  3. provide task-based interfaces
  4. hide implementation details
  5. meet core usability guidelines
  6. match authors' mental models
  7. support both frequent and infrequent users
  8. provide efficient user interfaces
  9. provide help and instructions
  10. minimise training required
  11. support self-sufficiency
I think thats it's a pretty impressive list and one that any CMS on the market will have trouble meeting today.

eZ Publish while not perfect meets many of the principles at least in some aspect. When I have a bit more time (yeah right) I may evaluate eZ based against these principles in more depth.

Making something as complex as a CMS especially one as feature packed and complex as eZ Publish usable is a huge task but in the end it is a tool that has to be used and usibility is important.

While I'm not sure about where eZ Publish 4.0 is at right now it might be a good time to note whats good about the current admin interface and what areas could be improved.

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