We’ve been working with our friends over at Six Apart on the latest, and best, version of Movable Type. They released a beta today.
We’ve been using MT to build sites since we started Mule. And, yeah, there are some other really good blogging tools on the market right now, but MT feels like family. (Of course, that’s not always a compliment.) So when they asked us to do some UI work on MT 4 we were happy to help.
We’re pretty happy with the results. We’re also pretty excited about what still needs to happen. Six Apart released an honest-to-goodness beta. Not a web 2.0 lying liars telling lies and hedging bets ‘beta’; but one with some real bugs. Bugs that hardcore MT users will help us fix. By getting the developers community involved we’ll have access to real user data and the opinions of some really smart people.
Of course it’s risky to put an unfinished product out there with its warts showing, but it’s a smart risk. You’re gonna get a better product out of that experience. And it takes a grown-up confident company to take that risk.
Written by Mike Monteiro on June 5, 2007 | 
8 comments so far. Add yours below.
Ian Fenn says:
As an MT consultant, I welcome version 4 and the invitation to provide feedback. But are developers the right people to provide talk with regarding the user interface? I'd argue that non-developers are likely to use it more. And looking at the current beta, I'm concerned that the current proposed UI will completely baffle and intimidate many existing users.
June 5, 2007 4:15 PM
Mike Monteiro says:
Hi Ian,
The beta is open to everyone, developers and non-developers alike. We look forward to your feedback.
June 5, 2007 5:56 PM
Ian Fenn says:
Hi Mike,
Perhaps some clarification is required. As an MT consultant, I implement MT blogs for clients which they then maintain. Sure, I would like the UI to work *perfectly* for me but it's more important that it works *perfectly* for my clients. Otherwise I have to throw away my years of experience with MT and switch to another tool which may meet their requirements better.
I appreciate you say that the beta is open to all but in reality it's only open to those users who have the knowledge and experience to download and install the software. It's a self-selecting expert group. And that's exactly why developers are the wrong people to test the UI with.
Now, I can obviously install the beta and invite my clients to take a look but I don't think this would be as useful as you and Six Apart testing the new UI with novice users?
June 6, 2007 7:13 AM
Mike Monteiro says:
Yes, we want it to work perfectly for everyone, too. This beta phase should show some great results.
June 6, 2007 10:16 AM
Ian Fenn says:
Great. What is being done during the beta test to ensure the new Movable Type user interface serves its current novice users? Also, why did you and Six Apart take the design to change it *so* dramatically?
June 6, 2007 1:08 PM
Mike Monteiro says:
Ian, Mule has been using MT as the CMS on client projects for years. We've built sites for the technically savvy and for the not-so-tech-savvy. We've accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience on how people use stuff and how to design stuff the way people use it.
As we design the new interface we're doing VERY informal testing with some of those same clients.
As to the dramatic change; frankly, it was time. The old design was nice but it had been around for a while and was growing a little long in the tooth.
The design we went with is actually NOT as dramatic as the original one I proposed that required shooting a touch-screen with rubber bands to remove comment spam; so, yeah, I compromised.
June 7, 2007 9:03 AM
Jesse Gardner says:
Good work, Mike. Lots of subtleties there that are easy to miss, but that's what helps make a design great.
June 8, 2007 5:41 AM
Byron says:
Grown up company! Ha, dude, I did a spit take on that. That's a rather loaded closing sentence on your post. Posting and talking "we're a real business" is one thing . . . still thinking you're got a spunky start up blog pass is another.
June 8, 2007 9:23 AM