the difficult second date
TRANSCRIPT
The Difficult Second DateMuseum Computer Network2 November 2016
Merete SanderhoffCurator / Senior Advisor
slideshare.net/meretesanderhoff@MSanderhoff
Merete SanderhoffCurator / Senior Advisorslideshare.net/meretesanderhoff@msanderhoff
Artworks by Jamie Seaboch / EyeQ Innovations
remixing public domain art from SMK CC BY-SA 4.0
unless otherwise stated
The National Gallery of DenmarkWestern art from 1300 to the present260,000 artworks
State funded since 1848
Our collection belongs to the publicWe are here to serve everyone
2008 – the first date
SMK Digital, 5 year dev project
Applied: 22 mill DKK ~ 3.2 mill USDPotential: 30 mill DKK ~ 4.4 mill USD
A great match
We support the good life
Immature organization
No real understanding of digitalNo experience with defining and achieving KPIs in digital projectsNo sense of UX designNaïve approach to user engagementNo updated infrastructure or resources to run the supertanker we had set out to build
All the classic mistakes
Everything at once Vague definition of target usersFocus on products, not on processes Shiny things that weren’t viableLack of overall management Hired the wrong kind of peopleSpent large part sums on external consultantsNo basic infrastructureNo operational budget
Stuff that happensin a project period
5 times maternity leave
4 key managers left for other jobs
Social media, mobile, and tablets changed the game
A fail forward project
Breaking the waves• Open source• Open licensing• User engagement• Collaboration
“SMK has introduced a paradigm shiftin the Danish museum sector, by invitingus to collaborate instead of competing, and by opening up the archives and democratizing the collections.”
Colleague museum interviewed by the external evaluator
A very expensive pilot
“SMK Digital might have benefitted from a pre-project that could have clarified whether SMK was ready to run a big digital development project and had the right competencies in place.”
From the external evaluation report
Some of the really great things that came out of SMK Digital were not in the original project description
• Open licensing / public domain • Sharing is Caring conference• Wikimedia collaboration
2012-16 Trying to go on a second date
Evaluations, critical questions, endless iterations on new application
Why was it so difficult second time around?
How a projectdevelopsin practice
How a project is perceived in the project plan
Tidying up Kandinsky, by Ursus Wehrli
The nature of digital – rapid change, disruption, perpetual beta – can be difficult to align, not only with a museum mindset, but also with that of a foundation Foundations expect value for their money, project plans that are followed minutely, annual reports on progress, and evident ROI
Finally, the second date
2016 – SMK Open
Applied: 21.5 mill DKK ~ 3.1 mill USD Granted: 11.7 mill DKK ~ 1.7 mill USD Support for the development of basic infrastructure
More than a funder – a valued partner
Forcing SMK to take responsibility for what we had started
Necessary to ensure operational costs and proper implementation to obtain new funding
The collaboration has sharpened the museum’s digital mission
Mutual learning process
Digital development is subject to rapid change
Focus on processes rather than products
Difficult to pin down ROI and impact
Projects will change direction
More viable to invest in infrastructure than shiny things
The hows and whys of maintaining a close, multiannual collaboration centered on digital
developments with a private foundation
How
Build trust – be patient
Sustained dialogue and information flow
Understand the nature of digital museum practice together
Demonstrate impact beyond your own institution
Why
Learn from the approach of a private foundation who thinks in investment and return User-centred approach – we support the good life
Mutual learning process to thebenefit of the entire sector
Let’s share!#MCN2016
Merete SanderhoffCurator / Senior Advisor
slideshare.net/meretesanderhoff@MSanderhoff
Merete SanderhoffCurator / Senior Advisorslideshare.net/meretesanderhoff@msanderhoff