Strong Websites = Happy Members

When creating a website, it’s easy to get caught up in the bells and whistles of design or the assortment of products and services that need to be represented. But what about your members? Design and content should be seen through the eyes of your members or potential members to have the greatest impact.

A strong website design can enhance member service when your layout is easy for a member to navigate and if the content is provided in a simple, straightforward manner. This allows you to showcase products and services that the member may not know are available. Another key to a strong website is a strong content management system (CMS). It can keep your site’s content current and informative, without putting a strain on your credit union’s resources.

Technology Solutions can help you create a strong credit union website and offers an easy-to-use yet powerful CMS to support it.  Many of the CMS modules let you enhance the member experience by providing more ways to access your credit union – such as mobile apps, mobile sites, online applications and BoldChat^™ for online member interaction. Modules also include polls, to find out what your members really think; a calendar, to keep members informed of upcoming credit union events; and a rates modules that lets you manage your rates with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Other ways Technology Solutions can amp up your site are through additional modules for member financial education, credit union special events, webcasts, video services and even youth modules – all designed to educate and inform your members in an engaging way. And if you’re not planning on a complete redesign, they can do a website review and offer recommendations for improvement.
Discover what Technology Solutions can do for your credit union, its website and most important, its members. Click here for details or call 800.262.6285 or email info@cusolutionsgroup.com for more information.

Web Site Planning Process: Site Launch

This is the fifth in a series of entries on credit union web site planning. The series follows CU Village’s web site planning model that includes six phases: 1) Goal Setting , 2) Strategy Development, 3) Decision Making, 4) Site Development, 5) Site Launch and 6) Maintenance and Growth.

The fifth step in the planning model is Site Launch. This phase is about more than asking the programmer to “flip a switch” and make your site live. It’s about making sure that everything is in place and every staff member is familiar with the new site before it is made available to the public.

In this phase you’ll focus on:

Final quality testing – Do one last check for quality, using staff and even members that may have not seen the site yet. Your quality testing should include the following reviewing the following:

• Links – Do they all work? Do they open in a new window if necessary and include the “you’re leaving our site” message?
• Content – Triple check the accuracy of your information—especially rates—and make sure all disclosures are included. Check your spelling, grammar, and phrasing/wording as well.
• Graphics – Are all graphics appearing as they should? If you have rotating banner ads, are they working as envisioned?

Developing policies and procedures – Develop policies and procedures to ensure the ongoing quality, relevancy, and consistency of your site. Be sure to include what should be updated, who should do it and when, and who is ultimately responsible for the site overall. For instance, the marketing manager might be in charge of the site overall, but heads of various departments might be responsible for their own updates. Also, will the entire site be updated on a monthly basis—or will some sections be updated more or less often? For credit unions’ sites, the rates will likely need special attention, while for leagues’ sites, a current educational or events calendar is a must. Will an individual or a team be responsible for proofreading the updates to ensure that they are consistent with the overall style of the site? Making these decisions now—before you launch your site and before any updates are needed—can save you time and frustration later.

Training – Plan for and conduct staff training on how to administrate and use the various components of your site. For example, you might decide that only some users need to know how to update the rates or set up new users in your system. Consider how much cross-training and back-up you’ll need among departments as you’re planning your training.

Launch planning – Work with your Web developer long in advance to set a launch date and to define the steps needed to ensure it happens smoothly. This may include domain transfers, DNS record changes, and new security certificates. Some changes, like DNS changes, can take many days before they are fully in effect.

Marketing and PR – Your work and your new site is important, so make sure everyone, including staff, knows about it. If you’re not doing this already, be sure to include your site’s URL in all marketing materials and publications. Don’t assume that people, including your members and even board members, know you have a site. Let them know about your site and remind them of the relevant and useful information that it contains.

Launch your site – Go live with your site and celebrate!

In my next post, I'll talk about successfully maintaining and growing your site.

Commonly Used Screen Resolutions

Love My Credit Union is one of the web sites CU Village manages. It receives a high volume of traffic from all areas of the country from consumers and businesses alike. So the traffic to it is fairly representative of the visitors most credit unions are likely to get.

