![[ColumnTwo Logo]](/images/ColumnTwoLogo.gif) |
 |
Column Two
News and opinion on all things KM & CM |
James Robertson
Step Two Designs
|
Written by James Robertson Step Two Designs |
|
|
Articles by Month: May 2007
Not too late to see my photographyJust a quick note to say that it's not too late to see my photography exhibition (along with Cairo's wonderful paintings). The exhibition is open all weekend, 9am - 5pm. There's been a lot of very positive feedback, so that's very pleasing. Posted by jamesr at 09:42 PM
| Permalink
How to select a CMSSeth Gottlieb has written an item on how to select a CMS. To quote: A while back, I wrote a post on selecting a CMS. I have since gotten requests for more step by step instructions. While, the process is not so formulaic that it can be written into a recipe, this is the Content Here approach. This methodology is optimized for the complex content management projects. Some of the steps require a deep background in the content management marketplace or help from an expert. But here they are. I like this approach, and I think it is particularly appropriate for selecting open-source CMS products, something that Seth knows a huge amount about. Posted by jamesr at 08:43 PM
| Permalink
The IM familyJust catching up on my blogging, Patrick Kennedy has written a very amusing post describing the IM family. To quote: A discussion last week, during Bob Boiko's Taming the Content Beast workshop, lead me to personify the various information management systems that currently muddy the waters for many an enterprise. Posted by jamesr at 12:21 PM
| Permalink
CMS questions (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)I've just run a two-day Web content management workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These were the big questions raised by participants, for the record:
Posted by jamesr at 08:38 PM
| Permalink
Web developers have the powerPatrick Kennedy has written a post highlighting that web developers have the power, and should act accordingly. To quote: At the end of the day, creating and maintaining websites and intranets is about communication, not technology. In order to succeed, and to have yourself heard, you need to be open to discussions with your fellow team members. You need to share the wealth of your expertise and you need to interface with all the different parts of the business. Posted by jamesr at 10:35 AM
| Permalink
Three important benefits of personasJared Spool has written an article on the benefits of personas. To quote: Personas are model users that the team creates to help understand the goals, motivations, and behaviors of the people who will use the interface. The persona represents behavior patterns, helping the designer understand the flow of the user's day and how the interface will fit into it. Posted by jamesr at 08:08 PM
| Permalink
The anatomy of a help file: an iterative approachMike Hughes has written an article on creating online help. To quote: This article presents an approach to Help file design that focuses on creating a task-centered user experience and accommodates an iterative development strategy. This methodology allows the introduction of user assistance into early test phases --- not only getting earlier validation for its accuracy, but also supporting quality assurance testing by serving as the test scripts for interactions with the user interface. This approach can also be a self-contained strategy --- that is, one that allows an iterative approach to user assistance development even if the rest of product development operates on a waterfall model. Posted by jamesr at 10:58 AM
| Permalink
Welcome to Rebecca!
