taken out of context: old tricks, new dog
DESCRIPTION
30-minute presentation at OzIA conference, 2008TRANSCRIPT
Taken out of context (old tricks, new dog)
Margaret L RuwoldtInformation Futures Commission
Information Futures Commission
Endings...
2007:• Uni agrees to introduce new curriculum• Student service model redesigned• Two libraries close for renovations
• Central web team split, restructured
Information Futures Commission
And beginnings...
“Something’s wrong with the library. Can’t you just fix it?”
Information Futures Commission
The obligatory ’toon
Information Futures Commission
It’s more complex than that
thanks, XKCDthanks, XKCD
Information Futures Commission
It’s more complex than that
Information Futures Commission
The project
Information Futures Commission• Chaired by Vice-Chancellor• Consultative process • Output: 10-year strategy for scholarly
information and technologies• Outcome: informed, targeted decisions
Information Futures Commission
The project
Scope:1. Information and data produced as part of
doing research2. Materials created for teaching purposes3. Library collections, archives, museum &
gallery collections (inc. physical spaces)4. Research outputs (articles, books)5. Technologies that support all of these
Information Futures Commission
The process
Information Futures Commission
eh?
What’s this got to do with IA?
Information Futures Commission
The process
• Project management• Literature review• Documentation:
– 12,000 words plus footnotes, bibliography
– 4 authors– version control
Information Futures Commission
The process
• User research plan• Communication plan• Advocacy:
– presentations– meetings
• Stakeholder interviews• Competitor analysis
Information Futures Commission
The process
• User surveys– task analysis– qualitative– quantitative
• Consultation forums• Business intelligence
Information Futures Commission
The process
• Exploratory workshops– scenarios – personas
• Contextual inquiry (well, sort of)
• Textual analysis– 75 written submissions
• Guest lectures
Information Futures Commission
The process
• Focus groups• Card sorting• Affinity
diagrams• Whiteboard
Information Futures Commission
The process
Information Futures Commission
The process
• Prototypes (draft documents)
• Collaborative writing, editing
Information Futures Commission
The process
• Advocacy, many meetings
Information Futures Commission
Happily ever after
• “Melbourne’s Scholarly Information Future: a 10-year strategy” was formally adopted in July– becomes part of the broader
Growing Esteem strategy from 2009• Initial funding allocated
– implementation starts in 2009– review progress in 2012
Information Futures Commission
Lessons learned
• Stories are powerful, when told in authentic voices
• When time is short:– Face-to-face is best
• for project team• for stakeholders
– Video is a close second
Information Futures Commission
Lessons learned
• Pick’n’mix your tactics:– similar approaches exist in different
disciplines (EA, IA, UX...)– choose whatever works for your
project– review your progress frequently and
adjust tactics as needed
Information Futures Commission
Lessons learned
• Getting buy-in:– user research activities became
stakeholder education opportunities– highly-engaged stakeholders became
active participants in designing the final strategy
– highly-engaged stakeholders are more likely to make the tough decisions
www.informationfutures.unimelb.edu.au
Margaret L Ruwoldt Enterprise Information Architect Information Services division
[email protected] +(61 3) 8344 0478
© Copyright The University of Melbourne 2008
Information Futures Commission
http://plethaurus.com/