Enterprise Knowledge (EK) will have a significant presence, both presenting and sponsoring, at the LavaCon Conference on Content Strategy and Technical Communication Management, which takes place October 27-30 in Portland, OR.

The theme of this year’s event is Content as a Business Asset: Reducing Costs, Generating Revenue, and Improving the Customer Experience Through Better Content.

Four of EK’s experts will be presenting a main conference session and a pre-conference webinar. EK’s experts will share thought leadership that highlights EK services at the intersection of: 

• Content strategy and operations, including AI-enabled content analysis, and
• The semantic layer, part of EK’s solution for dynamic content assembly and content personalization.

Guillermo Galdamez, Principal Consultant, and Nina Spoelker, Senior Analyst, will jointly present Out of Many, One: Building a Semantic Layer to Tear Down Silos. Galdamez and Spoelker will provide practical, proven guidance on how to break down knowledge silos using a semantic layer and streamline the delivery of content. 

Paula Land, Principal Consultant for Advanced Content, and Elliott Risch, Semantic AI Consultant, will present a pre-conference webinar on the topic of AI-assisted content analysis titled Getting Control of Your Content: AI Solutions to Streamline and Optimize Your Digital Assets. The webinar will take place Tuesday, September 24, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific.

In addition to speaking roles, EK will be a sponsor of the event with an exhibit booth, where you can meet the EK speakers and register to win signed copies of Land’s book, Content Audits and Inventories: A Handbook for Content Analysis, 2nd Edition. Find us at Booth 14 in the exhibit area.

Visit the conference site for more information and to register for the conference. 

The post Enterprise Knowledge Sponsoring and Speaking at LavaCon 2024 appeared first on Enterprise Knowledge.

The code base for a headless CMS is complex, more so than a traditional, monolithic solution. While it would be ideal to have a development team consisting of people with existing, overlapping skills in all of the pieces the headless CMS project will touch, the reality is typically quite different. Rather than viewing this as an obstacle, however, the broad scope of headless CMS projects offer an opportunity for growth in an environment of siloed development. Because a headless CMS application often houses several communicating services, it is absolutely necessary for the entire team to be in sync with where certain data lives, how content is structured, and how each delivery point communicates with other delivery channels and/or the central service. To accomplish this, it is crucial to intentionally build a well-thought-out, cross-functional headless CMS team that will naturally tear down the existing silos between team members who would otherwise work on only a specific, small portion of the application. The team can then learn areas outside of their comfort zone and ensure the development team remains in sync, all while delivering a valuable product to a customer.

Architecture of the Application

Planning Phases

Steps to building a strong cross-functional team begin early. During the planning phase for a headless project, if possible, ensure that the entire development team is involved in designing the architecture and selecting the technology stack for development. This will give engineers an opportunity to ask questions and explore learning materials regarding topics outside of their area(s) of expertise. Adding planning time into early sprints to invest in the growth of the technical team will pay off later in the development lifecycle. Beyond simply improving future work on the current project, expanding the abilities of the team now naturally leads to a larger bench of engineers who are experienced in the industry-wide practice of headless CMS development. It will also foster increased trust from both clients and the development team to have an entire team of developers fluent in the entire technology stack of an application. This allows for greater flexibility within both the space of a client’s availability and allotted work within a sprint.

Building the Codebase

Within the later phases of planning, consider the importance of structure and documentation within the API(s) that extend the functionality of the central microservice and deliver content. Building in the time to create solid documentation is a clear winner, both from the point of view of helping “future you” recall how a system works but also by making it dramatically easier for a teammate to pick up work in a new area and quickly get up to speed. Again, this expands the bench of engineers that are able to work in a traditionally siloed area, increasing productivity and mitigating the worry of technical debt. Engineers who are heavily involved in planning will feel more comfortable contributing code when development starts since they will be familiar with the architectural goals of the application. Because a Headless CMS is built with the ideal state able to implement limitless supported devices, building a codebase to house structured, flexible content, and clean points of communication results in a maintainable application and a well-prepared group of engineers. This also reinforces best practices of multiple languages/technologies during application development. As a result, engineers will better understand how to contribute scalable, well-commented code without the need for upskilling later on in the development process.

Development Processes

Team Code Reviews

In many aspects, code reviews within the agile development process of a Headless CMS remain the same. However, to integrate the continuing theme of team cross-functionality, it is important to include the entire development team in the code review process. As multiple features are being added to the application in a sprint, it is crucial to ensure each team member maintains their understanding of the codebase. When reviewing code, keep in mind the structure of the application. Consider how the content should be structured in delivery and storage. Furthermore, keep in mind that the structure of said content may also be transformed upon delivery through APIs. In this way, it is most efficient to have the entire development team involved with all reviews of delivered code, not just those who have expertise in that area of development. With good communication and team synchronization during the process of review, there will be less time needed for upskilling. This allows all involved engineers to add features without the necessity to take time reviewing content delivery or general points of communication between services housed in the Headless CMS application.

Consider having synchronous code reviews when code is added that will affect or extend the communication between APIs or any of the APIs with the central microservice. At the very least, make sure all developers have a chance to review all contributions made to the application as a whole to mitigate the scope creep caused by avoidable technical debt from upskilling later on.

