Articles by Month: July 2004

Bringing human information behaviour into information systems research: an application of systems modelling

David Johnstone, Mary Tate and Marcus Bonner have written an article on human information behaviour research. To quote:

In their influential paper, Dervin and Nilan compared and contrasted the "traditional" and "alternative" paradigms for human information behaviour research, highlighting the inadequacies of the former and promoting the importance of the latter. In this paper, we argue that the two paradigms are not irreconcilable. We offer a research framework that allows qualitative and quantitative views of the same problem to be combined using systems models. We demonstrate how this approach can be used to reconcile the six key differences between the two paradigms as argued by Dervin and Nilan.

[Thanks to InfoDesign.]

Posted by jamesr at 04:23 PM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

CMS Myth #1: Installing a CMS must be hard

This is the first of what may become a series of CMS myths to be tackled (briefly) in this blog.

CMS Myth #1: Installing a CMS must be hard

In the beginning, content management systems were used to solve leading-edge problems. The web was new, and uncharted territories were being explored. Naturally, a lot of custom development and consulting went into deploying CMS solutions in this environment.

Nowadays, however, many organisations have pretty simple needs. They want to publish a website, containing mostly static content with a handful of extra features (such as secure login, online events calendar).

If you fall into this category, then you can reasonably expect CMS products to install out-of-the-box. That's not to say you won't need some vendor assistance during the initial project, you will. What you won't have to do, though, is customise the product.

What you will have to do:

• implement the unique appearance of your site (this should involve taking existing HTML page layouts, and adapting them to fit the CMS)
• configure the system (this should be non-technical, point-and-click)
• setup the servers that the CMS will sit on (unless it's a hosted solution)

What you shouldn't need to do:

• do any coding or development to configure the product
• develop authoring interfaces
• develop the publishing system
• write code to connect CMS components
• hire technical staff to implement or maintain the CMS (the vendor should be able to do the initial setup, and then walk away)
• obtain technical or programming skills to do day-to-day administration

For most organisations, implementing the software should take hours or days, not months or years. Of course, there is much else that needs to be done, beyond just installing the software. (These other activities are the ones that will ensure the project is successful.)

Installing the CMS software can be easy. It should be easy. If isn't easy, ask why.

Make sure you aren't paying for services to deliver solutions that are simply offered out-of-the-box by a different product...

Of course, if you have specialised, complex or unique requirements, customisation and professional services will be required. As time goes on, however, the number of situations that fall into this category are shrinking, as the marketplace matures.

Posted by jamesr at 12:34 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Information sharing

Chuck Martin has written an article on information sharing within organisations. To quote:

In a survey over a base of 2,000 executives and managers nationwide, NFI Research also found that the smaller the company, the more information was shared, and the more relevant it was.

[Thanks to Jack Vinson.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:47 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

701 e-learning tips

The MASIE Center has published a free online book containing 701 e-learning tips. To quote:

Thanks to The MASIE Center’s TRENDS readers and e-Learning Consortium Members, over 1000 e-Learning tips were received, analyzed, and categorized. These tips are from senior managers and training professionals from major corporations around the world. We have edited and compiled 141 pages and 14 chapters covering the ABC’s of getting started to global implementation strategies. We hope you enjoy this free digital book!

[Thanks to elearningpost.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:38 AM | Permalink
Categories: E-learning

Open Publish 2004 conference

I gave a presentation today at the Open Publish 2004 conference, held in Sydney. The topic of my talk was "Ensuring your CMS project is a success".

Powerpoint presentation (79kB)

Posted by jamesr at 09:25 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Content management

Hierarchical organisations are killing knowledge management

Megan Santosus looks at the impact of hierarchical organisations on knowledge management. To quote:

Becoming a true knowledge management organization, in which information is shared seamlessly among employees and departments, has always been an acknowledged challenge. But when I read Jeff Nielsen's book The Myth of Leadership a few weeks ago, he convinced me just how much the deck is stacked against KM.

[Thanks to the eGovernment Resource Centre.]

