Andreas Weder is Magnolia International's Head of UX Design. At J. Boye Philadelphia 2013, he talked about apps and Magnolia 5. Among others, he answered those questions: What does it mean to build a product based on apps? How will apps change a product's structure and how it looks and feels? What advantages do you gain and where are the pitfalls?

1. Magnolia is a registered trademark owned by Magnolia International Ltd.Photo (c) by Herzog & de Meuron (http://www.herzogdemeuron.com)
Andreas Weder, Head of UX design @Magnolia May 9 2013 for J. Boye, Philadelphia
There‘s Apps for that

2. Welcome
Andreas Weder
Head of UX design
Magnolia International Ltd.
CMS vendor based in Basel, Switzerland
My task: build UI, shape UX of next gen product Magnolia 5
Coming out on June 20 2013 after 2 yrs of hard work
Magnolia known for ease of use and flexibility
current UI has grown stale:
- feels and looks old
- too simple to properly accommodate and handle new features
- not easy to extend for us and for developers

3. Welcome
Beautiful, old city at the Rhein
One of oldest university on the continent
CMS hotspot: Adobe/Day CQ, Vignette and Magnolia

4. Version 1.1
We hate our CMS!
anonymous editor
What I encounter in my daily work.
People are extremely unsatisfied with CMS UIs.
The larger the product,
the more complex the environment,
the less satisfied.

5. Why is this?
Looked at this in a blog article

6. No focus on user needs
1

7. Version 1.1
CMS is the enterprise software
that UX forgot
Karen McGrane
Recognized by others
Content strategist, Former Creative Director of Razorfish
Basically says: no focus on user needs in CMSes

8. Version 1.1
CMS is the enterprise software
that UX forgot
Karen McGrane
customers focused on features
neglected backend application
industry is feature driven
Industry: instead of focusing on the user, we focus on features
one way in highly competitive market to leave your competitors behind
Customers:
- we receive large list with req features during RFPs
- people who evaluate have no good idea of what their users need
Backend: UI receives no attention; users are expected to adapt (CMS experts group)

9. Version 1.1
CMS is the enterprise software
that UX forgot
Karen McGrane
But also suggests that UXD is a solution

10. UXD to the rescue
focus on user
strategic decision
+quality -quantity
Strategic decision to put users first
- holistic: not only usability, but also functional and emotional
- typically higher quality features, but less of them

11. What we have to...
or want to accomplish
2
Let‘s see how UXD copes with the 2nd problem

12. Consistent UI + Seamless UX
Undo/Redo
Easy to configure
Integrate workflow engines
Workflows
Clear indication of states
Show web app pages & forms
Integrate external services
Flexibility
Extend with filters and servlets
Easy to extend feature-wise
Publishing for external apps
Integration
Show just HTML fragments
Open source
Adapt look to customer CD/CI
Easy to extend UI-wise
Site management
Clear overview
Support multiple sites
Support for mobile devices
Core services
Security & Permissions
Searching & filtering
Messages & notifications
Versioning
Content editing
Handle user generated content
Visual editors
Tracking changes
Areas and Components
Content storage
Robust handling of problems
Multiple users and groups
Scaleability
Run in the cloud
Handle temporary, heavy load
Handle 1000s of editors
Segmentation supportContent publishing
Multi-channel publishing
Powerful, easy to understand templates
Publish for various devices
UI to handle many features
First look at major feature topics
Overwhelming
Where to start?
How to create something consistent, seamless?

