Flexibility vs. Usability:  The Web Developer’s Dilemma

As a web developer, many of the sites I build are based around a CMS (content management system) which allows the client to update their own site with little knowledge of web development. Custom tailoring the CMS to fit the client’s expectations and skill set often becomes as much a part of the project as the development itself. For me, often the primary problem in developing a CMS based website arises from striking the balance between flexibility and usability. Generally as you add more flexibility to the end user, you also tend to make updating the site more complicated. On the flip side, if you make the site too simple, you tend to limit the client's control. Basing your decisions on the expectations of the client and end user is the key to making the right decisions.

When developing a CMS based website, always try to get as much information about the client and end user as possible. If there is access to the person or persons that will be updating the site, ask the following questions:

• Do you know anything about HTML/XHTML?
• Have you ever worked on a website before?
• When posting a typical entry, what capabilities do you expect (i.e. ordered and unordered lists, images, formatting control, ability to build tables, etc.)

These answers can help to formulate a model of the user. Then, continue with development always trying to keep this person (or persons) in mind at every step, by asking yourself questions such as:

• Is this process intuitive?
• What if I want to (insert formatting option here)?
• How long does this take?

By asking these simple questions up front, before development begins, you can save a lot of time and headaches down the road and you know exactly what functionality is necessary to ensure the best possible user experience.