It’s more than likely that there will be a lot of usability issues in your CMS if you use it raw. Participating in projects in which I was entrusted with the implementation of such systems - web site management systems, intranet portals and wikis, I noticed that there are a number of key areas in their user interfaces that require correction in terms of usability.

All usability recommendations that you see here are based on general principles of use and can be applied to any software and web applications, because it is obvious that there are similar problems in most CMS solutions. 

Use these tips to improve your existing CMS or to implement a new one. 

1. If in doubt, do not use

The user interface should be deprived of all that the user does not need to solve his problems. The potential of most CMS-products exceeds the actual used, and you should not demonstrate it if the user does not need it. Many products have a lot of additional features, but your version of the product should not ring all bells. Good or bad, but some manufacturers insert a module into the system to develop the missing features (possibly to stimulate additional sales). Do not show it if the user does not need it.

Use CSS to hide some details, clear the interface. We are talking about the main navigation, links and irrelevant elements of the system. Here it is worth remembering the words of Steve Krug: “Krug's third law of usability: get rid of half the words on each page, and then get rid of half of what’s left”. Each page name, subheadings, buttons, navigation icons, forms, icons and graphics should be useful, meaningful and clearly communicate with the user. 

2. Protect users from the complexities of the system.

Your CMS can be arbitrarily complex and powerful, but the user should not care. The user interface should be abstracted from the internal functioning of the system and act as a translator between the user's tasks and the functionality that solves them.

Do not engage users in the internal workings of the system by telling them about the “asset model”, data structure, and other things from the “underground vaults”. All this is just the ways in which the system solves user problems. Users do not need to know about them, this only causes confusion. The fact that the interface was built by "developers for developers" should remain your secret. 

Manifestations of this can often be seen in the error messages and terminology of the system. And in the process of work, the user has to go through a tortuous path of unnecessary information, even when performing elementary tasks. For example, a common problem in many CMS products is to perform double work or duplication, when the user is forced to move back and forth from one part of the system to another to complete the task.

3. Speak the user language The user

interface is based on communication. You must provide clear communication using the terminology that the user understands and in ways that allow him to take the necessary measures and continue the action he has started. This work is performed by navigation, notifications and messages, buttons, forms. It goes without saying that the jargon and internal system technical dialogue should remain out of the user's sight (although it is possible to use business-specific jargon, see recommendation 10). 

Relevant studies will help you identify the language you should use, as well as the “Defense Design for the Web: How to Improve Error Messages, Help, Forms and Other Critical Points” from37signals gives great tips on creating error messages, notifications etc. 

4. Know your real user.

What the hell, let's find out for whom we are creating a system. Who are the end users? Most likely, this is not techies, not developers and not system administrators. Shame on them, because they do not know how to improve the database or scale the architecture. In fact, they should not care how it all works. 

Of course, developers and system administrators can be users of the system, but they are unlikely to make up the majority. The end users will be copywriters, product managers, vendors, editors ... human beings (well, maybe excluding salespeople :).

Do a little research to find out how, when and why these users use the system. Talk to them, look at them, analyze. This will be useful in designing and will help you decide how to apply our advice. 

5. Do not forget the real goals.

The CMS abbreviation consists of three words, one of which is much less important than the other two: S. Do not get captured by the system and do not forget about the true goals that are in managing the content and creating it. That is why users use the system!

When designing and building a system, you must take this into account in every detail. The goal of the system is not scalability, data synchronization, referential integrity or network security. All this is only a means of achieving the goal, and they must remain behind the scenes. These things should be focused techies, and all right, because it is their duty and the meaning of their existence. That is why when working on a project a sensible person is needed, who understands that the user’s work should not concern these technical aspects, and it’s about the creation and management of content. 

6. Implement individual tasks really well

In the course of exploring the users of the system, you should analyze and find out what the most important tasks they perform. Prioritize, focusing on these key tasks, and implement them truly high quality. Customize the interface, automate some functions to simplify the process, whatever it may cost, but as much as possible simplify the solution of these tasks for users. Let them start solving them right from the main page. 

For websites with high traffic and a large amount of content, the main task can be the formation of this content. In addition, for a very large site with tens of thousands of pages, the search for content can be a key activity. In this case, make the search truly quality, perhaps by organizing the structure of the system around the search.

7. Use real mapping where possible. 

In the case of CMS, natural mapping is when the user interface imitates the action being performed. A good example is the placement of editing elements on a web page. Typically, in a CMS, this is achieved using input forms (except when using “in-place editing”). But this is not yet a natural display, since the form does not bear any similarities with the finished product. It may seem trivial to you, but regrouping the form fields on the edit page according to the same parts on the finished page will make their creation easier. Or create a visual map that illustrates how each form field is related in the real world. Or, perhaps, just creating a label for each field also makes sense :)

A good user interface reflects the mental model of the user, not the system model. 

Another example is the use of thumbnails. These can be pictures when searching, in lists or when viewing properties. It is much easier to determine the content of visual attributes that will be published to the final product, when, for example, it is clear what the image looks like, what is the name of the text or the name of the page. 

8. Be consistent The
user interface must be consistent from page to page, from component to component. This includes navigation, buttons, forms, text style, link style, layout, terminology, and feedback mechanisms (for example, alert windows or yellow fade technology).

This is especially important in cases where some parts have been customized, and, as a rule, differ significantly in appearance. The transfer of such "Frankenstein" in use - a reliable way to provide a system of confusion, which does not contribute to the perception and acceptance of the new system by the user. The user must feel - this is a quality product. 

9. Remember compliance with the

CMS standards should not only be consistent by itself, it should also be compatible and consistent with what users are likely to expect from other similar systems. The CMS is a web application, and the standards of web sites assume the placement of a search window, the use of controls, such as a drop-down menu, and a single click on the link. While Rich Internet Applicationsbecome more common, there are new standards, but this is not a reason for initiative. The functionality may be lost due to unconventional methods of interaction (for example, using the right mouse button or double clicking on the link) and will not be obvious, since it does not meet the user's expectations. 

10. Redraw the system according to specific conditions.

The principle of consistency also relates to creating a CMS that works in a manner similar to other tools and applications used by users in their standard operating environment. Integration with these tools will be very useful, whether it is to provide easy copying of content from a text editor to the CMS, or to ensure that the CMS works in standard browsers, or perhaps to create a single login for the organization so that users do not have to log in to the CMS separately. 

Reshaping the CMS can also mean consistently introducing our own design and branding, with the result that users will feel “their own” for the CMS and will go a long way in accepting a new system (creating emotional investments).

This adaptation should also include the removal of unnecessary elements (recommendation 1), the simplification of the interface (recommendation 2), especially with regard to key tasks (tip 6), the simplification of the language of communication (recommendation 3). For example, if a specific goal is a CMS for an intranet portal, then the user interface should be adapted to the intranet, and not to the website, the terminology of which was inherited out of the box