Rebecca brings over 12 years experience on a variety of large projects in the corporate world. Her skills cover intranets, usability, user centred design, IA, business analysis, project management and training. Welcome Rebecca! Posted by jamesr at 10:53 AM
| Permalink
Dynamic help in web formsLuke Wroblewski has written an article on dynamic help in web forms. To quote: Each of these dynamic Help systems for Web forms has its distinct advantages and disadvantages. As with all design decisions, an understanding of user needs and business goals should inform which of these dynamic Help systems is right for your Web forms. If you've used other types of dynamic Help on Web forms, please let me know, so we can extend this list of options. Posted by jamesr at 02:40 PM
| Permalink
IA One SheetersLeah Buley has posted a number of IA One Sheeters, covering key IA topics. To quote: One-Sheeters are quick and easy marketing tools for information architects. They're like mini brochures to advertise IA deliverables and promote the IA practice in your company. One-Sheeters help people envision what deliverables you produce and where they fit into a project. They're quick to produce and easy for anyone to understand. [Thanks to InfoDesign.] Posted by jamesr at 10:22 AM
| Permalink
Comics: Not just for laughs!Rebekah Sedaca has written an article on using comics as part of internal communication and change management. To quote: The presentation successfully communicated how users would engage with the site in addition to how it would look. Audience members commented on the use of comics as "a really cool way to demonstrate functionality." While the team also got a few "how did they do that?" responses, others mentioned how easy it was to understand the process with comics. Using comics, we were able to quickly communicate complex concepts to a large, diverse audience. The comic medium also allowed us to illustrate answers to many of the audience’s questions before getting to the Q&A session. Posted by jamesr at 10:14 AM
| Permalink
Taxonomy workshop (Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney)Just a reminder about the upcoming Taxonomy and metadata strategies for effective CM workshops in June. Taxonomies are something that are often talked about, but discussions can be short on practical detail. To address this we've brought Joseph Busch, one of the leading US taxonomy experts, out to Australia. Joseph has worked with many high-profile organisations in the US, and brings tremendous depth of experience. In these types of workshops, there are always things to be learned from the presentation, but even more from the opportunity to get your questions answered by someone who's really been-there-done-that. Workshop dates:
(Like all our events, we've brought out Joseph because he's extremely practical, knowledgeable, and approachable. We've seen him talk in the US, and we're looking forward to seeing him again in Australia.) Posted by jamesr at 04:24 PM
| Permalink
Ten steps to a successful vendor demoTony Byrne has written an article on organising successful vendor demos. To quote: I've been attending a lot of vendor demonstrations on behalf of clients recently. These are in-person demos, typically following a tight script, after a set of vendors has been down-selected following written proposals. More often than not, the demos don't turn out very well. To be sure, sometimes the customer is ill-prepared. But more frequently, the vendor just flubs it. I think that's avoidable. Posted by jamesr at 10:16 AM
| Permalink
Increasing portal adoption with user scenariosPaul Bryan has written an article on increasing portal adoption with user scenarios. To quote: Low user adoption of company portals -- a common complaint these days as many companies upgrade their extranets and intranets -- is often a result of focusing on technical requirements rather than the real-life context of the system. User scenarios can help bridge the gap. Posted by jamesr at 03:08 PM
| Permalink
Where collaboration tools fit in (Canberra, 3 July 2007)We've just organised the first in our new round of afternoon sessions, titled Where collaboration tools fit in. Scheduled for Canberra on July 3, this is what we'll be covering:
Numbers are strictly limited, and this is a hot topic. So read the full event details, and book quickly! Posted by jamesr at 10:58 AM
| Permalink
If you had problems submitting entries to the Awards...Late last week we discovered that an internal IT change had put on a 10meg limit on emails that we could receive. So if you have had some problems submitting your entries to the Intranet Innovation Awards, all is not lost. Just drop a line to awards@steptwo.com.au, and we'll sort out an alternative way of sending across your entry... Posted by jamesr at 01:42 PM
| Permalink
Exhibition details are onlineI've just posted the final updates to Artx2, the website that lists the details on the upcoming exhibition of my photos (Emergence) and Cairo's paintings (It's all about you). Have a browse through a selection of the artworks that will be on display in the exhibition, and turn up to see them in the flesh:
Drop us a line if you plan to attend... Posted by jamesr at 10:56 PM
| Permalink
Kicking off global intranet projects - some tipsJane McConnell has written an excellent entry on kicking off global intranet projects. To quote: Global intranet project kickoffs can be tricky. You have to bring together business and intranet mangers from business divisions and countries around the world to move forward in a coherent way. These tips might help you through the initial steps Posted by jamesr at 11:39 AM
