Context and choosing the right technologies

Having the right tool is critical to any job. It is often the difference between getting the job done quickly and well v. slowly and adequately (if at all).

This really came to light for me last summer when I was helping out on a credit union sponsored Habitat for Humanity project. Our job that day was to put up all the exterior and interior wall frames, plus the roof trusses. A professional builder, of course, would have used a nail gun. Since we were all volunteers, we were not allowed to use power tools. And so hammer in hand, I’m sure I pounded about 200 nails that day. Did it work? Sure. Was it efficient? No way and my arm sure hurt afterward!

While the hammer did the job, it simply wasn’t the best tool. And this kind of thing happens everyday with technology decisions and approvals.

So how can you choose better?

It starts with the obvious—knowing what job needs be done, the scope of it and a good sense of how much effort it will take. It is not just focusing on the task or the technology needed, but looking at the whole picture too.

Sometimes though, knowing what tool to choose is not so easy. This is especially true because of the number of choices, complexity and often large costs involved in technology decisions.

We had a client recently that rightfully questioned the need for a content management system v. using an HTML editor, like FrontPage or DreamWeaver, as the tool to use build their new site. I know this isn’t cutting edge stuff, but it occurred to me later on that we had not properly explained to them the “job” piece of the project. As a result, they didn’t fully understand the scope of what needed to be done not just build their site, but to properly maintain and grow it moving forward.

We both knew the job was to build a new site, but we had a different understanding of the scope and effort required to get it done.

Let’s go back to our house example for a second. You could define the “job” as needing to pound nails, which is true, but not the complete picture. And without a good understanding of scope and effort, it is left up to you to fill in the blanks based on your perception of what needs to be done. You could easily perceive the job to be hanging pictures, then be completely taken by surprise by being faced with a much bigger and harder project than you imagined.

In the case of a Web site, if it is relatively small and/or static, then an HTML editor (like FrontPage or DreamWeaver) works great if you have some pretty good technical skills. If your Web site is larger (25 pages or more) and/or ever changing and growing, then a content management system is going to make your job of managing and maintaining it much more effective and efficient.

Why?

A good content management system opens up the maintenance of the site to non-technical staff—your content owners who have a much greater stake at getting it right. It also allows you to manage your Web site as a whole rather than page-by-page. Basically, if you can open a Web browser and use Word, you have all the technical skills you need to manage your site through a content management system.

In explaining what technology tools will be needed for a project, giving context to decision makers is incredibly important.

What is context? It is painting a clear and complete picture of how the technology will help those that need it, which is different than talking about features. Features are just abstract things with no value. It is the context you paint that gives them value and meaning. In fact, the better you do at giving context, the clearer and more real the value—how any given technology will help—becomes.

Context comes from defining the job or project, objectives and needs, and the scope and required effort. Without it, you may show up with hammer, when you really need a nail gun.