[Sigia-l] "Study: Content Management Tools Fail"

[christina wodtke]

> > Sometimes you need to experience something to know what you need.
>
> Is there another way? :-)


Of course, thus the words sometimes.

You can do vigorous requirements gathering. you can design a system for
that. you can prototype it up and test it. Then you can compare your
prototype to a vendor's design. The act of design creates a deeper
understanding of behavior-- you could then better assess screenshots and
spec sheets, because you'd have a sense of what they do in action. You could
also identify the needs of the business from a feature POV, then identify a
likely candidate and test drive them. Assuming the vendor has a capacity for
this. And the test drive is representative.

But will you know what you need over time? Will you understand the learning
issues? Will you understand what tiny things that are annoying at first turn
out to be no big problem and which start causing huge mistakes?

We aren't talking a 500 dollar camera, we're talking thousands/million
dollar tools.

The ways that don't involve using a CMS for awhile are guesses, the way that
involves using a CMS for awhile is a very good guess. Surprises are almost
assured no matter what you do. All you can do is minimize risk.