Articles by Month: August 2004

The knowledge profile (KP)

Denham Grey has written a blog entry on knowledge profiles. To quote:

A knowledge profile records skills, tools, practices and social networks, it highlights competencies, identifies gaps, helps with learning programs to address deficits, realize opportunities and heighten awareness for the owner and colleagues.

Posted by jamesr at 06:58 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Comments on Requirements Toolkit

I'm pleased to be able to share with you some recent comments received on the new version of the Content Management Requirements Toolkit:

"Having advised on and reviewed numerous CMS requirements documents, it has become clear to me that most organizations struggle to accurately define and understand the scope of their projects in the early stages.

During proposal planning and requirements definition, the value of the CMS Requirements Toolkit cannot be understated. It provides practical guidance, broadly re-usable content, and serves as a concise educational tool.

Given the large and potentially negative impact of a poor CMS procurement decision, the risk mitigation benefits provided by toolkit for make it well worth its cost. It is the most affordable insurance policy a serious procurement team could acquire."

Brice Dunwoodie
Editor, CMSwire.com

Posted by jamesr at 11:04 AM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Questions about card sorting effectiveness

UI Designer has posted a blog entry exploring the effectiveness of card sorting. To quote:

Carding sorting is one of the most important tools an Information Architect uses to help determine the organization of content. It's a widely used technique, but there are some aspects of card sorting that I find troublesome and lead me to question how the results of card sorting are interpreted and used.

[Thanks to ia/.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:29 PM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

What are the differences between message boards and weblogs?

Lee LeFever has written about the differences between message boards and weblogs. To quote:

First, I believe that weblogs and message boards *are* different -- different enough to happily exist together in the same online community web site. My conclusion is that online communities will use the two resources to fill two different roles. Their ability to fill independent niches will make the subtle differences between them make more sense.

Posted by jamesr at 05:26 PM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture, Intranets, Knowledge management

Six great ways to ruin a brainstorming session

Paul Sloane has written an article on how to ruin a brainstorming session. To quote:

The brainstorming session is the most popular group creativity exercise in business. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with brainstorms and have stopped using them. They say this group ideation technique is old-fashioned and no longer effective. But the real reason for their frustration is typically that the brainstorming meetings are not facilitated properly. A well-run brainstorming meeting is fun and energetic. It will generate plenty of good ideas. But a poor session can be frustrating and demotivating. Let’s look at some simple ways to ruin your next brainstorm meeting -- so you understand what practices you should avoid.

[Thanks to Jack Vinson.]

Posted by jamesr at 03:01 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Four practices for great performance

Lauren Keller Johnson has written an article on employee performance, from a knowledge management perspective. She identifies four key practices:

• Involve employees
• Focus on achievability
• Build measures that help meet goals
• Tap into employees' deepest motivations

[Thanks to elearningpost.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:52 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

It’s not just about searching -- it’s about findability

Martin White has written an article on findability and searching. To quote:

It would seem that the search engine industry would have a vested interest in promoting the effective use of search technologies within the context of findability, but I have to say that in my view, most search vendors' provide fairly lightweight white papers, and their own Web sites provide poor examples of site design. Often the vendor's own search engine seems not to have been optimized to search the site. Perhaps this is why the delegate numbers at the Enterprise Search Summit were so high.

[Thanks to InfoDesign.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:28 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture, Search tools

NSW KM Forum Thursday 2 September (Sydney, Australia)

Details on the next NSW KM Forum meeting:

Thursday 2 September

Ari Jacobs on data visualisation

Ari Jacobs is a Creative Director at Different Solutions in Sydney. Ari has been creating digital media for over 10 years, and "challenges the boundaries of the 2D interface". His favourite projects include next-generation functional prototypes for Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Fujixerox. Ari will be speaking about some of his projects, and his work on Visual Database Navigation and Highly Dense Catalogs.

Professor James Guthrie on Intellectual Capital Management, Measurement and Reporting

As Director of the MGSM Centre for the Management of Knowledge and with an extensive experience in intellectual capital management, James Guthrie will share with the Forum his insight into the measurement, reporting and management of Intellectual Capital.

Dr Guthrie has published nearly 130 articles in both international and national refereed and professional journals, and 30 chapters in books. James has presented his ideas and research findings to over 210 national and international gatherings. He is also co-editor of six public sector management and accounting books.

See the NSW KM Forum site for full details.