Version Control Workflows

Another crucial aspect of Headless CMS development is the Git Workflow the application follows during a sprint cadence and production releases. It is surprisingly easy for a team’s Git Flow to fall out of sync in the midst of building features and making changes, especially when tasked with engineering such a large application. It is crucial for the entire team to understand what format their feature, bugfix, or hotfix branches must follow and where they should be branched from. This is especially important in the scope of building a Headless CMS application, considering all the possible points of failure between points of communication within the technology stack, channels of content delivery, and proper structure of stored data. If a team’s workflow falls out of sync, the possibility for portions of the application to fall behind or creep ahead increases. Accordingly, the imbalance of incurred technical debt may alter the development timeline of the application as a whole.

In Summary

To ensure the most efficient delivery of a headless CMS application, it is absolutely crucial to break down the silos of a development team throughout both the planning and development processes of a large application. Investing in the growth of developers and keeping a strong focus of synchronization regarding the whole product mitigates numerous risks of the development timeline of a headless CMS application. With the proper approach and correct mindset to leverage the opportunities of growth presented by this new development practice, a maintainable product can be delivered in the most efficient manner. Simultaneously, the development team involved with building the product will achieve growth and more opportunities to learn contemporary practices in the space of application development through hands-on practice.

The post Leveraging Headless CMS for Technical Cross-Functionality appeared first on Enterprise Knowledge.

The Risk of Inconsistent Information and Content

When information’s presentation, delivery, design, and voice is inconsistent and erroneous, the validity and authority of that information erodes, leaving it up to the user to determine what is or isn’t true. Sussing out the truth of your organization’s content can often result in games of email or phone tag, and lots of asking around. And if the answer fails to make itself apparent sooner rather than later, the initial task at-hand is not only at risk of being delayed, but completed according to incorrect protocols and in need of a do-over, ultimately delaying the successful completion of the user’s goal.

The Inconsistency Problem: Avoidable Inconsistencies vs. Necessary Changes

Avoidable Inconsistencies

Trust in content begins to erode when its presentation becomes inconsistent. We most often see this inconsistency online, where different sources of content present different spins on the same information and the end user is forced to pick that which they believe to be the most correct “version.” The risk still exists that the consumer can walk away with the incomplete story or an incorrect set of facts. The same applies to the realm of professional information and content: when content items are labeled incorrectly, or created without consideration for consistent voice, design, or presentation, the user must put in extra work to terse out what is the most ‘true.’ Oftentimes, inconsistencies in ‘storytelling,’ or information presentation, can be avoided when adequate and robust content governance policies are regularly practiced. 

Necessary Changes

However, there are other times when inconsistency is inevitable (e.g., the change is necessary). Imagine that the employee handbook was moved to a different location on the intranet without notice. All of a sudden, employees can no longer access the handbook from its previous location and, if left unaddressed, this change spawns concern and distrust between information owners (e.g. HR) and information consumers (e.g. employees). It’s easy to imagine what type of  questions can quickly abound from this small change, such as “Are they updating the handbook,” all the way to “Am I losing PTO,” or “Is the remote work policy changing,” and so on. 

When inconsistency in the delivery and design of content can’t be avoided, we’ve found the best means of mitigating consumer distrust is with early, clear, and explanatory information. Instead of moving the employee handbook’s location without notice, maybe an HR representative would instead send out an email to the company to notify them that, yes, the employee handbook has been moved, identifies its new location, explains the reasons for the move, and invites questions or concerns. This notice allows all content consumers to modify their truth without questions or trepidation, as well as avoid losing time searching for content they can’t find. 

Truth in the Professional Realm

Consistency enforces the truth value of information. Statements like:

• The Employee Handbook is located under ‘Employee Resources’ on the company intranet;
• To adjust your state tax withholding amount, speak to HR; and
• Blogs by Enterprise Knowledge employees are posted on the website’s ‘Knowledge Base;’

are truths because following these statements consistently guarantees user success. It’s the same reason that folder structures are a preferred means of personalized information architecture because the information architecture is not only designed to meet the needs of its creator, but the user’s path to information results in consistent goal achievement (e.g., locating a specific document or picture). 

How to Design Trustworthy Content

If you’re in the position to avoid introducing inconsistency all together, rejoice! You have the opportunity to design content that’s trustworthy from the start of its introduction to your consumer. When making content design choices, there’s a single maxim to remember to guide you through the process: Familiarity and Consistency > Novelty. At EK, one of the ways we help our clients practice consistent content messaging is through the implementation of consistent content design. Content design can include the implementation of a content type, a template, descriptive metadata, writing standards, style guides, or any combination of those. These considerations allow all types of content to appear the same and standardize the users’ interactions with that content. As the consistency of that content design continues to be upheld, your users will know what they’re going to consume before they even begin interacting with it.

Conclusion

In summary, look for opportunities to implement consistency, regardless of where you are in the content creation and design process. You can begin with standardizing styles across a single content type, like templatizing your newsletters. Consider the voice of your content – are your content creators writing or speaking with a ‘one-ness’ across each iteration of that content? And remember, if inconsistencies in your content delivery can’t be avoided, communicate changes and their reasons early and clearly to avoid user wariness. At the end of the day, don’t abandon your content consumer and remember that you always have the opportunity to design things better.

Does your organization need assistance in developing or managing its content? Feel free to reach out to us for help!

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