managing higher education web development: traps and tips

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

RYAN@GWU.EDU