Managing a Dot-Com …collaboration is the key

http://www.mercynet.edu/faculty/dielsi/MISoverview

John DiElsijdielsi@mercynet.edu

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“It’s easy to get good players. Getting ‘em to play together, that’s the hard part.”

Casey Stengel

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INBS 540 Website Management

People

Process

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What Is It?

originally available at one sitepopularity caused distribution to manyeventually settled at many sitesbusiness focus on building repeat customersused banners for publicitybrowsers encouraged to visit site

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A Circus!!

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Distributing Information

media natural (mountains, cave walls, sand) manufactured (clothing, paper,

billboards, instruments, monitors, TVs, )

communication tools natural (smoke, sand, charcoal, etc.) manufactured (ink, paint, pencil,

keyboards, cameras, electron beams, etc.)

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Distributing Informationconcerns/issues using the media distributing information duplicating information protecting the creator rights quality of product information channels transforming the information for the

media

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The Web as Mediacompare to software, advertising, traditional projects development schedules changes during implementation phase pricing models standards for development process team roles, specialization project manager responsibilities

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Can you do it all?

time to collect information to organize information to display information

quality of information collected of organization of information of display of information

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Design: An Art and a Science

must follow rules, guidelinescompare to building architecturestrategic values long-range goals

tactical values short-range goals

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Strategic Valuesbranding easy identification with service/site

impact/news fresh, new – to attract new visitors and

retain old ones

audience/community give audience what they want

competitive make site more attractive than

competitors

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Tactical Valuesdesign goals visual experience

content what site has to say

production how site is put together

utility what visitors can do on site

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Why Design It Right

good design cannot guarantee success; poor design will make it difficultusability an important factorwhy build a site? save money make money provide information, news publicize cause

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Saving Money – Reducing Support Costs

FAQsprint/mailing costs of catalogues

tracking packagesphone center, help line

direct capture of data; database

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Making Money – Sales and Distribution

decreased cost to process orderreplacing expensive proceduresweb advertising – careful!!disintermediation travel car sales office supplies

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Solving the Business Problem

must know business objectives before using site effectively to meet thembest solution not always one using most technology – need strategic planningmust know marketing goals before knowing how web can be used to improve itbudget comes last

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Align Business Goals With Usability

business goals make money? sell product directly? support distribution/sales channels?

marketing goals increase strength of brand

design goals attractive, aesthetic

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Site Business Goals

raison d’etredesign can’t begin until designers understand why site existsknowing how site contributes to bottom line cues designers to design decisionseach design element should support goal

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Business Models

Commercial Sitesell productsgoals: help users choose products speed users through process help develop trust

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Business Models

Advertiser Paid Sitesgoals: provide content that keeps users

returning -- “stickiness” provide outlet for advertisers paid by impressions integrated design increases ad

impressions 2 masters -- the user and the advertiser

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Business Models

Corporate Sites

promote business and brandgoal: increase revenue via branding reduce costs

improve communication between channels and consumers

reduce call center intake

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Business Goals and Usability Testing

must know business goals to create aligned designuse goals to develop usability tests

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How much is quality?wide cost range for creating websitesEstimation, timeline based on personnel number of pages complexity of pages features

expensive functionality – database, shopping cart, etc.

expensive content – media used, expert advice, etc.

web price index http://www.btobonline.com http://www.brennerbooks.com/sampleprices.html

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Communication is the Keyclient-contractor relationships internal or external client

broad expertise (business, tech, design)

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Client Team

client team members project leader (producer, team leader,

…) coordinates efforts of client organization liaison to developer

decision maker(s) needs information

webmaster(s) manages/maintains site hosting

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Client Team

client team members contentmasters

responsible for providing content

other content contributors writers, photographers,

artists, designers, etc.

timely coordination important

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Types of Developer Teams

proprietors individual or small group only interested in creating site not much interest in administrative

aspects

partnerships more serious about developing sites usually start with small projects

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Types of Developer Teamsboutiques larger partnerships (10+ people) that

includes administrative and sales personnel

many design-oriented jobs or some technically-oriented jobs

agencies multidisciplinary; go after larger jobs usually outsource many design functions look for accounts rather than single jobs

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Development Teamformal teams more productiveIT or advertising often vie for site controlclassification of team members core

key personnel for all kinds of web development examples: producer, designers

extended personnel not always needed or have cross-

functional roles examples: programmer, network engineer

special have skills not part of core or extended team examples: audio engineering, security specialist

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Developer Team management development team client liaison

creative design team writers, illustrators

technical hardware support network support programming

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Building a Team

identify necessary skillsassessing skills of personnelother considerations critical deadline? risks interpersonal skills

cross-functional capabilities

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Building a Team

professional motivation task-oriented

motivated by work self-oriented

motivated by personal success, recognition

interaction-oriented motivated by presence, actions of co-

workers

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Building a Teamwork habits programmers

solitary, usually work alone ask about risks, concerns

designers usually perfectionists keep on task

writers solitary must know who audience is, project

objectives

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Leading a Team

provide motivation and supportbalance timeline with budgetkeep goals in minddon’t let personal attributes get in way of completing project

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Management Musts

set clear guidelines production guide that

documents who does what, when, how

create project site for development team and client link to development site

work with client collaborate

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Outsourcing

hire outside resources or form strategic partnershipsuse web to find contractors check backgrounds check quality of work if use outsourcing firm, ask for

client referral list

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Business Cycle

periods of uneven workloadcan be due to lack of new jobs too many jobs delay in communication between

client and developer

can be affected by e-commerce failures

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The Business Goes Home at Night

very risky, labor intensive businessmust be good to survivegenerally creative but low profitin smaller companies, team members many have multiple tasksmust know company strengths and go after customers that need those strengths

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False Economies of Web Design

can adapt text, graphics from print piecesmore people, faster jobno planning involved, just try things and see what worksdocumentation is waste of time and effort

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False Economies of Web Design

anyone can design site; just need someone to implement designask for price quotes and get ideas for freemaintenance is easy and fun; can do it ourselvessite producer not really that important

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Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

communication key to successfocus on process, not deliverablesgood process is adaptabledeliverables just show progress made by process

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Web Developmentwebsites require frequent change, as do development toolsdevelopers must be open to learning from clients, customers, other developersstructured process is importantbeing aware of landscape is critical

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“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Winston Churchill