CMS Workflow Optimization
TVO Media Education
TVO is a multi-platform digital learning organization.
During the migration of educational content to TVO's new content management system (CMS), I identified usability issues that were significantly hindering team productivity.
I conducted user interviews with web production team to diagnose these pain points and redesigned key UI components to optimize their workflow. The targeted improvements resulted in a 50% reduction in content management time.
My Role
Product Designer
Timeline
3 Weeks during internship
Key Deliverables
UI/UX Redesign, Interactive Prototype
Skills
Workflow Optimization, Product Design, Prototyping, UX Research
Discover
A new CMS that was slowing down content migration.
The Web Production Team relied on a new internal CMS to manage and publish all educational curriculum. While the tool was essential to their daily operations, the workflow was slow and unintuitive. Team members were spending an excessive amount of time on routine tasks, leading to significant productivity loss and growing frustration.
My mission was to diagnose the specific bottlenecks in the workflow and redesign the user experience to be faster, more efficient, and user-friendly.
Research
Understanding user pain points and workflow inefficiencies
I conducted extensive user interviews with the TVO Digital Learning Team to understand their daily workflows, pain points, and frustrations with the existing system. This research revealed that the biggest issues were related to navigation complexity, redundant steps, and lack of intuitive design patterns.
User Interview
Understanding user pain points and workflow inefficiencies.
I conducted user interviews with TVO Learning Production Team to understand their daily workflows, pain points, and frustrations with the existing system. By observing their processes live, gaining my own hands-on experience, and documenting their feedback, I was able to gather the raw qualitative data needed to identify specific opportunities for improvement.
These highlights helped shape the direction of my research and guided how I defined the problem space.
Analysis & Findings
Synthesizing feedback into design priorities.
After the interviews, I analyzed the feedback to move from individual pain points to spotlight core issues. This synthesis process revealed three high-priority areas that needed immediate improvement.
Key Pain Points:
Content Visibility
Users want a quick overview of which course editions are ready for review.
They need better visual indicators to track content status and progress.
Content Creation & Editing
Drag-and-drop for multi-columns should be simplified and more intuitive.
Adding video content should be a one-click process instead of multiple menu steps.
Workflow Efficiency:
Content organization tools should reduce cognitive load and help educators work faster.
Comparative Analysis
Peeking into other website builders.
After a month of working with TVO's internal tool, I recognized similarities with website building platforms. This led me to examine how established website builders approach content management, seeking inspiration for our tool's
improvement.
Defining Problem Area
Key Areas for Improvement
From the user interviews and workflow observations, three recurring problem areas emerged. Each represented a different stage of the content publishing process —from organizing courses to managing layout and embedding videos — but together, they revealed a single pattern: the current CMS made simple actions unnecessarily complex.
These three areas were strategic focus points I chose to improve within the project’s limited timeframe. They surfaced repeatedly during user interviews and workflow observations, making them the most impactful opportunities for redesign.
Course Listing Page
Multi-Column Tool
Video Integration Tool
Implementing Solution
Building brand trust through design.
Problem #1
Course Listing Page
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Solution #1
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Problem 2
Key Learning: Focus on the Biggest Blocker
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Solution 2
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Problem 3
Key Learning: Focus on the Biggest Blocker
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Solution 3
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Deliver
Placeholder
Placeholder
Outcome & Impact
From $0 to a Profitable Business
The targeted UX upgrade produced immediate and significant results, transforming a storefront website into a brand experience.
Reflection & Next Step
A roadmap for continued growth.
This project was a valuable lesson in using data to make focused, high-impact decisions. This core learning directly informs the next steps for the brand.
Key Learning: Focus on the Biggest Blocker
Instead of pursuing a costly and time-consuming redesign, I identified the single point of highest friction and fixed it. This targeted, high-leverage approach is crucial when resources are limited, proving that the most effective solution is often the simplest and most focused one.
Next Step: Measure and Optimize the Funnel
Now that a sales baseline is established, the top priority is to gather more data over time. This would allow us to accurately measure the specific reduction in checkout abandonment and A/B test new ideas. Analyzing the performance of the email marketing campaigns and the website's usability together will be key to optimizing the entire customer journey for long-term, sustainable growth.
Next Project
TVO CMS Internal Tool Productivity Upgrade
Redesigned content management workflows for TVO’s Product Team.