Contentstack has announced a complete redesign and restructuring of its user interface for its headless content management system (CMS). The project was called ‘Venus’ by the internal team responsible for developing the technology.
According to Sonja Kotrotsos, Product Manager at Contentstack, “We choose the name Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and love. It is our visual expression of love and care we have for our customers,” she says with a broad smile.
Ending the technological struggle
The new design system brings a simplified user experience to both editors and developers. The company says this effectively ends the struggle between technological capabilities and user-friendliness in enterprise software.
Headless CMS is a back-end only CMS built from the ground up as a content repository. The platform makes content accessible via a RESTful API for display on any device. The term “headless” comes from the concept of splitting the “head” (the front end, i.e. the website) off the “body.” (The back end, i.e. the content repository). A headless CMS remains with an interface to add content. In addition to a RESTful API (JSON, XML) to deliver content wherever you need it. A headless CMS has only one focus. Storing and delivering structured content which can be distributed across a plethora of devices.
Traditional enterprise CMS are increasingly seen as challenging to business agility, due to being feature-bloated, difficult to upgrade and maintain. Headless CMS have enabled businesses to make significant progress in digital speed, but the user experience lagged behind the technology.
It’s all about the experience
Kotrotsos says, “For Contentstack, it’s all about the experience. We’ve completely redesigned the user experience so content creators are free to work at the speed of their imagination. There’s a clear acceleration in the volume and velocity of content creation. We are therefore giving developers, content managers a true positive experience across all toolkits and devices.”
According to a recent Gartner report, “The world has changed due to proliferation of digital channels and multi-experience modalities. This was accelerated in the COVID-19 pandemic rush to digital and the desire for touchless experiences.” Businesses must achieve new levels of speed and agility for executing against their digital customer experience ambitions. This requires that IT and business teams are equally enabled to work at the new pace. Without compromising quality, brand and governance.
It is widely reported that 70% of digital transformation initiatives fail to reach their goals. One reason is that organizations fall short is digital training. A Randstad survey uncovered that 58% of workers say their employer uses the latest digital tools and platforms. However, doesn’t provide them the training they need to use them. Contentstack say they provide an experience that is so intuitive, it eliminates the need for training.
“Content creators are the lifeblood of every brand. It’s time to stop slowing them down,” said Matthew Baier, COO at Contentstack. We are removing the learning curve for CMS, enabling content to come from anywhere in your organisation.”
Simplicity and elegance
The new UI is an enhancement for enterprise software, bringing simplicity and elegance to content management. The company says the focus on productivity means a streamlined editing experience. This includes more space for content, fewer clicks in the editorial process and faster discovery of content.
This next level of usability will enable central content teams to provide even more autonomy to subject matter experts and casual content contributors across the entire organisation. As a result, businesses will accelerate content production and quality. Shifting the function of central content team to orchestration, quality assurance and creative work rather than filling in CMS forms.
“Headless CMS has traditionally been viewed as a developer-first approach,” said Auden Hinton, Director, Digital Experience at ICE Mortgage Technology. “We initially selected Contentstack because it offered by far the best overall user experience on the market. The new user experience goes much further and truly levels the playing field for developers, digital and marketing teams alike. As a result, we are seeing broader, faster adoption, improved content collaboration and streamlined operations. These lead to a shorter time to value for new digital experiences and higher ROI for investments into digital content.”
“Content demands are ever-increasing and extend beyond marketing content,” said Matthew Morey, Senior Vice President of Technology for Valtech. “Across all industries, the digital urgency to provide customers with human and helpful content and self-service opportunities increase significantly. Businesses are realising that digital-first agility and excellence demands superior enablement of all subject matter experts.”
Enterprise Times: What this means for business?
It appears that Contentstack have shifted a gear with their enhanced content experience platform (CXP). The company was an early adopter and developer of headless CMS, initially for developers who could build positive experiences. Furthermore, they could use industry-wide tools, development frameworks and programming language.
The company has cleverly positioning itself around experience. Experience that is as effective and productive as it is pleasant to the eyes. A side effect of the pandemic has been the increased demand for quality content. Now, everyone who wants to can participate in the content development life cycle – from creation, to management, to delivery.