Posted by jamesr at 11:29 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

CMS Myth #2: Big organisations need a big CMS

I've seen this time and time again: big corporations making the automatic assumption that because they are large, they must purchase a similarly large and expensive content management system.

This is not the case.

In many cases, even large organisations have pretty simple web content management needs. Conversely, some small organisations have tremendously complex and expensive CMS needs.

When considering the purchase of a CMS, focus on the complexity of your site, in terms of user interaction, integration with other business systems, etc. Also explore the complexity of the back-end needs for the CMS. These two factors will then determine the type of CMS that you purchase.

Factors that aren't generally an issue:

• size of the organisation
• number of sites
• size of the site(s)
• number of authors

Start by defining your business requirements for the content management system. Then assess the marketplace as a whole (not just the larger vendors) to identify potentially-suitable options.

Taking this approach may lead to the purchase of a smaller CMS, thereby saving your organisation tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you do end up spending a lot on the CMS solution, at least you will have confidence that it's money well spent.

Posted by jamesr at 06:18 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

When is a long document not a long document?

Rachel McAlpine has written an article on writing long documents for the web. To quote:

Your job may entail writing long documents. They may be reports, manuals, policy or discussion papers, for example. Until now you have perceived them as paper items, because you print, copy, bind and circulate a paper version. But somewhere along the line, your work started getting published on a web site or intranet.

Next time you start on such a job, web-proof your work from the start. It's not particularly difficult - provided you start from scratch with the web in mind.

[Thanks to elearningpost.]

Posted by jamesr at 11:19 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture, Intranets

Fitts' Law

Dave Shea has written a blog entry on Fitts' Law, using his own site as an example. To quote:

First introduced to me by Kevin Cheng, Fitts’ Law states: The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and size of the target.

On the web that means the bigger your link area, the better. It also roughly means that grouping elements likely to be used together is a smart idea, but the target area is what I’m interested in at the moment.

[Thanks to Design Principles.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:02 AM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

Representing content and data in wireframes

Dan Brown has written an article on presenting wireframes, and in specific wireframe data, to clients. To quote:

Sample data can make or break a wireframe, whose purpose is typically to illustrate architecture and interaction. Poorly selected sample data can end up clouding the wireframe or distracting stakeholders from its purpose. By codifying the types of sample content they employ in their deliverables, information architects can create a coherent narrative to illustrate a website's functionality.

Posted by jamesr at 10:27 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture, Usability & user-centered design

Information architecture heuristics

Lou Rosenfeld has written a blog entry on information architecture heuristics. To quote:

Just finished a brief heuristic evaluation of a client site, basing part of my feedback on a set of questions that I find quite useful for just about every IA-related project. Every information architect should always have a set of favorite questions in their back pocket; they really do come in handy.

Posted by jamesr at 10:19 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

How to apply for IA jobs

Michael Angeles has written an article on how to apply for IA jobs. To quote:

Someone who recently made my acquaintaince asked me to help provide some pointers for breaking into IA after having worked on visual design. I gave some very honest responses because I know that job hunting is hard. I asked that he realize that these are my opinions and don't necessarily reflect his personal situation. I can only speak to my experience. With his consent, I'm posting a bit of our conversation about applying and interviewing for IA jobs here. These ideas apply mainly for people who are sending a resumé out blindly. That is to say, without a word of mouth recommendation.

Posted by jamesr at 10:45 AM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture

Appointment to DIMIA panel

I'm pleased to report that we've been appointed onto a Department of Immigration (DIMIA) panel to provide usability and accessibility research, including:

• focus groups
• user testing
• user needs analysis
• information architecture evaluation
• business analysis, including the development of technical and functional specifications

We are very pleased to enter into this arrangement, and look forward to the opportunity to work closely with DIMIA over the coming years.

Posted by jamesr at 03:06 PM | Permalink
Categories:

Book review: Leading Change

Leading Change
John P. Kotter

It is widely recognised that organisations are under greater pressure than ever before to adapt to meet new conditions and challenges within their marketplaces. This has spawned many change management projects, reorganisations and strategic realignments. Most of these have failed.

This book takes a much-needed look at how the process of organisational change must operate if it is to have both short-term impact and long-term sustainability. At the core of the book, is a eight-step process:

• Establishing a sense of urgency
• Creating the guiding coalition
• Developing a vision and strategy
• Communicating the change vision
• Empowering broad-based action
• Generating short-term wins
• Consolidating gains and producing more change
• Anchoring new approaches in the culture

This is a quite deceptive book, in that at first glance the steps are self-obvious, and the writing style is light and informal. What became increasingly apparent to me, however, was that considerable thought had been put into constructing both the change process and the book itself.