Some interesting usage stats we just pulled from it recently are the screen resolutions visitors to the site use. Here are the top ten:

1. 1024x768 - 45%
2. 1280x800 - 13%
3. 1280x1024 – 13%
4. 1440x900 - 7%
5. 800x600 – 6%
6. 1680x1050 – 4%
7. 1152x864 - 4%
8. 1280x768 - 2%
9. 1920x1200 - 1%
10. 1280x960 - 1%

Larger resolutions enable you to fit
more on a screen at one time

As you are considering redesigning your credit union web site, use this information as a guide for what resolution (i.e. 1024 x 768) to tune your new design to. The goal is to strike the right balance between taking advantage of the bigger screens that have come out in recent years and having it work with older systems.

Web Site Planning Process: Site Development

This is the fourth in a series of entries on credit union web site planning. The series follows CU Village’s web site planning model that includes six phases: 1) Goal Setting , 2) Strategy Development, 3) Decision Making, 4) Site Development, 5) Site Launch and 6) Maintenance and Growth.

The fourth step in the planning model is Site Development. This phase is about building your site based on the goal setting and planning work you did in the first three steps. It is also about ensuring the development of your site remains on track in terms of time, budget, scope and quality.

Unfortunately, all too many organizations start their projects here and disregard all the planning and pre-work that needs to be done. Organizations that do this typically end up with a prolonged, frustrating and expensive development process. This happens because the decisions that should have been made earlier don't go away. They still need to be made.

For you, because you have done your planning, your Site Development phase will focus on:

• Finalizing site design and graphics: lock down and commit to the look and organization (i.e. site map or site organizational chart) of your site. Changes later in the process will only slow down development and increase the overall costs of your site. Ensure that your site is right the first time. Consider having a small group of members look at your design and organization before you begin building.
• Content development: ideally you should write the content for your site before a single page is developed. If you do, the development process will move much more smoothly and quickly. Plus, this will enable you match your content with your site organizational chart, which will help you identify and fix any content holes you may have before they become issues. Depending on the size of your site, expect to spend as long as 3-4 months developing your content—or longer.
• Programming and development: today, Web sites are becoming larger and more complex. In most projects, at least some programming is required for things such as online applications, content and ad management tools and navigation. Development also includes the actual creation of your Web site pages. The more you have planned and completed by this point, the faster you'll be able to move through this process.
• Content loading: depending on the type of site you create, your content is either added as your pages as are created or once your content management system has been implemented. In either case, the process is greatly simplified and quickened by having your content in well-organized, well-edited electronic documents that are in final form.
• Testing: no one likes to test, but it is critical. While some responsibility to test falls on the shoulders of your Web site developer, it falls on your shoulders too. Test throughout the development process and after for quality, typos, organization, usability, bugs, security, formatting, consistency and completeness. Use your project plan as a checklist to ensure that everything that should have been done was done. Also, strongly consider having a small group of your members test it too.

In my next post, I'll talk about what you need to watch out for and do during the actual launch of your new site.

Web Site Planning Process: Decision Making

This is the third in a series of entries on credit union web site planning. The series follows CU Village’s web site planning model that includes six phases: 1) Goal Setting , 2) Strategy Development, 3) Decision Making, 4) Site Development, 5) Site Launch and 6) Maintenance and Growth.

The third phase in the planning model is Decision Making. In the first phase you set your strategies. In the second phase you looked at the various options that could help you achieve those strategies. In the third phase it is time to set your priorities and make decisions based on the options you've already considered. Simply, you decide exactly what needs to be done and when. Before any programming or site development starts you need to finalize and document in writing:

• Site organization and size
• Screen layouts and graphical design
• Programming and database requirements
• Features and functionality
• Hosting and other technology requirements
• Time line and project plan for completion

What should drive your decision? The three constraints of project management:

The idea being you can’t change one constraint (time, cost or scope) without changing the others, and that you really can only control two out of the three. Or put another way, your choices are doing it fast, cheap or good—pick two.

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you just might find
You get what you need - The Rolling Stones

The other factors that should drive your decisions are what members want and what will make the most sense to them. Also, your goals, mission and positioning as a credit union should absolutely drive your decisions.

