We are all familiar with the initial thrill of getting the budget or approval for a new software tool, believing it will enhance our team’s workflow. However, this excitement tends to diminish when faced with the practicalities of implementation. How do I set it up? How can I ensure my users receive proper training? Specifically, for Content Catalog, what is the optimal way to organize all my content? These questions highlight that while many tools seem promising initially, their true benefits are only realized through successful implementation. Careful planning and execution around rollout are crucial for new tools to function effectively.

Content Catalog is no exception to that rule and this article is crafted by a dedicated team of experts who have successfully onboarded design teams onto BIM content management platforms for many years, both at UNIFI and in industry. We are excited to share our proven strategies for implementing an effective content management approach with you, and we genuinely wish you the same success we’ve seen so many other firms realize improved efficiency and quality of project deliverables! To help you make the most out of this valuable information, we have outlined the key steps followed by firms who have realized a seamless and successful onboarding process.

By following these steps and familiarizing yourself with the content management best practices, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of how Content Catalog can create a single source of truth for your company’s BIM content..

We are confident that by leveraging these strategies, based on years of learning from mistakes that you have the benefit of avoiding, you will experience the same high level of success that our other clients have enjoyed. Let's embark on this journey together and start saving your team time today!

Over the years, we have noticed several common roadblocks that hinder AECO firms from rolling out content management tools successfully. Here are three we want to share as you start your journey with Content Catalog.

Start with an initial discussion with your key champions (typically the BIM management team) to develop your Content Catalog strategy and implementation plan. It's not uncommon for a rollout to take 4-6 weeks from kickoff to rollout, so let’s get started!

Below is a sample outline of topics to address during the kickoff meeting, with sample notes for your consideration:

Once the plan is ready, structuring collections in the content catalogue and uploading content are the next steps. Setting up collections first makes organizing new uploads easier. Content can be uploaded via drag-and-drop or batch export. Involving more people to help with uploads is efficient for managing large volumes quickly. While this process doesn’t need to be complete before rollout, having consistent content sets available is beneficial.

While it can be tempting to simply send an email or Slack about a tool as easy to use as Content Catalog, in our experience even the most intuitive tool sees increased adoption when users are introduced to it on a brief training session.

For Content Catalog, we recommend holding two sessions:

Below are sample outlines with notes for your consideration:

Use the kickoff meeting outline above to inform this discussion.

Demo Time Have a user with upload but not edit permissions, upload content prior to demo for showing upload approvals process or reference this documentation.

Once you’ve completed your training sessions, you should be good to go! Make sure to add the user training recording to your internal knowledge base, so that new hires can come up to speed on your firm’s approved source of content as they join.

Congratulations on saving each designer at your firm an estimated 200 hours annually in searching for content! We’re delighted to be part of your firm’s BIM workflows and are here to answer any questions as you need us!