Can Content Management Be Beautiful?

Although content management systems are thought of primarily as a tool for media organizations, almost any business will generate enough digital content that managing it inside someone’s head or in a file drawer simply isn’t a good idea.

In today’s reading, I came across a discussion on Poynter.org that, although directed at journalists, is an interesting look at how CMSes are evolving.The big points from the article apply just as much to a catalog house as they do to people in my line of work:

• The paradigm is moving from “content management systems” to “content management ecosystems.”
• There is a growing understanding that content management systems should be “beautiful.”
• Open-source software has raised the bar for default content management experience.
• We’ve realized that good content management requires constant development

In the past, I’ve worked with some very primitive CMSes, and from my experience, businesses approach content management with far less sophistication than they should. I can understand why companies are loath to change something if it works for them, but staying in place is simply not an option if your content has to look fresh and work for you.