Kotter has clearly distilled years of practical experience into this volume, and his approaches are both similar and radically different to past ideas. My expectation is that when I return to re-read the book in six months time, I will discover even more insights and useful ideas.

Putting this into the context of the fields in which I work: this should be required reading for anyone leading an intranet, content management or knowledge management project. The change management process outlined in this book provides an effective project management framework, as well as invaluable insight into the activities that will be required.

In other words: this book will help you to ensure that the cultural and process changes needed to make an intranet or CMS successful are actually achieved.

Overall score: 9/10

Posted by jamesr at 10:43 AM | Permalink
Categories: Book & product reviews, Intranets, Knowledge management

8 Quick Ways to Fix Your Search Engine

Jeffrey Veen has written an article on fixing your search engine. To quote:

Our finding, not surprisingly, is that almost every site's search engine could use improvement. We also found that most organizations' Web teams couldn't really affect the quality of their search results -- they were stuck tweaking search technologies that had already been purchased and installed. Often, the most dramatic change they could make was in the design of the search and results interfaces. In some cases, as the old saying goes, this was like putting lipstick on a pig. But cleaning things up does help users find answers to their queries.

Posted by jamesr at 11:05 AM | Permalink
Categories: Search tools

Usability Test Data Logger

Todd Zazelenchuk has developed a usability test data logger, a customised spreadsheet for recording and presenting the results of usability tests. To quote:

Most people use Microsoft Excel to analyse the results of usability tests, but did you know you can use it to collect the data too? This spreadsheet allows you to measure task completion rates, analyse questionnaire data, and summarise participant comments. It even includes a timer so you can measure time-on-task.

[Thanks to the eGovernment Resource Centre.]

Posted by jamesr at 10:49 AM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

KM salary survey in law firms

Joy London has written a blog entry on a KM salary survey in Australian law firms. To quote:

Salary ranges for knowledge managers at top tier Australian firms are:
National Manager: AUD 120,000 - 250,000 (US $85,660 - 178,459)
Manager: AUD 68,000 - 140, 000 (US $48,560 - 99,977)
Co-ordinator: 41,000 - 75,000 (US $29,279 - 53, 559)

Posted by jamesr at 02:33 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management

Adopting Web Standards (Sydney, Australia)

Forwarded on behalf of Russ Weakley:

Adopting Web Standards - Free briefing for Education and Government

Government and education are at the forefront of the adoption of web standards. To aid in this process, Web Essentials is hosting this free briefing, featuring the W3Cs Dean Jackson, and highly respected web accessibility expert Roger Hudson.

At this preview for WE04, Web Essentials invites you and your colleagues to come for a drink and have your questions answered by industry leaders.

Date: Thursday September 2, 2004
Time: 6:00pm for 6.30pm start (refreshments supplied)
Venue: University of Technology Sydney, Building CB02, Level 4, Room 10
RSVP: rsvp@webessentials.org

Posted by jamesr at 01:50 PM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design, Web development

Blogs + Egos = Learning?

Lou Rosenfeld has written a blog entry on studying the blogosphere, all very interesting. To quote:

We rambled on about how much fun it would be to observe patterns in the use of comments, classification, cross-linking between entries, aggregation, and so on. We brainstormed a few metrics that could be tracked longitudinally against the growth of the system's content and usage. And we came up with some fun questions that could be investigated. For example, would a static set of general classification terms lose value as content grew? Would more precise terms be added, or would students naturally rely on other approaches, such as cross-linking, to make the content more accessible?

Posted by jamesr at 12:41 PM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management, Weblogs

New version of Content Management Requirements Toolkit

I'm very pleased to announce the release of Version 2.0 of our Content Management Requirements Toolkit. To quote:

Fully-revised, and almost twice the size, the new version of the Content Management Requirements Toolkit captures the latest thinking in the content management industry. In addition to the expanded range of requirements, the Toolkit now provides a comprehensive guide to writing CMS scenarios, as well as a detailed overview of the whole selection process.

The first version of the Toolkit has been used by organisations the world over, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and small businesses. This new version builds upon these successes, and delivers even greater value.