Posted by jamesr at 12:45 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

How to run a brainstorming meeting

Scott Berkun has written an article about brainstorming sessions. To quote:

The most important thing about a brainstorming session is what happens after it ends. No matter how poorly you run a brainstorming meeting, some decent ideas will surface. But depending on what happens after the session, those ideas may or may not impact anything. So while you can read books and take courses on better brainstorming techniques, the most important thing is figuring out how the brainstorming session fits into the larger decision making process you or your team has. Even if you fix how you run the meeting itself, and get better ideas, if you can’t migrate them into the decision making process for the project, what’s the point? With this central point in mind, the following essay covers how to run brainstorming sessions in a way that is most likely to be effective afterwards.

Posted by jamesr at 12:34 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets, Knowledge management, Usability & user-centered design

Successful intranet manager in search of a new home

I am sending this message on behalf of a successful intranet manager currently working for a large Australian insurance firm. Due to an organisational restructure, they are currently looking for a role in another organisation.

The person is question is interested in taking on a Sydney CBD position in either the private or public sector.

If you are looking for a highly-skilled and experienced intranet manager, please contact me directly on jamesr@steptwo.com.au, and I will pass across your details.

Posted by jamesr at 12:21 PM | Permalink
Categories:

The impact of knowledge management

Nadia Uddin has written an article on the impact of knowledge management. To quote:

As knowledge management has become a formal function within many organizations, the need to measure its impact is vital for its sustenance. "It's really important that we understand how to measure the impact of knowledge management," said Carla O'Dell, president of the American Productivity & Quality Center, during her keynote presentation. "At the end of the day, that's what's important: powerful impact on the organization and the people. Plus, it makes everyone feel good when they realize there are effectively sharing and using what they know."

[Thanks to Bill Ives.]

Posted by jamesr at 03:57 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Building an Interactive Intranet (Canberra, September)

We've just announced details for the next one-day Intranet Peers in Government workshop titled Building an Interactive Intranet, to be held in Canberra on 29 September 2004. At a glance:

An intranet must be more than a collection of documents and static web pages to be successful and sustainable. Increasingly, organisations are positioning their intranets as a 'business tool', instead of just a publishing platform.

This one-day Intranet Peers in Government workshop will explore how public-sector intranets can make this transition to an interactive intranet.

The following topics will be discussed:

• supporting business processes
• integrating the intranet and business applications
• online forms
• intranet 'killer apps'
• team collaboration tools
• intranet 'show and tell'

Seminar brochure and registration form (140kB PDF)

Posted by jamesr at 06:52 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Intranets

A day in the life of HCI

The OK/Cancel team have published another comic, this one on the neglected role of HCI in projects. To quote:

When I speak to some smaller firms about HCI, I often get a response on the lines of, "that sounds great, but we only have one or two projects so there isn't really enough work for a full-time HCI." On some days, I have a lapse and actually nod in agreement. On other days, I think back to some projects I've worked on and recall how I spent all of my time on a single project from requirements to release and not only had enough work - I had too much work.

Posted by jamesr at 11:22 AM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

Latest thinking & introductory usability

Just two quick reminders:

• It is less than a week until the Canberra Latest Thinking in Usability & IA seminar. This will cover faceted classification, shape of information, card-based classification analysis & personas. There are still places, if you get your registrations in quickly...
• The early-bird rate for the Melbourne Introductory Usability Testing workshop closes in a week. Get in early to obtain the discounted rate...

Posted by jamesr at 02:46 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations

A definition of interaction design

Dan Saffer offers a definition of interaction design. To quote:

Interaction design is the art of facilitating or instigating interactions between humans (or their agents), mediated by products. By interactions, I mostly mean communication, either one-on-one (a telephone call), one-to-many (blogs), or many-to-many (the stock market). The products an interaction designer creates can be digital or analog, physical or incorporeal or some combination thereof.

[Thanks to elearningpost.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:23 AM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

How to use mind mapping software for project management

Chuck Frey has written an article on using mind mapping for project management. To quote:

Mind mapping software can be a powerful tool for managing your projects, your goals and even your to-do lists. Mind maps are very visually oriented, and enable you to gather, manage and share a large variety of information and resources quickly and easily -- making them an ideal tool for managing projects.

