Recipe for Web Site Governance

David Schatsky | April 25, 2005, 03:10 PM

I just got off the phone with a client who works for the Web group of her company, a large financial services concern. Many large companies struggle with governing their Web site(s). As Jupiter has observed, multiple business units and functional areas are often in conflict when it comes to making decisions about the management of a company's Web site.

This particular company has amassed 800 pages of guidelines and standards for visual design, customer experience, technology, performance, etc. The guidelines are so complex, it's often impossible to find the rule that applies to a proposed change to the site, so the site quickly goes out of compliance with the guidelines. Even when a relevant guideline is identified, it often is met with skepticism by a business manager: "Who says cross sells can't go there on the page? I want my cross sell there."

We're working with this client (and another, who called us after closing an acquisition and wanted a tune up of their governance procedures). It's going to take some time. But here are some things for them to think about:

1. Radically simplify your guidelines. 800 pages is way too many for a normal person to keep in his or her head. Even if you had dedicated staff whose job it was to memorize and manage the guidelines, they'd be viewed as so out of touch by the business that they'd have no credibility. The client should shoot for cutting 800 pages down to 80 over the next few months.
2. Decompose and delegate. Some guidelines are about navigation, some are about product information, some are about promotions. Each of those are different competencies. Delegate responsibility for each of those areas to different folks. Let them develop the expertise, define the guidelines and ensure compliance with them. (This was among the themes of a recent report of ours.)
3. A template is worth a thousand words. Revisit your page templates. They should be used to embody standards, so that you don't need words. Define sections of page real estate that can be used for certain functions, and let the template do the talking.
4. Let data be the arbiter. Cultivate a culture of data-based management. Rather that tolerating pointless debates about what the best location for the search box is, run an A/B test and measure the results. Let the data win. Test something small, and teach the organization how to use data to drive design.