Once you've made your decision to get a new site, there is always a strong urge to get at the development of it right away. But by figuring out what you need with some precision before you start development you will save a great deal of time and money in the long run. As such, these first three steps of developing a better web site are about building a blueprint for everything that will go into your site and how it all fits together to meet the needs of your credit union and your members. The final three steps are about putting your plan into action and getting the job done, which I will cover in future posts.

Web Site Planning Process: Strategy Development

Including the last post I made, the following is the second in a series of entries on web site planning. The series follows CU Village’s web site planning model that includes six phases: 1) Goal Setting , 2) Strategy Development, 3) Decision Making, 4) Site Development, 5) Site Launch and 6) Maintenance and Growth.

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
-Alexander Graham Bell

In my last post I talked about the importance of setting two types of goals for your web site. The first set defines what you want to get out your site. The second set includes what your members want out of it. Once you have the goals defined, it is the marriage of them that should drive everything you do and have on your site.

But how do you translate those goals into web site strategies or actions and make the marriage happen?

You start by wish listing—pie-in-the-sky, budget doesn’t matter, out-of-box kind of thinking. I like wish lists because I like knowing what all my options are before making a decision, and because the process gets the creative juices flowing in terms of coming up with lots of ideas on how to tackle any given issue.

To get the ball rolling take a goal-pairing like “improve members’ ability to access services” (your goal) with “convenience” (your members’ goal) and start brainstorming all the ways you can accomplish these goals through your site. You’ll likely come up with answers such as home banking, bill pay, online applications and the like. You may also come up things like instant chat, click-to-call or using Twitter for member service (Crazy idea? Wells Fargo is doing it at http://twitter.com/Ask_WellsFargo). Thoughts about content and site organization should also come into play because they can contribute much to the “convenience” of your site.

In the end, what you will ultimately have is a list of all the strategies you could employ to help you meet your goals on your web site. Some of them you will do, some you won’t ever touch and some you may do in the future. The point is that you’ve critically thought about how to tie what you do on your site with what it needs to accomplish for you and your members.

Once you have your list of all the options/strategies you have to achieve your goals, the next step is the process of prioritization and decision making, which I will address in my next post in the series.

Importance of Setting Web Site Goals

I am preparing for a consulting project, so just a quick post this week. The project is to help a client develop a strategic plan for their web site.

As I am developing the plan outline for them, what I am reminded of is the importance of setting web site goals. To a degree it is strategic planning 101, but good goals really set the foundation and direction for what needs to happen. Without them, your site may not have the focus it needs to have and won't give you the ROI you want.

There are two sets of goals you want to consider: 1) goals that you have as an organization and 2) those that your members have. Your organizational goals define why you have a site and what you get want to get out it. For example, your goals could be business growth, member education or brand positioning.

The members' goals are why they come (or want to come) to your site and what they want out of it. The members' goals could be to conduct a transaction, sign up for a service or to get support. It is important to include member goals in your planning, because if it is all about you, your members' web site experience will not be satisfying to them and can negatively impact their usage of your site.

The balance of these two sets of goals should drive nearly everything for your site. They should determine what goes into your navigation and how it is organized. The goals can influence how your site is designed—task optimized v. marketing oriented. They also should determine what content and features your site should include.

That is it for now, but over my next few blog posts look for more information on web site planning.

Content for Credit Union Mobile Web Sites

In my last post, I talked about the “when” of credit unions getting into mobile banking and mobile web sites. Picking up on that note for a little bit longer, I just came across The Mobile Difference study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It found that 61% of Americans think that “stationary media will do” and the remaining in 39% are “motivated by mobility.” For them:

…mobile and wireline access tools have a symbiotic relationship… digital content found on the mobile device may prompt more activity on their broadband-enabled big screen at home. At the same time, the desktop internet experience migrates to “on the go” as the handheld becomes a complementary access point to connect with people and digital content wherever a wireless network reaches.
The Mobile Difference -Pew Internet & American Life Project

I bring this information in because of the interconnectedness it points to between “stationary” and “mobile” web usage. I find it of particular interest and importance when considering what content to include in your mobile web site.

For me, it means that the goal isn’t necessarily to make your entire site mobile-optimized (though you certainly could). Instead, the goal is to create a site that facilitates the hand-off between mobile and stationary usage, and the unique needs of a member accessing your credit union on a mobile device.

Since the interconnectedness presumes an existing relationship, I also think it points to a need to emphasize member service over new member attraction or sales. You don't ignore the latter, but you don't spend all that much time on it either at this point.

So from a content perspective, think in terms of what your members needs might be on the mobile web. They are likely not at home or in the office. They are probably in a hurry and need to know or do something fast. For them, it is about being efficient and effective with their time, and it is your job to help them do that.

In a world of infinite choice, context-not content-is king.
Rob Reid as quoted in The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

In other words, it is more than just making a mobile-version of your existing site. It is about filtering and refining your content to meet a very specific need. To that end, here are some thoughts on content for a credit union mobile web site:

Mobile Web Page	Content/Focus	The Hand-0ff
Home Page	Logo, navigation, link to full site, phone number and email address	Make it easy to contact you
About Us & Membership	Basics of who you are and serve	Phone, email and option to have a link to your membership application emailed
Locations & Hours	Make it quick and easy	If you want to get really slick, provide directions and mapping
Products and Services	More awareness building than full-out sales pitch. Note: This will change as devices and access speeds improve	Email link to full site for later viewing
Rates	Key rates, with an emphasis on those that might be needed on the road, like auto or mortgage loans	Email link to full site for later viewing
Mobile Banking	Quick and time-sensitive transactions	The obvious, synchronicity of transactions and data across all delivery channels
Social Networking Sites	Many have mobile-optimized access (e.g. m.twitter.com)	Complete the circle on all your member touch points

Formatting for mobile sites is also of concern and your goal should be to have your site work with most, if not all, devices. This is a full discussion all by itself with plenty of technologies to help with formatting depending on how fancy you want to get (e.g special features and video for iPhones, but just the basics for others). But generally speaking, the more basic your formatting, the more likely it will work with most devices.

So far, it has been CU Village's approach to use simple formatting for the mobile-optimized sites we've been working on. But I have no doubt, we'll be providing more options as demand and need dictates to help our clients continue to stay ahead of the curve.

Just like I closed the last time, widespread mobile web usage is still somewhat new, but quickly gaining momentum, especially among business-users. You can choose to wait it out until it becomes more mature and prevalent in the financial industry. Or you can get your feet wet now by at least creating a mobile-optimized site. In any either scenario, keep on top of the trends and your members' needs in mind.

Now or Later: Mobile Banking, Services and Content

According to a 2008 survey conducted by Azuki Systems, a mobile media solutions company, the highest level of Internet access via mobile phone is in the 35-55 age group and those who earn more than $100K. I start this blog post on mobile banking with those numbers because: 1) it is somewhat surprising - I would have guessed younger; and 2) highly desirable demographics are using the heck out of their mobile phones. Not so surprising I guess when you consider the cost of getting Internet access on a mobile--something most teenagers and young adults can afford.

This is important, I think, because consumer habits and expectations have a tendency to transcend all areas of their lives. So what may start off primarily for personal use, like texting, can expand into business life as usage of it becomes a norm.

Perhaps that’s why SMS (short message service) is the most widely used technology for mobile banking—aside from the fact that it is likely the easiest and least costly service to implement. SMS has been around a long time now, huge numbers of people are using it, and it is easy to use and fairly inexpensive. SMS has reached the “tipping point,” using a phrase coined by Malcolm Gladwell, author of the book by the same name.

the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable
Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell

Mobile banking is still in its early stages. It is also not without issues. Awareness is low, even though most major banks offer it in some form. Consumers have security concerns, not unfounded, especially with SMS, because it is simply not secure. Many also feel little sense of urgency to conduct financial transactions on phones that can wait until they get home.

the vast majority of online users are simply not interested in mobile banking…they prefer to wait until they can access the Web, ATM, or phone channel
Excerpt from Forrester Mobile Bank Report

Despite these issues (and what new service doesn’t have them?), it is only a matter of time before they are overcome. Access speeds will get faster. Consumer cost will decrease further and mobile devices will get better. Besides there are plenty of other surveys that show consumers are open to using mobile banking. For instance, a 2008 survey conducted by Fiserv/Checkfree (opens as a PowertPoint) shows that 79 percent of respondents would be interested in conducting financial transactions using a mobile device.

