Getting SharePoint Out of the Way of Your Solution
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Transcript of Getting SharePoint Out of the Way of Your Solution
About Me
Rob Wilson
@theRobManDotNet
http://www.therobman.net
MCT, MCITP, MCPD
Est. 2004 (SP2003, SP2007, SP2010, SP2013)
“Make it not look like SharePoint!”
What does it mean?
• Take it literally?
• “I’m tired of SharePoint. Give me something new.”
• “SharePoint and me?...It’s complicated…”
• What else?
“I thought you bought a Buick!”
Embedded video removed
See video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSAkNP0qs-w
Intelligent User Theory
Maybe your users really are capable, intelligent professionals.
Maybe the software is the problem.
“The second mistake that programmers make when they design user interfaces is to force users to understand the internal workings of their programs.”
From “Why Software Sucks”
By David S. Platt
“Instead of the programmer adjusting her
user interface to the user’s thought processes,
she forces the user to
adjust to hers.”
“The most important thing you can do is to just understand the basic principle of eliminating the question marks.”
From “Don’t Make Me Think”
By Steve Krug
“When you’re designing
Web pages, it’s probably a
good idea to assume that
everything is visual noise
until proven otherwise.”
“Your objective should always be to
eliminate instructions entirely by
making everything self-explanatory,
or as close to it as possible. When
instructions are absolutely
necessary, cut them back to the bare
minimum.”
Love this!
“SharePoint giveth; the rational developer taketh away.”
Noise Reduction
Use custom levels.
What else?
Diminishing Nerd Syndrome
Maybe I should consider what is the best solution rather than what is the quickest or most convenient for me.
Maybe I can think like a user.Remember the Golden Rule.
- theRobMan, Just Now
“The trouble with us developers is that, although we are good at wearing multiple hats, we rarely put on a stakeholder’s shoes”
No manual required
Minimal instructions on pages if necessary
If your instructions contain “Go to Site Actions, then All Site Contents, then…”, you might be a lazy programmer.
If your end users have to learn SharePoint terminology in order to effectively use your solution, you might be a lazy programmer.
If there is a college course on how to use your program…
At Its Core, SharePoint Is Just a Platform
Built for flexibilityUI is not its strong suitUse it as back end
Use JavaScript
Angular
http://www.revillweb.com/tutorials/angularjs-in-30-minutes-angularjs-tutorial/
Bootstrap
http://www.revillweb.com/tutorials/twitter-bootstrap-tutorial/
http://www.revillweb.com/tutorials/bootstrap-tutorial/
JS Fiddlle: http://jsfiddle.net/
SPC 2014 Session: http://tinyurl.com/spc2014angular
Test the Workflow Beginning To End
Try every solution as all of the roles
Try every solution with the permission level that the user will have
Do not use the word “workflow” in emails to your users, but use business terminology
Reduce Clicks
Add your own ribbon buttons
Remove unused ribbon buttons
Use javascript to avoid cascading elipses