The SED Web Presence: Integrating the Line Organization Sites

November 2, 2010

Catherine CorlanChair, SED Web Council; catherine.corlan@nasa.gov

SED Web Site: science.gsfc.nasa.govSED Web Templates: sedwebtest.gsfc.nasa.gov/science-css

The SED Web Presence Should …

• Provide a Fully Professional Public Face– Failure in this hurts our credibility as a high-tech

institution• Provide Efficient and Accurate Internal

Communication, Documentation– Enable us to do our jobs better

• Consume as few resources as possible– People and hardware

The SED Web Presence Has…

• No SED-Wide Look & Feel– Intermittent compliance with old Look & Feel

• No Standards in Information Architecture (IA)– Layout, Linkage, Labeling

• Highly Variable Content Quality– Patches of excellence

• No capabilities for re-use or sharing Best Practices across groups

• The Attention of the SED Director Of

The SED Web Council:Assess the SED Web Presence & Fix It

• Presence = Line Orgs AND Mission/Project sites; start w/Line Orgs

• Develop SED Look & Feel (GSFC L&F)• Develop Clean Core IA

– Extensible by individual organizations

• Content should – Serve our Audience Groups

• GSFC Mgrs & Employees; Scientists & Engineers; General Public– Be Standard, Complete and Up-to-Date without requiring additional

staff maintenance effort (No unfunded mandates!)– Belong to the individual organizations, unless authoritative source

exists

Initial Requirements and Priorities

• Initial, High-Level Requirements From:– SED Management: interviews with Nick White, Mitch Brown

• Required single, integrated site with standard information, location, labeling on each Org sub-site

• Specified mandatory information content: upper left nav

– Existing Sites: Minimal or no loss of functionality– Web Council Subcommittees specified IA, landing page layout

requirements for other Audience Groups• Priorities

– Do it Yesterday– Do it Right (for ease of maintenance, for future reuse)– Make it Useful– No Unfunded Mandates!

The Web Council’s Approach to Web Content

• Reconcile No Unfunded Mandates with Up-to-Date Content– Centralize/Automate Mandatory Content– Use Authoritative Sources– Push Maintenance Costs of core data UP the hierarchy

• Ensure efficiency & content freshness: Enter Once, Use Many– Press Releases, Missions/Projects, Publications propagate UP– Forms, Training, Procurement info will Propagate DOWN– Automated Information Retirement

• These are impossible on static sites– Dynamic sites are substantial database development efforts– Success depends on usability of the UI – frontend and backend

Implementation Options• Most DB & Coding Implementation Options set by Existing

Contractor Resources, Expertise– Cold Fusion, Fuse Box– Custom Content Management System became about half the

development effort• usability, customizability a huge strength • Some CM reuse possible for Mission/Project Sites (staff lists,

press releases, etc.)• Mandated use of the new SED VME environment• Pre-defined Web Team • Design - L&F and CSS – developed separately

– Coordinated with Code 400, GSFC Web Manager; Compatible with CSS for previous L&F

Web Development is Iterative

• Subsequent Requirements From:– Iterations of build/test to increase usability– Line Organizations

• Each had suggestions for improvements; we made them

– Better understanding of initial, high-level requirements

– Requirements gaps, e.g., • performance metrics• Content Management functionality

• Requirements grew several hundred percent

Challenges: Success Means…

• Satisfy Upper Management– Standard Content, Content Freshness, Look & Feel,

Navigation, Done NOW• Satisfy Line Org Managers– Reflect their emphasis on what information is

important regarding their organization– Keep local ownership of content– Do not require additional resources

• Satisfy Web Curators– Easy and quick to use

Current Status• All line organizations are integrated• Ramping up final development push for 3 Tab

Design– Managing to Cost & Schedule; done 4/30/11

• We’ve made substantial progress on the ‘Shoulds’– Professional Look & Feel – achieved this– Efficient and Accurate Internal Communication,

Documentation – in progress– Consume as few resources as possible

• Automation estimated to save ~4WYE/yr

Future Plans• For Line Organizations:– Easy CV & Identity Maintenance, easy Performance Appraisal

preparation– Adding Roles to Staff List, Bio pages – find your Property

Manager, Fire Warden, etc.– Publications pulled from library?– And… we take suggestions!

• For Mission/Project sites:– Site Templates, back-end services for small to medium

Missions & Projects– Flight Project ‘Cradle-to-Grave’ w/400

• For Security: sharing Best Practices

Backup Charts

SED Web Council Membership

Chair, Catherine Corlan (610.2)SED Editor-in-Chief, Karen Smale (606.1)

Code 600: Michelle Thaller, Asst. Dir for Communications603 Michael K. McMichen, Wrathall, Barbara G606 Nancy Laubenthal610 Rosa Kao, Eric Nash, James Gass660 J. D. Myers, Meredith Gibb, Frank Reddy670 Robert McGuire690 Carey Noll, Nathan James, John Haberman, Diana

Khachadourian