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"Tom Brauch (Fpweb.net Managed Hosting)" <[log in to unmask]>
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:51:36 -0500
text/plain (157 lines)
Top Usability Issues:
 
Not knowing where to begin.  37Signals.com has several great application that accommodate the novice and the expert user.  By default the user is presented with examples of how to do this or that.  There are many features that "become apparent" to expert users as they use the application.  SharePoint on the other hand, just says, "Here is an application that is completely customizable, which you can do anything with."  Then they offer no starting point.  It isn't rocket science to figure SharePoint out, but it is far from being friendly to a new user.

Next, the application is completely customizable. This is great, but then the defaults are not that great and there are endless ways to organize and build pages/lists/tables.  Too many choices can be a bad thing. 

Thanks!
Tom Brauch

tel: 636.600.8956

[log in to unmask]



-----Original Message-----
From: Ulrik Gade [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 5:49 AM
To: Tom Brauch (Fpweb.net Managed Hosting)
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: What's it like to be a Sharepoint usability consultant?

Hi Tom,

Great samples, thanks!

What are the top usability issues you are seeing people struggle with?


BR/Ulrik

2008/8/19 Tom Brauch (Fpweb.net Managed Hosting) <[log in to unmask]>:
> Ulrik,
>
> Best of luck with this.  I think this is a great opportunity and by
> great I mean that this is a great big task to take on.  SharePoint needs
> help though.  I think you could be a leader in this field.  SharePoint
> is capable of many things as a product, but could use some great
> Usability help.  I work for a SharePoint hosting company (www.fpweb.net)
> and we hear all the time how badly users need help with this
> application.  There are some great things people are doing with
> SharePoint sites though.  Take a look at the sample sites section on our
> web site:
> http://www.fpweb.net/sharepoint-hosting/sample-sites.asp
>
> I think this would be a great job for you to take and I'd love to be
> kept in the loop on any findings or suggestions from others.
>
>
> Thanks!
> Tom Brauch
>
> tel: 636.600.8956
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion)
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ulrik Gade
> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 1:13 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: What's it like to be a Sharepoint usability consultant?
>
> Hi,
>
> Hope this request is OK for this forum (couldn't find much in the
> archives). Apologies if I transgress.
>
> I've been offered a usability position at a consultancy that
> specializes in delivering enterprise solutions based on the MS
> SharePoint Portal Server platform. Does anyone here have experience
> with the pros/cons of such a job from a usability/UX perspective?
>
> My own current thinking is as follows:
>
> - The focus of one's efforts will be more on functional/content
> requirements and IA than on interaction design since the latter comes
> pretty much prepackaged with the platform
>
> - There will be some lo-fi UI prototyping but there'll be a strong
> temptation to move ahead early into building the product, since this
> is what the tools of the platform lend themselves to
>
> - There will be a lot of mixing and matching pre-packaged
> functionality, at the cost of placing pretty severe practical
> constraints on more free-form interaction design
>
> - Page layout, navigation and visual design will be both driven and
> quite constrained by the templates of the platform
>
> - Usability testing will be a perennial hard sell to clients b/c
> they'll (mistakenly) expect MS to have already taken care of this, and
> since fixes to any problems inherent to the platform will anyway rely
> merely on hoping MS pushes them to the top of their stack
>
> - It will be very challenging to create IAs that won't unravel over
> time, as users start adding content etc to the solution; how does this
> play out with SharePoint?
>
> Lastly, I'd be interested if anyone has experience with the using the
> product's site usage statistics to inform evolutions of the solution:
> Are they any good and do you ever get to make use of them?
>
>
> Thanks in advance for your thoughts and/or references to more
> appropriate forums,
> Ulrik
>
>
>
> --
> Ulrik H. Gade
> User Experience Professional
> Skydebanegade 27, 4. th.
> DK-1709 Copenhagen V
> Denmark
> Landline: +45 3698 1823 (SkypeIn)
> Mobile: +45 4088 9884
> Skype: ulrik.h.gade
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/ulrikgade
>
> The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step
>
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-- 
Ulrik H. Gade
Skydebanegade 27, 4. th.
DK-1709 København V
Denmark
Landline: +45 3698 1823 (SkypeIn)
Mobile: +45 4088 9884
Skype: ulrik.h.gade
[log in to unmask]
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ulrikgade

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step

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