So what is a credit union to do?

It almost certain that mobile banking , like home banking, will become a consumer expectation. For now, mobile banking is a strategic play and differentiator because so few financial institutions offer it. Eventually, though, it will be required to compete effectively in the marketplace.

When is the right time to move?

For some, the answer is now, as members demand it. American First, Michigan State University, Patelco and Stanford are just a few credit unions that already offer mobile banking. Aside from being larger credit unions, they each have a membership that is highly receptive to and want new technology-based financial services.

Fortunately, there are some good system players, like CO-OP Financial Services, that are working with mobile solution leaders, such as mFoundry, to guide the way. They are aggregating the buying power of credit unions to help build the necessary economies of scale to bring costs down. They are also making the connection point between the mobile banking interface and core processing systems a little easier. Data processors will be offering mobile banking solutions in the near future as well, and some are already.

For credit unions where jumping completely into mobile banking doesn’t make sense right now, a good place to start is to provide a condensed, mobile-optimized version of your web site. For example, providing hours, locations, ATMs, contact information and rates aligns well with how consumer are currently using the web on mobile devices (e.g. looking up information) and meets immediate need. Building a mobile web site also is generally not a big cost or time investment.

CU Village is working with a number of credit unions that use our content management system to do just that. Once launched, these credit unions will be able manage mobile sites in the same place and way they manage their regular web sites. In some cases, content can be shared across the two sites, like rates using our centralized rates management system. In other cases, the web site content needs to be streamlined to work better on mobile devices. In either scenario, we can work with clients to map out a mobile site and content plan, and guide them through the entire process. Access to the mobile sites will be through a special URL using de facto standards such as m.yoururl.org, www.yoururl.org/mobile or the like. Because both screen and keyboard size tend to be small on mobile phones, keeping the URL as short as possible is important.

The bottom line is that mobile banking, while new and leading edge, will reach a tipping point eventually. Keeping your eyes on the trends of mobile web usage and member sentiment will help you gauge when the right time is for you to make the move. In the meantime, consider making smaller steps with a mobile version of your site and other mobile services like SMS alerts and meeting reminders. It will help get your feet wet and give you a sense of member interest in mobile services without huge risk or investment.

Next post, I'll dig a little deeper into the type, format and form of content to consider including in a mobile optimized web site.

Don’t Forget Your Call to Action

It is so obvious and yet so easy to forget—the call to action. Marketing and Sales 101 teaches us that you have to ask for the business in order to get the business. But in all too many sites I review, it is not there.

Think of each page on your site as a point of purchase display:

• It has to be attractive and specific
  
• It needs to make clear what is being sold
  
• It needs to convey how it will help you
  
• It has to make the pitch to buy
  
• As an added bonus, it can also include related product and service ideas, and resources to help with the buying decision
  

If any of these elements are missing, your page—your point of purchase display—will not be as effective as it could be.

For example, an effective Savings page would include:

• Key features of the account and how it works (e.g. balance requirements, ATM access, share insurance coverage, statements, interest calculations, etc.)
  
• Rates, fees, disclosures, etc.
  
• How it will help the member (e.g. normal savings, high-yield saving, youth savings, etc.)
  
• The request and option to apply for the account and how to do it
  
• Other saving account options, saving calculators, financial education on saving and where to ask for help
  

The bottom line is that you should never leave a member hanging out wondering what to do next or how to contact you. They are on your site because they want to use—BUY—what you have. Make it easy for them!

Ironing Board Usability

I travel to Utah a few times a year on business. The hotel I stay at, like many others, has an iron and ironing board. Again, like other hotels, there is a metal rack to hold the iron when it is not in use. The difference is the rack is bolted directly on top of the ironing board instead of the wall!

Why is this an issue?