13. An integrating element
large set of features
various user groups and tasks
data from many sources
easily extensible by third parties
Integrating element in complex environment

14. An integrating element
large set of features
various user groups and tasks
data from many sources
easily extensible by third parties
high complexityvery
Integrating element in complex environment
Many dimensions
Together: highly complex puzzle

15. But we know
to deal with complexity
This requires new strategies

16. Divide and conquer
A common strategy
Deal with complexity on a high level

17. Split up a big problem
Solve smaller problems
Fuse all pieces together again
Align them into coherent entity

18. (c) by Apple
OS is where you can see that
Uses Apps to provide interfaces for main topics you work on

19. (c) by Microsoft
Uses Apps to provide UIs for larger task
Also built-in Apps to run the infrastructure
Imagine putting this into a menu

20. (c) by Microsoft
Apps allow us to
deal with UI complexity
I would conclude: apps allows us to deal with UI complexity
In Magnolia 5, we are using apps mainly for that

21. A entirely different interaction paradigm
What else makes
Apps attractive?

22. Apps are focused
(c) by Apple
„Look at this app“ (describe)

23. Apps are focused
cover a set of related tasks
typically on a single type of content
can offer a narrowly focused UI
Good
Text editor, a web browser, Skype, a calendar app, the address book

24. A entirely different interaction paradigm
Apps are memes for modularity
(c) by Lego

25. Apps are memes for modularity
you think in bricks
take modularity to the UI
feel natural as building blocks
clear how and where to extend
make it clear how to extend your product.
Natural building blocks:
- add App to edit & manage your content
- add a sub app with your editor
- extend Apps to change behavior
- chain Apps in workflows
- install an extension by installing an App (or module)

26. A entirely different interaction paradigm
Our take on apps
So does it work for web apps?
Here‘s our take on this

27. A entirely different interaction paradigm
demo

28. What happens to a UI
when we add Apps?

29. An entirely different interaction paradigm
Depending on how you realize it
Hub‘n‘Spoke

31. All images (c) by Samsung
The most radical implementation: Springboard navigation
A button (physical / virtual) to return to the home screen

32. (c) by Microsoft,Apple
Desktop OS don‘t work like that
Apps in a window, multiple windows side-by-side
Fascinating: bringing back springboard-type navigation to Desktop
- Apps run full screen (Windows 8!), Springboard is Hub

33. A entirely different interaction paradigm
What we have to watch out for
... if we add Apps to our UI

34. „Too many clicks!“
- Na. People don‘t mind the clicks, if they are mindless.
- our user tests have shown that: people prefer clean interfaces.
- It‘s one click more anyways.
- We can implement shortcuts to reduce them again.

35. Disorient the user
- how do you switch between apps
- how do you avoid disorienting the user while doing so
- what about programmatic app switches?

36. Granularity of apps
What is an app, what not?
One app or several apps?
Clearly identify tasks and use cases first

37. Content stuck in app silos
- how do you access content managed by a different app?
- how do you pass data between apps?

38. Avoid the UI wilderness
(c) by Apple
- enterprise is not equal to customer
- easy to use, but also easy to learn functionality
- easy to BUILD: behind sophisticated iPad apps is a large amount of work

39. Web apps have different mechanics
(c) by Hack N Mod, http://hacknmod.com/hack/5-awesome-web-apps-you-never-knew-existed/
- page based (less so with Web 2.0)
- expectations towards a web app are different
- proper support for browser history

40. A entirely different interaction paradigm
If you intend to add Apps
prepare for a bigger change
focus platform on core services
integrate instead of do-it-yourself
offer framework to ensure consistency
Big change: turns into a platform, more like an OS
Core services: CMS: content storage and services
Integrate: example: analytics
Framework: not just UI, but also services: messaging, switching

41. What I like about Apps
help us to deal with UI complexity
provide clear extensions points
users get the idea immediately
force us to think in tasks
But a lot to be gained
clear extension points: app contest: 25 app ideas in 40 minutes of which 10 were really great
users: very used to apps
task: what is a task? what needs a UI? what tasks have to be addressed together?

42. Apps leave a lasting impression
oresund bridge between copenhagen and malmö
impression: this is one goal of UX design

43. Thank you!
Andreas Weder
Magnolia International Ltd.
@mgnl_ux
ma-ui.blogspot.ch
andreas.weder@magnolia-cms.com
Your questions? Your opinion!