Usability in Open Source Web Content Management Systems as experienced by non-specialist small business users.

Abstract

A Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) who manage their own web presence need not rely on third parties which means costs are reduced and time is saved. In-house maintenance of a web presence through the use of a Web Content Management System (CMS) is an attractive option. Open Source Web CMSs are free and therefore particularly attractive. However such systems have usability problems which prevent large scale adoption by the SME sector. In the Enterprise it is not unusual to have very specialized users of a CMS: administrators, editors, authors and developers. In smaller businesses users tend to perform multiple roles (all roles except developer) and have less specialized knowledge. The average small business user takes a walk-up-and-use approach to learning new systems. That is, while manuals may exist, users typically try to learn the system through exploration. Developers of Open Source systems are typically volunteers who are interested in technical excellence rather than perceived esoterica such as usability among disparate user demographics. This research investigated usability in four popular Open Source CMS's using two so-called discount usability inspection methods. The systems chosen for evaluation were Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress and SilverStripe. The inspection methods were Heuristic evaluation and the Cognitive Walkthrough for the Web. A number of problems were identified and where appropriate suggestions were made to improve the usability of each system.