The problem is that it makes my job of ironing a major, major pain. I can't iron an entire pant leg at one time. I can't lay my shirt out right. The silly rack keeps getting in my way. Plus, at some point it is also going to be a major pain for the hotel when they have to change the covers on boards and have to unbolt all the racks to do it.

I’m sure it makes sense to the maintenance engineer and probably made his life easier to do it that way. He was probably able to bang them all out in his workshop at one time rather than having to lug his tools around from room to room.

I’m positive you could care less about my ironing woes, but it illustrates something that technologists do all the time. Like the hotel maintenance engineer, all too often user needs are not considered enough in system design, and short-term objectives (i.e. the desire to get the job done as quickly and painlessly as possible) trump long-term objectives (i.e. the need for maintenance and growth).

I’ve seen way too many credit union and bank Web sites (yes I look at those too), that don’t take member needs into as much consideration as should be. For example, a regional bank in Michigan has its customers go one place for loan information, another place for rate information, another place for the bank contact information and yet another place for the loan application. When all is said and done, you’d need to click 10-15 times going back and forth throughout the site to actually get to the point of starting the application process.

A lot of organizations accept that kind of scenario because it’s the Web and it’s “easy” to click around. But could you imagine making your members go through same sort of labyrinth to take out a loan at a branch? You’d lose all of your members if you did. The problem is that the same thing (losing members or potential members) might be happening on your Web site because of poor usability—you just don’t know it.

It all comes down to usability and putting the needs of the user first. Or at a minimum, striking the right balance between the goals of the user, the developer and the organization.

Good and bad design (i.e. usability) examples exist everywhere. What are some things you’ve run across that you either love or hate?

Proving Your Value

A buddy of mine, a manager of small IT department, recently got notice that he was being laid off. His company figured they could do better by outsourcing his function. His comment to me was that his bosses had no idea all he did. He felt they didn’t understand the value he provided to them, and I am sure they didn’t.

Technologists, like my friend, aren’t always the best communicators. While they may know how to make systems hum, they don’t know how toot their horn. Making sure systems are well-run and secure are all that matters, right?

The truth is that in many cases technology operations can be outsourced easily and effectively. Think about it, are the nuts and bolts of your network so unique that a good engineer couldn’t figure it out and support it fairly quickly? Grossly oversimplifying things, I would argue that if someone couldn’t come in and take over, you may want to take a look at how you’re managing your systems.

What can’t be outsourced is how well you know your organization and use that knowledge to help it achieve its objectives through technology.

Having solid and stable systems is a minimum barrier of entry, so much so that there is almost a paradoxical effect in that it has almost no value. That’s right, no value! Yes you have to get it right and getting it right is critically important, but it is an expectation. People don’t generally value the things they expect.

So where does the value come from?

The value is your interactions with management and staff, your ideas, and your contributions to the strategic plan. It is how you help the organization and those within it move forward. It is also how well you communicate and sell the importance of those contributions.

I suspect my friend lost sight of the communications end of his job. It may not have made a difference in the end, but his bosses should never have been in the dark about what he did and the value of it.

How do you prove your value?

Avoiding Project Bloat

I love big ideas and I love trying to figure out how to implement them. The mental and creative challenge of scoping a project that is new and exciting can be exhilarating. And there is nothing better than looking back at the successful end of an important project and saying “I was a part of that.”

The thing is big ideas can spiral into being something bigger than they should be—or worse out of control. It happens when the excitement of a big idea gets in the way of good judgment. It can also happen when planning (yes planning) gets in the way of the true end goal.

Now I am all for planning and firmly believe it needs to be done no matter how small or large the project may be. However, planning can get in the way when you build in more than you really need—think going to the grocery store when you’re hungry. Everything looks good when you’re hungry and so you buy a bunch of stuff you really don’t need (its usually cookies and chips for me).

With projects, the stuff you don’t need is not something as tasty (or cheap) as cookies or chips, it is usually too many features or trying to accommodate every future need you can dream of. So while you have to plan and keep your eye on the future, at the end of day you’ve got to get the job done and knowing where to draw the line is critical.

That line is always easiest to see when you keep business objectives at the forefront.

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.