[Thanks to Jack Vinson.]

Posted by jamesr at 04:01 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Managing and Growing Your Intranet

Bright*Star have organised for me to present a pair of two-day workshops in New Zealand titled Managing and Growing Your Intranet. These will be held in Auckland on 18 & 19 October, and Wellington on 20 & 21 October.

We will be covering many excellent topics across the two days, including:

• Intranet Challenges
• Planning Intranet Activities
• Intranet "Killer Apps"
• Structuring your Intranet
• Intranet as a Strategic Business Tool
• Promoting Your Intranet
• Intranet Goals
• Identifying Intranet Needs
• Selecting a Content Management System
• Implementing a Content Management System

Posted by jamesr at 11:15 AM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Intranets

Web services and content management

Travis Wissink has written an article on web services and content management. To quote:

In conclusion, Web Services can assist an enterprise in extending its content management capabilities to other systems and vice-versa, thereby obtaining more value from their IT investments. You can also yield the benefits of specialization. A services-oriented architecture allows different systems to do what they do best, enabling a cleaner separation of concerns than is found in most enterprises today, and potentially reducing your dependence on major suite vendors.

(A warning: this article is pretty technical, and not for the faint-of-heart...)

Posted by jamesr at 11:00 AM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

ROI is not a silver bullet

Scott Hirsch has written an article on the ROI of user experience. To quote:

For years now, the "ROI of User Experience" has been sought as a means to justify larger corporate investments in web design. Although ROI methodology can be a useful tool for prioritizing possible web development projects, by itself ROI is not the answer to building a stronger user experience design competency.

Scott then lists five key steps:

• Get an Understanding of Business Value
• Look for Quick Wins
• Determine the User Behaviors and Measure Baseline Data
• Measure Outcomes Post-launch
• Evangelize Success

[Thanks to InfoDesign.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:53 AM | Permalink
Categories: Metrics & ROI, Usability & user-centered design

New mentoring program connects AIfIA members

AIfIA have just announced their new mentoring program for information architects. To quote:

AIfIA members now have the chance to share experiences with leaders in the field through the institute's new mentoring program.

The IA mentoring program aims to improve the skills of current and future information architects by providing them with the opportunity to be mentored by an experienced IA. Mentees must be AIfIA members, but mentors do not.

We announced a (complementary) intranet mentoring programme a few months back, and it's not surprising therefore that Donna Maurer is deeply involved in both.

Posted by jamesr at 10:39 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

Reading online text: A comparison of four white space layouts

Barbara Chaparro, J. Ryan Baker, A. Dawn Shaikh, Spring Hull, & Laurie Brady have written an article on reading online text, looking specifically at the issue of white space. To quote:

In this study, reading performance with four white space layouts was compared. Margins surrounding the text and leading (space between lines) were manipulated to generate the four white space conditions. Results show that the use of margins affected both reading speed and comprehension in that participants read the Margin text slower, but comprehended more than the No Margin text. Participants were also generally more satisfied with the text with margins. Leading was not shown to impact reading performance but did influence overall user preference.

Posted by jamesr at 05:00 PM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

Card sorting: How many users to test

Jakob Nielsen has written an article on how many users to card sort with. To quote:

Testing ever-more users in card sorting has diminishing returns, but you should still use three times more participants than you would in traditional usability tests.

My comments:

I've love this number-obsession of Jakob's! Frankly, I don't care where there is a "Number" (capital N) of users that should be involved in card sorting. In practice, you keep conducting card sorting sessions until you are getting consistent results.

One key point I would take up with Jakob is that individual card-sorting sessions should be uniform groups of staff (one session with nurses, another with admin staff, etc, etc). That will allow you to compare how people think. Running a single 15-person card sorting session for an entire organisation just isn't meaningful...

Anyway, read Donna's definitive card-sorting article for more on all of this.

Posted by jamesr at 06:13 PM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

Getting senior management engaged in the web

Gerry McGovern has written about getting senior management support for the web. To quote:

The extent of senior management involvement in the Web is a clear indication of the value of the Web to your organization. If your senior management currently don’t recognize the importance of the Web, then it is vital that they are educated as to its value.

