Content Management Modernisation · 4 min read

Our highest-value customers had the most friction when managing content

Bigtincan’s Content Hub is a CMS that ensures sales people find the right content at the right moment.

RoleLead Designer in cross-functional team

Timeline8 Weeks

ProductContent Hub

CompanyBigtincan

Before & After

Problem

Customers are forced to reorganise their existing content structure to fit a rigid 4-tier hierarchy.
20% of customers were managing more than 7500 files.
Our highest-value customers were managing over 300,000 files.
Customers use spreadsheets just to understand who can access which content.

The Redesign

Solution

I redesigned content management so that customers can create a hierarchy that matches their organisation’s existing content structure, and manage permissions in the same UI and aligned with their expectations for managing files and folders.

Before

Content Tab

Files are managed separately from structure and permissions, split between the content tab and platform admin, requiring customers to jump between them.

Files can only be stored inside a Story, at the bottom level of the content hierarchy, adding multiple clicks to find any file.

The main Content tab has a confusing navigation for browsing content. The top two tiers (Tabs and Channels) are navigated in the left pane, the third tier (Stories) appear in the right pane, and the fourth tier (files) can only be viewed by opening a story

Platform Admin

Managing structure (tabs & channels) separately from content makes it difficult to know who has access to which files, and requires a multi step process to set or update permissions.

Tabs and Channels can only be managed in Manage Structure. Stories and files are managed in the main Content tab — **Structure management (the top 2 tiers and permissions):** Managing content and permissions was split across two separate areas of the platform, requiring customers to jump between them.

After

Single pane content browsing

Navigating the hierarchy moves from a side pane to a breadcrumb.

Browsing content in a single pane, navigated by breadcrumb instead of a side pane

Manage and browse in the content tab

Files can be placed at any level of the hierarchy, reducing the number of clicks needed to browse and discover content.

Content managers get a dedicated Manage Content view, with files placed at any level of the hierarchy

Prototypes

Navigation explorations

Exploring how our existing navigation concept for browsing content would work if overlaid on top of a new architecture.

First concept: the existing navigation concept overlaid onto a new architecture.

Second concept: simplified browsing with the sidebar removed.

Comparison of file browsing features across Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive

Patterns Research

Cloud file provider analysis

Existing implementations of content management by cloud file providers show that browsing content can be simplified to a single pane with breadcrumb to navigate back up the hierarchy.

A research literature review of hierarchical navigation patterns confirms that most users don’t need complex navigation tools when browsing content.

Wireframing

Pressure test gaps or assumptions in requirements

I identified a flawed assumption which I reviewed with the PM. PM agreed and we took it back to engineering.

A folder can’t be deleted when it is empty, but there is no way to manage the contents of the folder in Manage Structure

Final Flows

Content management is merged into content browsing

Browse Content: the new design adds a Manage Content toggle that only Content Managers see — **Browse Content:** the new design adds a “Manage Content” toggle that only Content Managers see

Manage Content: when enabled the toggle opens a tree view on the left and a detail pane on the right — **Manage Content:** when enabled the toggle opens a tree view on the left and a detail pane on the right

Outcome

Welcome to the parking lot

This project was put on hold before we got to the implementation phase, but the team had designs that were validated, an architectural assumption that was resolved, and a clearer picture of what content managers required at enterprise scale.

370K–880K+ files

Accommodates customers managing large content libraries

Simplified navigation

Single-pane for content browsers, dual-pane for content managers

Enterprise growth

Positioned Content Hub to increase growth for enterprise customers

You’ve seen how I reduced friction for our highest value customers, now learn about how I increased repeat buyer visits by 35.8% to Digital Sales Rooms