One of the challenges we face with the implementation of collaborative workspaces is maintaining the fine balance between functionality and simplicity. We have all watched a site go horribly awry due to a focus on specific, deep details without maintaining a holistic view of the experience. SharePoint, Google Apps, etc. - the platform does not matter; the symptoms are the same. The effort comes in prevention and mitigation.

Walk a thousand miles

As site developers and solution providers it is easy to lose sight of the people who need to use the wonders we build and force them into change that is unnecessary and burdensome. We spend a great deal of time with our creations becoming intimately familiar with them. We know their navigation structures like the back of our own hands; the order makes perfect sense to us. It is that very familiarity that blinds us to the experience a fresh pair of eyes will have when they visit our site for the first time.

Evaluate your site design with this litmus test. When you go to a page is the purpose of the page obvious or do you have to “know” where, how, and why things work? If you need prior knowledge about a site or tool to understand what it does and what is expected of you then your design fails. I will always take the position there is great value to a simplified interface and information flow if for no other reason than it frees the user’s mind to concentrate on the important aspects of the task at hand.

Design to be forgotten

If you create a solution architecture that requires your users to retain an understanding of the site/tool operation between uses your design fails. In some cases it can be months between application uses and the information on the application’s operation will be lost from your users within days. Your options are to create pages of help documentation or design your site so it can be “relearned” each time it is accessed. Be warned however this is a tricky balance to maintain; ease of use without being repetitive for frequent visitors.

Avoid creating blind spots

When working on a web site there is always an inclination to put information we deem important on the home page. The trap this creates is the production of “blind spots” on the page. For example, it’s popular to put a list of the team members working on a project on the home page of a site. When you visit the site for the first time it’s interesting information. When you visit the site for the fifth time it’s a waste of space on the page. Pages that will be heavily trafficked by design need to avoid blind spots whenever possible. Information must be relevant, timely, and concise.

Moving forward

Think carefully about the sites you visit and the things you like and don’t like. Design simply. Once you finish your design wait a couple of days then go back and remove anything that doesn’t absolutely need to be there. Remember you can always entice a user with something new but when they’ve seen everything at once there’s no surprises.