Of course, this applies equally well to intranets...

Posted by jamesr at 10:31 AM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets

Communities of Practice: going one step too far?

Chris Kimble and Paul Hildreth have written a paper reviewing some of the claims made for communities of practice. To quote:

In the late 1990s, Knowledge Management (KM) and Communities of Practice (CoPs) seemed inseparable. CoPs appeared to offer the key to reversing the failure of some of the earlier technologically based attempts to manage knowledge. However, the original CoP concept was built around a very different set of principles to those put forward by the proponents of KM.

Posted by jamesr at 01:21 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

The development and application of the community assessment toolkit

René Stach has posted a introduction to a new community assessment tool, which can be used to provide feedback on the performance of communities of practice. To quote:

This paper introduces the Community Assessment Tool (CAT) as a method for the assessment of Communities of Practice (CoPs) and provides an overview of its construction. It shows that the methodology is based on current theories with regard to CoPs and group dynamics. The method was also tested in practice through a pilot and a study among members of 7 communities of practice (N = 271) in order to do reliability tests and scale analysis. The method is unique in the sense that it provides feedback on the overall performance of CoPs on the individual, group and organizational level. The systematic nature of the CAT questionnaire enables comparisons between communities both within and between organizations. The CAT may be used for further scientific research into CoPs as well as for the analysis of community effectiveness for companies.

Posted by jamesr at 12:35 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Are useful requirements just a fairy tale? (and why an IA should care)

Dan Willis has written about the importance of requirements. To quote:

In many of the real worlds I've worked in, however, requirements either didn't exist or, if they did, they existed in a state that made me wish they didn't.

Where requirements didn't exist, it was usually because the company's culture had wished them away. Every suggestion to collect requirements was met with a heavy sigh and an exaggerated glance at a wristwatch. When requirements were produced despite the resistance, the same people impatiently flipped through a few pages before choosing a couple of requirements to argue about for the life of the project.

Posted by jamesr at 10:10 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

Enterprise content management compliance a struggle

Brice Dunwoodie writes about a study into compliance with information management standards. To quote:

Recent joint study by AIIM and Kahn Consulting indicates Enterprise Content Management (ECM) compliance is underway, but heavily burdened by new requirements and a lack of executive-level involvement.

Posted by jamesr at 10:53 AM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Web content management market growth

Brice Dunwoodie has summarised the latest META Group report on the web content management marketplace. To quote:

META Group have announced their latest findings on the web content management marketplace. Predicting strong growth, they see expansion to USD 2.5 billion by 2007, with a 2:1 ration of services to software license costs and an increasing trend for Web CMS to be viewed as part of a broader Enterprise CMS scope.

Now, one statement that I disagree completely with:

Among the 14 WCM products evaluated in the METASpectrum report, META Group finds little differentiation. This is indicative of a maturing market wherein users should not rely purely on technical performance to justify product decisions.

Which 14 products did they pick? On what basis did they compare them? In contrast, I have often stated that I see less than 30% similarity between CMS products in general.

Posted by jamesr at 10:39 AM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Take back enterprise technology

Susan H. Cramm and Mike Clifford have written an article on the issues surrounding enterprise vendors. To quote:

CIOs believe that many of the large enterprise vendors have crossed over the line to customer abuse. Because their customers are captive, big vendors are taking every opportunity to exploit poorly negotiated or ambiguous contract terms. For example, they continue to charge maintenance fees for modules never implemented, increase maintenance fees regardless of support history, broaden the definition of seats to include Internet hits, and force upgrades even though additional functionality is of no value to their customers.

[Thanks to CMS Watch.]

Posted by jamesr at 06:59 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Introductory Information Architecture (Canberra, Sydney)

We've just announced dates for our brand new Introductory Information Architecture workshop, to be held in Canberra (13 October) and Sydney (27 October).

These will be run by Donna Maurer, and they will provide a thorough introduction to information architecture, as well as providing an opportunity for hands-on exposure to key techniques. Not to be missed!

Seminar brochure and registration form (76kb PDF)

Posted by jamesr at 06:13 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Information architecture

Group suggests ways to promote records management

Sara Michael writes about a report on promoting records management within organisations. To quote:

In the report, the Electronic Records Policy Working Group, part of the Interagency Committee on Government Information (ICGI), outlines four major obstacles to valuable records management procedures and proposes several possible solutions. The group's recommendations include: promoting training programs to reinforce the benefits of records management; demonstrating the need for incorporating it into business processes; and providing the necessary skills for information management.

[Thanks to eGovernment Resource Centre.]

Posted by jamesr at 05:41 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets

'Stolen' parts make for a better intranet

David Walker has written a case study on the Department of Victorian Communities intranet, which won a place in the Nielsen Norman Group's list of the 10 best government intranets. To quote:

"The main thing that worked was that we didn't try to reinvent the wheel," Geileskey says.

Government bodies can steal ideas more freely than businesses. Other departments, other states and other levels of government may have similar problems, but there is less rivalry than in the private sector. So this type of sharing is high on the Federal Government's official list of "better practices" for intranets.

Posted by jamesr at 09:43 AM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets

Policy, scourge of the people

Peter Seebach has written an article on corporate policies, and the negative impact they can have. To quote:

Company policies have gradually grown from a way to keep practices consistent into a catch-all excuse for inappropriate behavior. In this instalment, cranky Peter Seebach explains why policy can be the enemy of the customer and the company, as well as why using the word "empowerment" in a corporate setting is so wrong.

I see this as very relevant for anyone working in either the knowledge management or intranet fields. As anyone who has chatted to me for any length can attest, I have a big problem with the blind faith that underpins some policy development...

[Thanks to Tomalak's Realm.]

Posted by jamesr at 03:48 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets, Knowledge management

KM becoming RM?

I thought I would post a quick comment on a trend that I've been seeing in Australian public-sector organisations: knowledge management becoming records management.

That is, the "knowledge management initiative" is handed across to the library/records management folk, who then implement projects such as:

• records management systems
• document management systems
• corporate taxonomies/thesaurii

While these are all important things to do, they are obviously only a very small corner of knowledge management. Yet, in many organisations I've seen, this is all that's left of the initial enthusiasm about KM.

In these situations, there is no focus on the people-related aspects (such as communities of practice, or knowledge sharing in general), nor on the cultural or process issues within the organisation.

I find this a worrying trend, as it suggests a general decline of KM across the industry as a whole, with what's left just being subsumed by existing disciplines such as records/document management.

My question: is this just an oddity of the Australian public-sector, or have others noted this same trend elsewhere?

(Note: blog comments are currently moderated in order to filter out the huge amount of spam I'm getting. So please be patient, your post will appear shortly!)

Posted by jamesr at 11:10 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

The power of informal learning

Bob Mosher writes about the value of informal learning, compared with more traditional approaches. To quote:

Although more formal forms of instruction such as the classroom and e-learning will be around for years, it’s becoming more and more important to watch and harness the more informal methodologies that our students are utilizing. Most of these methods have been around for years, but have gone unnoticed by the training community. If you ask many advanced learners today, they will tell you they are gravitating toward these more informal learning methods and away from traditional ones. Understanding, tracking, creating and encouraging these informal methods of learning can reach a growing population of students you may currently be ignoring or losing touch with altogether.

[Thanks to elearningpost.]

Posted by jamesr at 12:10 PM | Permalink
Categories: E-learning, Knowledge management

Ask Tony: CMS market metrics

Tony Byrne has written an article on CMS market metrics in the US. To quote:

Dear Tony, I'm really interested in the content management space, and am looking for data and statistics about the CMS market in North America.

Could you explain where and how I could find such information?

Posted by jamesr at 05:28 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Introductory Usability Testing (Melbourne, September)

We've just announced a date for the next Introductory Usability Testing workshop, to be held in Melbourne on 1 September 2004. At a glance:

This one day workshop will introduce you to usability testing, a technique that allows you to improve your systems and sites by regularly testing them with the people who will actually be using them.

