User Centered Design (UCID) Methodology

To have a focus on end users throughout a SharePoint project – the UCID is sometimes utilized.

The methodology includes four stages and both developer/designers and end users are engaged and work together at each step:

Research concept and plan – at this stage getting the user and compatibility requirements is done.

Design prototype – via a white board or wireframe – an actual working prototype is built – because most end users are visual.

Define branding – what are the color schemes and logo to be utilized.

Develop, launch and test – the prototype is developed then put into production and tested for general usability and accessibility.

Odd SharePoint Terms

The following are some odd SharePoint terms that some newbies and even intermediate level SharePoint users – need to know about:

Breadcrumb – a set of hyperlinks that show the path from the home page of a site to the current page one is on – example:

Custom actions – an extension to the user interface, via a command button on the ribbon, a link on the site settings page or a command on the list item menu – actions may also appear based on permissions – example (in this case one won’t see the Site settings unless they have the proper owner permissions):

 

External content type (ECT)
– data stored in an external data source such as SQL Server, Oracle, external data source. This data can be consumed by SharePoint. The selection box for a External Content Type looks as such:

Feature – allows one to activate/deactivate functionality in a site, site collection, web application or farm – example:

The Beauty of the Link

A link in SharePoint is a beautiful item. Historically, individuals fire up their e-mail client and create an e-mail and then attach a file. This maybe good if the contents of that file – will not change – however in reality what if a typo is found or information changes? Now – if it’s attached that file is frozen in time and thus the typo stays forever – as does the information in that said e-mail.

Using a link allows one to fix that typo as well as make sure that everyone is looking at and receiving and viewing the latest information. Therefore – utilize the simple link by navigating to your document library and clicking that … then highlight the link displayed (the one starting with http:// or https://) and right mouse click it – and then select copy – go to your e-mail client – then right mouse click and select paste and then you will have your desired link in an e-mail: