managing higher education web development: traps and tips
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Managing Higher Education Web Development: Traps and Tips. Towards the success of any higher education web project.TRANSCRIPT
MANAGING HIGHER EDUCATION WEB DEVELOPMENT: TRAPS AND TIPS
RYA N D E L L O L I O
W E B P R O G R A M M A N A G E R
T H E G E O R G E W A S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y
C O L U M B I A N C O L L E G E O F A RT S A N D S C I E N C E S
W A S H I N G T O N , D C
G I V E N A T E D U W E B 2 0 1 0
J U LY 2 8 2 0 1 0
C H I C A G O , I L
Towards the success of any higher education web project
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
1821 University founded
25,000 Total students at all locations
3 Campuses
225,000 Alumni worldwide
9 Colleges and Schools
WEB ACTIVITY AT GW
University
Colleges
Departments
Research Centers & Institutes
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
500+ faculty & researchers3000 students100+ staff
University’s largest academic unit (Liberal Arts)
Africana StudiesAmerican StudiesAnthropologyApplied Quantitative Risk AnalysisArt TherapyBiochemistryBiological SciencesBiomedical SciencesBiostatisticsChemistryClassical and Semitic Languages and LiteraturesClassical ActingCounselingEarly Modern European StudiesEast Asian Languages and LiteraturesEconomicsEnglishEnvironmental StudiesEnvironmental Resource PolicyEpidemiologyFilm Studies
Fine Arts and Art HistoryForensic SciencesGeographyGeological SciencesGenomics and BioinformaticsGlobal CommunicationsHistoryHominid PaleobiologyInterior DesignJudaic StudiesLinguisticsMathematicsMedia and Public AffairsMedicine, Society and CultureMuseum StudiesMusicOrganizational Sciences and CommunicationPhilosophyPhysicsPolitical ScienceProfessional Psychology
PsychologyPublic Policy and Public AdministrationReligionRomance, German, Slavic Languages and LiteraturesSociologySpeech and Hearing SciencesStatisticsTheatre and DanceUniversity Writing ProgramWomen's Studies
50+ Departments and Programs
52 informational sites, 1200+ pages at last audit
WEB PROPERTIES
Brochureware
Information Management
Web Services
Research
Classroom Resources
Other
• New development
• Redevelopment
• Information architecture
• Web marketing
• Social media
• Web strategy and consulting
OUR PIPELINE
HIGHER EDUCATION…
Higher Impact
Higher Reward
Higher Cause
Higher Risk?
HIGHER EDUCATION…
Higher Stress
Higher Volume
Higher Expectations
Higher Bureaucracy
STAFFING
Program Management
Web Program Manager
Content and Content Strategy
Web Content Producer
Marketing & Social Media
Director
DevelopmentWeb
Designer
Web Develop
er
Web Develop
er
Project Analyst
Marketing and Communication
LESSONS LEARNED: TRAPS
TRAP #1
Saying: “The web is a marketing
tool.”
USER EXPERIENCE DRIVES WEB SUCCESS
Marketing Mindset
Misplaced metrics
Poor Design
Decisions
User experience suffers
Enrollment push Marketing
is just one component of a successful web strategy
INSTEAD…
Marketing
Web Services
User Experienc
e
TRAP #2
Saying:“Everything must live in-
house.”
ON DECISIONS
• “This service must live in our data center”
• “We must place this behind our firewall”
• “The content management system must live here”
• “SaaS is not reliable”
• “Does that mean it will look different?”
THE RIGHT LOCATION, A TALE OF TWO PROJECTS
Planet ForwardSchool of Media and Public AffairsColumbian College of Arts and Scienceshttp://www.planetforward.com/
• Innovative online community• PBS partnership• Basic content management plus
online community needs
Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid PaleobiologyColumbian College of Arts and Scienceshttp://cashp.gwu.edu/ (in development)
• Large, multi-faceted prestigious research group
• Smithsonian, other University partnerships
• Advanced content management
Externally hosted managedCMS and online community
Internal CMS implementation
EVALUATION CRITERIA
• Management costs
• Development resources
• In-house expertise
• Availability needs
• Budget
TRAP #3
Fearing bureaucracy
BUREAUCRACY
• Bureaucracy is a fact of University life
• “Strategy, not sparring”
• Educate upwards
Bake people, process and technology into existing bureaucratic structures,
establishing web governance.