You will learn quick and inexpensive techniques, as well as some fundamental principles that will allow you to check that your target audience will be able to successfully use your system.

While the workshop will focus on websites and intranets, the techniques learnt are equally useful for developing applications, or even physical devices.

This workshop has proven to be very popular, and numbers are strictly limited, so you will want to register early...

Seminar brochure and registration form (85k PDF)

Posted by jamesr at 05:14 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Usability & user-centered design

Strategies for successful KM in large law firms: Lessons learned from document management systems

Ron Friedmann and Dennis Kennedy write about implementing knowledge management in law firms, from a document management perspective. To quote:

I recently participated in a discussion with some CIOs of large law firms about current knowledge management ("KM") developments. I was surprised to learn that many KM projects seemed to have as their goals the results that have been associated for many years with document management ("DM") systems -- full-text search of documents, descriptive fields, taxonomies, and the like. I played devil's advocate and asked, "Is large firm document management broken?" I was not satisfied with the answer so I've been asking the question of other experts. Ron Friedmann is one of the leading legal technology experts in the business. In the following conversation, we discuss the lessons we've learned from document management and the implications for KM projects.

[Thanks to excited utterances.]

Posted by jamesr at 11:03 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Using personas in intranet projects

Martin White has written a blog entry about the use of personas during intranet projects. Most usefully, he links to a number of good articles on developing personas. To quote:

Just occasionally I have a 'Eureka' moment. At the end of last year, and quite serendipitously, I came across the concept of personas in an excellent paper by Alison Head in Online magazine. Since then I have been using the approach in intranet projects with a high degree of success. So what is a persona? It is a real virtual user!

Posted by jamesr at 06:26 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets, Usability & user-centered design

Sydney IA Hour - Thursday July 15th

Forwarding details from Eric Scheid:

Sydney IA folks are once again invited to the monthly IA Hour.

Who: IAs and like-minded folks
When: Thursday July 15th @ 7:00pm
Where: Out of India Restaurant, Victoria St, Potts Point
RSVP: eric@ironclad.net.au

This is an informal event with no agenda other then hanging out and gabbing about Information Architecture stuff. Everyone is invited, and you don't necessarily have to be an Information Architect to come. The more diverse the group the better.

Posted by jamesr at 10:50 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

Factors affecting the pre-disposition of adoption of knowledge management

At the request of Sabrina Fu (a student at the City University of Hong Kong), I'm passing on details about her KM survey. To quote:

This survey is used for an academic research which attempts to identify factors affecting the adoption intention of Knowledge Management (KM) within an organization. KM refers to the process of creating, storing, retrieving, disseminating and applying knowledge using KM systems. Information technologies and software systems have been used to help manage organizational knowledge. These systems are called KM systems. Examples of KM systems include document and content management systems (e.g. Microsoft SharePoint, Collaborative Document Management Solution and Lotus Discovery Server), tools for organizational taxonomy (e.g. Intelligent Data Operating Layer, Freedom and SemioTagger), tools providing collaboration services (e.g. Microsoft Netmeeting, Groupsystems and eRoom), tools for data mining, analysis and synthesis, expert networks, knowledge portals, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, competence management systems, intellectual property management systems and e-learning management systems.

Your participation in this survey will provide valuable information for academic researchers, application developers and organizational decision makers. Your views will be very useful in helping us to understand the factors and organizational issues affecting the adoption intention of KM.

Posted by jamesr at 10:34 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Public Sector Organisational Knowledge conference

A few weeks back, I gave the opening presentation at the Public Sector Organisational Knowledge conference held on 17 June 2004 in Canberra, Australia. The topic of my talk was "Knowledge management in the public sector: challenges & opportunities".

Powerpoint presentation (100kb)

Posted by jamesr at 12:39 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Knowledge management

Strategic Intranet Management conference

I was very pleased to be invited as the "international speaker" to the Strategic Intranet Management conference held on 28-30 June 2004 in Auckland, New Zealand. The topic of my talk was "Ensuring the success of your organisation's intranet".

Powerpoint presentation (168kb)

(I also presented a one-day post-conference workshop titled "Practical techniques for building a better corporate intranet".)

