Confluence Build Out

Posted 2 years ago by blissmediastudio

 

 

THE CHALLENGE

We need a better and more intuitive way to communicate and share information

Veridian is a boutique IT consulting firm. They specialize in helping companies implement supply chain management software. Employees work remotely and live in different locations throughout the USA. Given the remote work environment, collaboration with effective tools for information sharing is critical.

THE SOLUTION

Stand up a central, easy to use and navigate environment for information sharing, collaboration and reference

With this project my focus was on designing and developing a Confluence site that was well laid out and intuitive, a smart, feature-rich foundation that Veridian can build upon and provide their employees with centralized tool to assist their day-to-day activities.

THE SKILLS

CONFLUENCE Set-up, Configuration and  ADMINISTRATION

UX/UI, space and page DESIGN

CONTENT WRITING and template creation

CUSTOMIZATION of space and pages

Consultation on best practices and add-on Purchases

collaboration tool integration

THE STRATEGY

I have configured and stood-up enterprise Jira and Confluence instances, administered for the last 8 years for a user base of over 500 users, so my strategy is to take all that learning and create a highly organized and engaging Confluence site for Veridian. I have published a playbook on how to set-up Jira, so it was a dream contract to be able to start from scratch and build out all the spaces and templates that would be used by the team.

01

REQUIREMENTS

I met with the client a couple of times prior to getting the contract so that I really understood what they wanted to achieve. I got to know their business and how employees use their current file storage system. I then interviewed the stakeholders and determined what features were working about their current system and what the pain points were. The high level requirements were:

  • Well laid out and intuitive structure

  • Ideally integrate with other collaboration tools, such as Slack, Outlook

  • Smart, feature-rich foundation we can build upon

  • Thoughtful investment of choosing free vs paid features

  • Provide our employees with centralized tool to assist their day-to-day activities

02

UI/UX

I used the project as a template for design and customization of the pages and spaces. Each week I review the designs with the team to gather feedback and adjust to ensure the final product meets their needs. My objective is to create visually appealing and engaging content in Confluence. 

According to research published by Time, 55% of people spend 15 seconds or less on a page. An aesthetically pleasing Confluence page isn’t just for beauty’s sake, but enables the team to find what they need and find it quickly.

03

DEVELOPMENT

In each space, it is important to set up a clear and organized page structure so content is grouped by subject and relevance. 

The basic plan is to:

  1. Start with Confluence basics: spaces and pages
  2. Add structure with a hierarchy
  3. Organize pages into spaces
  4. Build-out site navigation
  5. Choose layouts for landing pages
  6. Personalize Confluence for users with permissions, custom welcome messages and more 

04

TEMPLATES & Add-Ons

Confluence comes with a set of page templates, also called Blueprints, providing the ability to:

  • Group pages by category of content (i.e. How To articles, Meeting Notes, etc.)
  • Have a standard layout and structure for those pages
  • Saving employees’ time, as they aren’t recreating the wheel with each page

We will create the needed templates and promote them to users, so they’ll have easy access to the pages.

Confluence comes with a set of useful macros that provide a range of functionalities, which can make pages more dynamic and customizable. This can enhance the look and feel of pages while improving the user experience when browsing through content. A full list of macros bundled in Confluence can be found here. Alternatively, the Atlassian Marketplace offers a range of apps which can give you more choices for third party macros.

05

SUPPORT AND BEST PRACTICES

Confluence is very easy to use, which can be a double-edged sword – everyone can use Confluence, but over time everyone can also contribute to creating a disorganized wiki if users are not mindful of their actions. 

It is crucial to invest in Confluence users, and so we will train them on why it is important they use the right page structure, add the right labels, use the right macros, etc. 

Jessica Fergus

Owner & Principal Consultant

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