taken out of context: old tricks, new dog

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

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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

m.ruwoldt@unimelb.edu.au +(61 3) 8344 0478

© Copyright The University of Melbourne 2008

Information Futures Commission

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