User Experience Design
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      Start to Finish: The Process of Creating a New Local Marketing Template for Your End Users

      High-level overview of the Template Installation Sequence in CampaignDrive.

      Introduction to Templates

      Templates are the foundation of CampaignDrive.  A template is a tool that creates the output that an end user will download or send to a vendor.  Templates can be used for print, static digital images or HTML output.  There are some basic steps that all templates share, no matter their output type.  Following this process will result in the best user experience and administrative maintenance. The steps in the template installation sequence are:

      1. Creative Analysis
      2. User Workflow Analysis
      3. Install a Master Template
      4. Add Template to a Campaign
      5. Campaign Template Content Management
      6. Template QA

      Creative Analysis

      Creative Analysis is the first step in template installation and is critical to ensure accurate and efficient template installation.  Documents are reviewed to outline editable and non-editable content. This process should include anyone involved in template installation, content management and brand management. The creative analysis will be used in all subsequent steps in the installation sequence.  The result of the creative analysis will be a document with design specs (brand standards) and content management considerations that everyone can refer back to during the rest of the template installation process.

      The creative analysis is done for each individual piece of creative or for creative groups (such as flyers, posters, postcards, etc.) based on layouts that could be considered reusable and should include the following information:

      • Details of what is not editable by end users (these get "locked down" in CampaignDrive).
      • Details of what is editable by end users, and how (copy only, copy and font color, copy and font color and size, copy block position, image, image size, image position, etc.).
      • An explanation of how editable content will be presented (some examples: open text field, in a drop down selector, in a drop-down selector as a result of another selection, automatically filled in according to the user or location.).
      • Information on the source material for the managed content and how it will be brought into CampaignDrive (one-time import, daily feed, manually entered and maintained by the customer, etc.).

      End User Experience Analysis

      The User Workflow Analysis outlines how to group and present templates to end users and how the end user will process the document.  The User Workflow Analysis should contain the following information:

      • Campaign for installation - existing or new
      • Template description - Display name, short and/or long description
      • Collateral Type - for displaying in Campaign and for search filters
      • User export permissions -  (jpg, pdf, grayscale, crops, ordering, if orderable, pricing structure and prices)
      • User viewing permissions - any existing segmentation to apply (regions, services, brands) or new segmentation that needs to be created.
      • Approvals - does this content need approval, if so, establishes which creative with editable content requires approval before use and who will be doing the approval.

      Master Template Installation

      The Master Template is a template that will be the basis of other templates. Master templates are created one of 3 ways:

      1. Manually installed (print and digital templates)
      2. Imported via IDML import ZIP file (print templates)
      3. Uploaded via HTML ZIP file (for HTML templates)

      Add Template to a Campaign

      Master templates are then added to one or more campaigns to create a campaign template which is visible to the End User. Note: there is no connection between a master template and a campaign template once it has been applied to the campaign (meaning that changing either the master or campaign template will not affect the other).

      The information gathered in the “User Workflow Analysis” is applied to the template and the template is ready to be content managed according to the Creative Analysis.

      Campaign Template Content Management

      The campaign template is programmed  by referencing the Creative Analysis and applying the appropriate content management strategy to match the desired End User experience.  The full list of content management options includes:

      • Tags
      • Content Groups
      • Content Links (to Content Database)
      • Location Section Styles
      • Item Section Styles
      • Dynamic Template Sizing

      Template QA

      Once the template has been installed, it should be reviewed to ensure proper functioning. Ideally, this review should be performed by someone who has not been involved with the creation of the template. The template QA:

      • Verifies that the template has been composed correctly: both the design and the intended functionality of elements composed in CampaignDrive should match the spec as set forth in the Creative Analysis:
      • All content management is functioning appropriately
      • All UI spelling is correct, all wording and instructions are clear
      • Verifies that all the items in the User Workflow Analysis are correct:
      • Verifies the correct campaigns and templates appear for each user type
      • Verifies that the output options are correct