Posted by jamesr at 04:38 PM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

Content migration - managing the cost and risk

Martin White has written a blog entry on content migration into a new CMS. To quote:

It continues to amaze me how little attention organisations pay to migrating legacy content into their nice new CMS. Their viewpoint seems rather like a poorly informed approach to pension management. "Retirement - that's a lot way off. I'll think about it nearer the time". The end result in the UK is that retirement is now even longer away than many once thought. Same with some web and intranet projects I know of!

Posted by jamesr at 10:37 AM | Permalink
Categories: Content management

UXnet

Lou Rosenfeld has highlighted the creation of a new organisation: UXnet. To quote:

UXnet is dedicated to exploring opportunities for cooperation and collaboration among UX-related organizations and individuals.

For individuals, UXnet offers a way to connect to the broadly drawn UX community. In particular, our Events Calendar and Groups Directory will provide a way for individuals to find out about events and groups of interest.

For organizations, UXnet is a way to explore opportunities for collaboration and a way to reach practitioners in related UX disciplines. We invite organizations to participate in UXnet.

We're certainly going to be helping out the UXnet folks however we can...

Posted by jamesr at 09:53 AM | Permalink
Categories: Usability & user-centered design

Establishing an intranet community of practice

My second CM Briefing for August is on establishing an intranet community of practice. To quote:

Many intranet teams have struggled with the role of 'gatekeeper', setting standards and attempting to enforce them on the intranet authors and publishers. An alternative approach involves establishing a 'community of practice' that involves all intranet stakeholders. This group then takes on shared responsibility for maintaining and improving the intranet.

This approach has been used very successfully by a wide range of organisations, in both the public and private sectors. Indeed, establishing an intranet community of practice is now seen as one of the 'critical success factors' for an effective and sustainable intranet.

Posted by jamesr at 05:21 PM | Permalink
Categories: Intranets, James' articles

Improving your intranet, task by task

The first of the two CM Briefings for August is written by Tina Calabria on improving your intranet, task by task. To quote:

If a redesign is not feasible, what are the alternatives? There are a number of ways to incrementally improve an intranet, such as redesigning a particular section of the site, or adding a new 'killer application'.

One method that is certain to provide immediate business benefit is to improve the way the intranet supports key tasks. In fact, by selecting only one task at a time, improvements can be made in a manageable and cost-effective manner.

Posted by jamesr at 05:15 PM | Permalink
Categories: Information architecture, Intranets, Usability & user-centered design

Developing a knowledge management strategy

My KM Column article for August is on developing a knowledge management strategy. To quote:

To be successful, a KM strategy must do more than just outline high-level goals such as 'become a knowledge-enabled organisation'. Instead, the strategy must identify the key needs and issues within the organisation, and provide a framework for addressing these.

This article provides an approach for developing a KM strategy that focuses strongly on an initial needs analysis. Taking this approach ensures that any activities and initiatives are firmly grounded in the real needs and challenges confronting the organisation.

Posted by jamesr at 05:09 PM | Permalink
Categories: James' articles, Knowledge management

NSW KM Forum meeting this week (Sydney, Australia)

The NSW KM Forum meeting this week features two excellent speakers:

Anne Hudson - Collaborative technologies

Online collaboration is an emerging technology expected to become a "way of life" for virtual teams, workers and learners by 2008. The technology took off in the United States following 9/11 and the economic downturn which blighted travel budgets and motivation. Anne Hudson, CEO of Grouputer Solutions, a developer of online collaborative technology, will endeavour to answer these questions: What technology is available to support virtual teams? What are the characteristics of these technologies? What kind of organization/teams are using them and what are the applicaitons? What are the trends? What is happening in Australia? What is the ROI? How to decide which technology?

Andrew Balmaks - Practical KM: Turning Rhetoric to Reality

Knowledge management in many organisations is confined to academic debates by enthusiasts and/or a focus on information technology. Gaining tangible benefits from knowledge management is the major challenge for organisations that have a knowledge agenda. Two organisations that are taking active steps to achieve practical outcomes are the Department of Defence and the Department of Family and Community Services.

Key details:

• Thursday 5 August.
• Turn up by 5:30pm, talks start at 6pm. Finish at 7:30pm. Then down the road for drinks and chats.
• Standards Australia, Level 6 286 Sussex St (Corner of Bathurst St) Sydney NSW
• Latecomers, call James Digges on 0414 191 009 for access.

Visit the website for full details on the meeting.

Posted by jamesr at 10:20 AM | Permalink
Categories: Knowledge management