TRAP #4
Seizing all control
THREE BIG DISTINCTIONS IN HIGHER ED
• Structure completely hierarchical
• Web traditionally distant from the core mission (or is it? will revisit this point)
• Revenue/enrollment model complicates requirements
Control is difficult in the academic community, and misguided
SEIZING CONTROL PRODUCES ACADEMIC/CORPORATE DIVIDE
• “You must adhere to _________ .”
• “Our office must approve everything before it goes live”
• “Here are web content the requirements”
• “Our committee decided you cannot do it that way”
TECHNIQUES
• Guide, don’t require (Wording matters!)
• Advise, don’t insist
• Make compliance easy (e.g. Newsletter generator)
• Standard tools naturally standardize the end result (e.g. superior content management system bound to template will gain traction)
TRAP #5
Saying:“We know who we’re
building for.”
REDEFINING USE CASES; THINGS WE’VE SEEN• Current students browsing admissions sites
• Prospective students browsing information for current students
• Prospective partner institutions browsing information for current students
• Prospective students browsing internal department websites
• “Navigation-phobia” – the chronic Googlers
• Entrance paths that often defy logic
TRAP #6
The enterprise trap
“We prefer large, expensive enterprise-class systems that have been in production in other Universities for at least 2 years”
OPEN SOURCE ON CAMPUS
• The gap between open source and enterprise class web technologies is closing
• The web has its roots in academia, and open source has been there every step of the way
• Open source should be embraced, and evaluated along with other technologies
• Students are already there
LESSONS LEARNED: TIPS
TIP #1
Empowerment is key
EMPOWERING YOUR CONSTITUENCY
• Self-service over web service requests
• Collaborative issue tracking
• The illusion of control
• “If you build it, they will come”
• Full service consulting is a must
TIP #2
Document, document, document
DOCUMENTATION
• Establishes accountability
• Should be undertaken at every step of the process
• Is traditionally lacking from higher education web presences, which often grow from web talent within the academic community
• Is essential to sustainability of any system
HIGHER EDUCATION WEB EVOLUTION
Groups rapidly innovate and build webpages,
living on local systems
Central university IT
provides systems and
support
Groups innovate again, Central IT may
or may not keep pace
Unification efforts
commonly result
Process artifacts are often created, and lost.
TIP #3
Break the waterfall, be agile
BUILDING THE WEB AT THE PACE OF RESEARCH
Requirements
Analysis
Design
Implementation
Validation
The traditional systems development lifecycle is not well suited to most higher education web projects
AGILITY IS OFTEN NOT AN OPTION
• Continuous iteration
• Rapid prototyping
• Constant feedback
• Continual defect resolution and enhancement
• Reevaluate traditional production requirements
• Rapid Application Development
A COMPARISON
We’ve seen improvement in nearly every metric by adopting development agility.
Better
• More requirements scoped and met, we can innovate
• User satisfaction increases
Faster
• Deadlines are exceeded• More QA time
Cheaper
• Agility reduces resource drain• Costly requirements changes can be
accommodated
TIP #4
Lose control
LOSING CONTROL
• Rapid application development benefits all
• Guidelines, governance and buy-in are as powerful as programmatic control
• The web is organic• Arbitrary control is counter productive
TIP #5
Your competitors are not always who you think they are
WHERE IS THE WEB IN RELATION TO A UNIVERSITY'S CORE MISSION?
“The George Washington University, an independent academic institution chartered by the Congress of the United States in 1821, dedicates itself to furthering human well-being. The University values a dynamic, student-focused community stimulated by cultural and intellectual diversity and built upon a foundation of integrity, creativity, and openness to the exploration of new ideas. The George Washington University, centered in the national and international crossroads of Washington, D.C., commits itself to excellence in the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge.”
COMPETITION
• Enrollment competition is only one piece of the puzzle
• Competition extends to:
• Student attention to university news and events• Alumni participation and development• Prestige, online and off line• Academic attention on the web• Use of in-house services vs. the wild west
TIP #6
Do more than build websites
THE WEB IS A MEANS TO AN END
• Build experiences
• Build communities
• Contribute to existing communities
• Embrace the semantic web
• Educate!
EXAMPLES OF ON-CAMPUS EXPERTISE
Department of
Organizational Sciences
Project Manager
Project Analyst
Department of Computer
Sciences
Programmer
Configuration
management
School of Media and
Public Affairs
Social Media
Experts
Market Researcher
Department of
Information Systems
Information Architect
Systems Architects
Department of Fine Arts
Graphic Designer
Layout Designer
Department of
Psychology
Usability Researcher
Focus Group Leader
It is a privilege to work on the web.
CONTACT INFORMATION
RYAN DELLOLIOTHE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITYWASHINGTON, DC
(202) 994-5497