Posted by jamesr at 12:32 PM | Permalink
Categories: Conferences & presentations, Intranets

Usability and listening to customers have limits

Gerry McGovern has written about the limits of usability, and the importance of focusing on delivering value. To quote:

Listening to customers and making sure your website is usable are important to website success. It is much more important, however, to have a website that delivers real value both to the organization and the reader. Going for value can sometimes mean going against customer feedback and usability best practice.

Posted by jamesr at 10:32 AM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

CMS specification and implementation - setting a realistic timetable

Martin White has written a very interesting blog entry on the timetable for CMS projects. To quote:

It never ceases to amaze me how little attention people pay to the time it is going to take them to specify, purchase and implement content management software. One of the reasons is often that the person concerned has never been involved in software deployment before, or at least not on the scale of an enterprise CMS. This blog was prompted by a telephone call recently from someone who at last had budget allocated for a CMS, but only on the condition the software was billed by November. Given the work that needed to be done even to write a decent specification this was going to be an impossible target.

Posted by jamesr at 05:56 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Why should we be trusted?

Lou Rosenfeld has written a blog entry on building trust in information architecture. To quote:

A colleague recently told me that one of the biggest challenges that she and other in-house information architects face is earning management's trust. Initially this shocked me, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

Posted by jamesr at 05:49 PM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

Ask Tony: Packaging our CMS

Tony Byrne has written an article for would-be CMS vendors. To quote:

My company is a 9 year-old Web development company that has created a proprietary Web content management framework that we successfully implement for our clients.

We have considered the idea of packaging and selling our CMS to other development firms. Do you think there is room on the market for another CMS solution, and if so, what niche/market is not being served effectively?

Posted by jamesr at 06:17 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Does your intranet support core business?

Donna Maurer looks at whether your intranet supports core business. To quote:

On many intranets, a large proportion of the site is dedicated to allowing staff complete administrative tasks easily. Few intranets have the same focus on assisting staff with core business.

This is a natural by-product in the evolution of intranets, with many starting as sites to distribute HR information and later extending to provide other administrative support.

In addition, the background of staff in intranet teams is often in communications, web design or writing. Less frequently do intranet team staff come from core business areas and therefore lack a comprehensive understanding of how the intranet can offer benefits to the business.

Although it is important to allow staff to undertake administrative tasks efficiently, the intranet will provide much better value to the organisation if it allows staff to do their day-to-day business more efficiently.

Posted by jamesr at 05:55 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets

The importance of training staff in the use of the intranet

Donna Maurer has written the first of July's CM Briefings, on the importance of training staff in the use of the intranet. To quote:

An intranet, like any other business application or information system, is a tool staff need to learn to use. Without assistance or training, staff do not automatically know how to use it any more than they know how to use the finance system.

In many cases, intranets are under-used as staff are simply unaware of ways the intranet can help them or what is actually on the intranet. Training staff in the use of the intranet will increase awareness and as a result, increase use.

An additional benefit of training staff is in learning more about their experiences, needs and expectations. This information can then be used to create a more useful and usable intranet.

Posted by jamesr at 05:49 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets

Successfully deploying a content management system

My KM Column article for July is on deploying a CMS. To quote:

While selecting the right content management system (CMS) is crucial for success, it is not sufficient. There is also much that needs to be done during the implementation to ensure that the initial project is successful, and the CMS is viable in the long-term.

Implementing a CMS is not easy. There are many aspects that must be addressed, and most of these are not related to the technology. Instead, they are focused on the people and process issues within the organisation.

This article outlines a structured approach to deploying a CMS, as well as providing a range of practical guidelines and tips that will assist the implementation team.

Posted by jamesr at 05:43 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management, James' articles

Thinking about interaction design for online news delivery

Philip van Allen has written an interesting article on interaction design. To quote:

Online journalism needs better design for active readers rather than passive consumers. The author's research indicates that Web content can be made far more meaningful and useful through better use of interactivity, or "productive interaction."

[Thanks to elearningpost.]

Posted by jamesr at 05:37 PM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture, Usability & user-centered design