Case study: Selecting content management tooling
I was one of two people who drove the evaluation and selection process for content management vendors. Originally selected for one team, our choice was quickly adopted by numerous other teams.
What was the problem?
Content Design (before it was a unified team within Atlassian Design) needed a content management solution that could enable new omnichannel, localized content experiences.
The group did not know what the new solution should be.
Who was involved?
CORE TEAM
Our core group operated under the “triad model” in which three different roles formed a leadership team.
Product manager
John Collins (content strategist/architect)
Engineering manager
SPONSORS
(Eventual) Head of Content Design
IT manager
PARTNERS
IT procurement team (two members)
PILOT TEAM
Prior to the kickoff of this tooling selection, I was member of a “lean UX” team that conducted a three month pilot with a content management system to explore how it could enable newer, better content experiences.
UX designer
Content designer/strategist/architect
UX researcher
CONSULTED TEAM
(the “Brains Trust”)
Senior content designers from product teams (four people)
Senior content designer from design platform
Content design managers (three people)
Customer advocate
Product advocate
Customer support leadership (two people)
Technical/marketing SEO expert
Marketing technologist
Channel partner leader
UX designer
Marketing localization managers (two people)
Marketplace leadership
IT architect
How was the problem solved?
The product manager and I partnered with an external consultant to take requirements and turn them into scoring criteria.
We started with a Request for Information (RFI) from a number of vendors.
The engineering manager joined our core leadership team as the process moved from an RFI to a Request for Proposals (RFP) from four leading vendor candidates, who were invited to make a presentation to the core team and the “Brains Trust.”
I developed a pack to help the “Brains Trust” make their evaluations.
We chose our leading vendor and conducted a three month Proof of Concept (POC) while the enterprise agreement was finalized.
I led the envisioning and a series of design sprints to explore key needs during that POC.
What was the outcome of this project?
We selected a new CMS vendor for the Content Design team, and almost immediately, it was adopted by at least seven teams, with more joining in the years since then.
We shared our POC with the vendor, and one of the customizations we demonstrated served as inspiration for a core piece of new functionality that the vendor built into their product.
We transitioned into a project centered on that CMS that led to a more formalized content strategy, new capabilities, and a more unified approach to content.
After the aforementioned project, our team pivoted to become the “Content Platform” team building out enterprise-wide content management capabilities.
This project became a whitepaper with the vendor. Three people are named in the whitepaper, and I’m referenced the most.
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Authoring experience mockup: Semantic lists
I explored a custom authoring interface during the POC. In this view, we were looking at how we might mix a WYSIWYG editor with semantically meaningful lists. The intended outcome of this approach was to have lists that would be easy to create, but that would have inherent metadata that could be used to have different styling for the different types of lists, thus helping users know what kind of content they were seeing.
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Authoring experience mockup: Semantic tables
I explored a custom authoring interface during the POC. In this view, we were exploring how we might use a WYSIWYG editor on top of structured content models. The goal for this was to give authors familiar content creation tools while having semantically structured content that could be presented differently in different experiences where tables were inappropriate (e.g. mobile, watches, voice assistants).
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Visualizing omnichannel outputs from a single entry
The idea of omnichannel content was new to many stakeholders during the evaluation and selection of the CMS. One of the business drivers for the new CMS was the need for omnichannel publishing, and this was not possible with our existing tooling. Among the ways we communicated this need to people unfamiliar with the concept was to create diagrams to help stakeholders visualize abstract ideas.
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Proposed workflow for content creation
At the end of the POC, I delivered a write-up of the vision for the new CMS. One of the pieces I included was this diagram of what a workflow might look like and benefits the modernized tooling could bring. The diagram mentions my team at the time (“CMT”) and the content team’s name at the time (“IX”). In the years since, we’ve realized several of the ideas on this diagram, while others have yet to get prioritized.
Competencies demonstrated
Strategic
planning
Partnered with product manager to synthesize requirements from multiple sources in order to create an RFI and an RFP.
Partnered with product manager to establish a scoring system for evaluation of RFIs and RFPs.
Ensured that the evaluation process included a scoring for our current content system.
High-impact communication
Helped create initial project comms, such as a project poster.
Created guidance to help members of the Brains Trust evaluate potential vendors, including a worksheet that they filled out during live demos from vendor finalists.
Influencing
Turned a passion project into a full-time job.
Helped tell the story of future content needs, sparking the original pilot that was a predecessor for this project.
Recognizing the significance of selecting a new content management platform, worked with product manager to build a cross-functional Brains Trust to help with the evaluation and selection.
Building relationships
Continued strengthening relationships with other content designers in other offices during the selection process, making sure they were included in the Brains Trust.
Established a relationship with the SEO team that had not existed prior.
Guiding team wins
Partnered with leadership triad to drive the cross-functional Brains Trust to a content management platform selection.
Made sure that Brains Trust members knew how to evaluate potential vendors.
Communicated regularly to Brains Trust and stakeholders.
Applied reasoning
Partnered with product manager to synthesize requirements from multiple sources in order to create an RFI and an RFP.
Partnered with product manager to establish a scoring system for evaluation of RFIs and RFPs.
Read and scored hundreds of pages of RFIs.
Evaluated numerous potential vendors to select the best fit for Atlassian’s needs.
Considered broader context by making sure the evaluation included future content needs, scalability, and other teams’ needs.