| Permalink
Intranet Innovation Awards close tomorrowJust a quick reminder that the Intranet Innovation Awards close tomorrow. We've had some great entries so far, but there's still time to get a winning entry submitted! The awards focus on individual innovations, so it should be possible to pull together a submission in a few hours... So don't miss out on the opportunity to get a trophy sitting on your desk for all to admire! :-) Posted by jamesr at 10:43 AM
| Permalink
How to professionally manage searchGerry McGovern has written an article on how to manage search. To quote: To manage search on your website, don't manage the technology or the content. Manage the task. Success is about finding, not searching. Posted by jamesr at 10:20 AM
| Permalink
Compliance is not a big driver for ECMAlan Pelz-Sharpe has written a blog post outlining his observation that compliance is not a big driver for ECM in practice. To quote: I have thought this for a long time, and my personal experience in consulting confirmed this, but polls and analysis by my industry peers say otherwise. From my perspective the uncomfortable truth is this: building an honest, worthy business case for ECM based on compliancy will have little chance of success, while building one for process and revenue improvement will likely breeze though every time. This completely matches my experience, and I have never seen a business case built on "fear" of compliance, no matter the organisation... Posted by jamesr at 03:14 PM
| Permalink
Usability of content management systems is discussed on multiple continentsRahel Bailey has posted a discussion on CMS usability, as a followup to my recent article. To quote: James Robertson of Step Two Designs just published an article on the 11 usability principles for CMS products. As usual, James has said what needs to be said about the topic, simply and eloquently. He has hit all the major points. But one of the pieces that I don't think gets hammered home often enough is the connection between patterning and usability, and I would like to elaborate on that a bit, as I've been talking about it in my conference presentations lately. Posted by jamesr at 11:16 AM
| Permalink
Intranet questions (Wellington, New Zealand)A full house for my two-day intranet workshop in Wellington (New Zealand) this week, and a switched on group it was too, which made for some excellent discussions. Thanks also to those who shouted me a drink at the end of each day... For the record, these were the "big questions" identified at the beginning of the workshop:
Posted by jamesr at 11:04 AM
| Permalink
Why invest in social features for your web site?Joshua Porter has written an article about using social features on websites. To quote: The runaway successes of YouTube, MySpace, and Flickr have completely changed the landscape of design. One huge change is the rise in socially-enabled web applications, applications that connect users in new and more explicit ways. Witness the trend of "going social" on news sites, where they give their community the ability to comment on and even participate in the news. The design team behind the USAToday.com web site, for example, recently enhanced their site with new social features including comments, reviews, discussion forums, and the ability to make recommendations. Just this past week ABCNews did the same. So what are the core benefits of making this change? Why invest in social features? Posted by jamesr at 09:32 AM
| Permalink
When ROI isn't enough: making persuasive cases for user-centered designColleen Jones has written an article on making persuasive cases for user-centered design. To quote: Making the case for user-centered design (UCD) is a topic of recurring discussion for UX professionals. Much of the discussion has centered on strictly objective approaches such as cost-benefit or return-on-investment (ROI) analysis. However, recent commentary suggests proving ROI is not always enough. For example, Dray, Karat, Rosenberg, Siegel, and Wixon have raised concerns about significant weaknesses of the ROI argument, including their concern it ties UCD to tactical, not strategic initiatives. Posted by jamesr at 09:19 AM
| Permalink
Web Industry Professionals Association (Australia)Spreading the word about a worthy initiative: The new WIPA site was launched today. Posted by jamesr at 07:08 PM
| Permalink
Recordkeeping responsibilities on a single sheet of paperWith the move from paper to electronic documents, responsibility for recordkeeping within organisations has shifted to individual staff and away from centralised records management specialists. Much is made of the need for all staff to understand their recordkeeping responsibilities. To this end, many training and communication programs are conducted within government agencies (and elsewhere). To a large extent, this training has failed. While staff gain a general awareness of recordkeeping, they are not provided with sufficiently concrete and detailed guidance to make their recordkeeping successful and consistent. This article explores ways to help staff meet their recordkeeping obligations by creating a single sheet of paper for each staff member with everything that they need to know. Traditional recordkeeping training Most organisations have fairly well-established staff training programs on recordkeeping, covering topics such as:
Crucially, this training only talks of records in general terms, outlining statements such as 'records are any documents that provide evidence of a decision or activity'. In practice, not every document or email should be kept, and these general statements do little to help staff make judgements about what to file. The training also fails to tell staff where to file individual records, other than generally pointing to the corporate records systems. [CM Briefing 2007-08, read the full article] Posted by jamesr at 04:02 PM
| Permalink
Every intranet has its successesRunning an intranet can be a huge and thankless task. All too often, intranet teams feel that they have made little progress towards their long-term ambitions for their sites. While the success levels of intranets vary greatly, there are very few sites that do not contain at least a couple of successes. These successes may be small, perhaps benefiting only one group of staff, or they may be substantial pieces of functionality that support the whole organisation. In either case, it is important to fully recognise these successes, and to communicate them throughout the organisation. Intranet teams should also take care not to forget that much has been delivered, even if there is much yet to be done. This briefing explores the idea of intranet successes, how to identify them, and how to gain the greatest value from them. Identifying intranet successes Intranet successes may sometimes be very obvious, the 'killer apps' that drive site usage and reputation. These may be related to core business functions, or to the social environment within organisations. In many situations, however, successes may not be recognised as such. Even small improvements to the functionality or content of a site may greatly benefit a single business area. For example, in one call centre, a simple calculator tool for determining the tax payable on a transaction turned out to be the most successful aspect of the whole call centre intranet. This functionality took only a few days to develop. [CM Briefing 2007-07, read the full article] Posted by jamesr at 03:44 PM
| Permalink
11 usability principles for CMS productsThe functionality of the content management system (CMS) is obviously a key deciding factor when purchasing a new product. Equally important is the usability of the CMS. If staff, particularly authors, cannot easily make use of the CMS, then the system will never be a success, regardless of how powerful it may be. The overall usability of CMS products, and their suitability for their intended users, is therefore increasingly closely scrutinised during the evaluation and selection process. One key challenge remains, however, which is how best to define (and ultimately evaluate) the 'usability' of a content management system. While there are no simple answers to this question, this article is intended to provide some starting points for organisations looking to select a CMS. The article focuses on exploring a number of key principles that can be used to guide the evaluation of CMS usability. These principles can be used when constructing scenarios for use in the vendor demonstration, as well as when documenting the CMS requirements. It is hoped that this article will promote further discussion among the CMS industry on how best to design and deliver usable products. Vendors are also encouraged to consider these principles when planning upgrades to their products, to help ensure that usability is not sacrificed in the name of added functionality. [May KM Column, read the full article] Posted by jamesr at 03:15 PM
| Permalink
Periodic table of visualisation methodsVisual-Literacy.org has published an incredible periodic table of visualisation methods. Truly a thing of great beauty... [Thanks to Christina Wodtke.] Posted by jamesr at 10:37 AM
| Permalink
Five techniques for getting buy-in for usability testingChristine Perfetti has written an article outlining tips for getting buy-in for usability testing. To quote: For more than seven years, I've been teaching and coaching design teams on how to conduct usability tests and gather user feedback early on in the development process. One of the questions that comes up time and time again from clients is, "How can we get buy-in for usability tests from management and other team members?" Posted by jamesr at 04:28 PM
| Permalink
The no-knead approach to information architecture (#4 of 5)Lou Rosenfeld continues his series of articles on a no-knead approach to information architecture. To quote: Now comes the fun part, Step #3: determine each audience's primary tasks and information needs. Duh.I realize that this sounds painfully obvious. But can you describe -- with even minimal confidence -- the major needs that each of your primary audiences wants from your site? Posted by jamesr at 11:27 AM
| Permalink
10-year anniversary and office warming
Last night we held our 10-year anniversary party and office warming. We had a great group of friends, colleagues, clients and associates along, and thanks to all who made time to share this milestone with us. Ten years since Step Two Designs was established, it doesn't seem that long. In that time we've done a number of different things, but we've been focused on intranets, UCD and content management now for five full years. As the founder of the business, it's been tremendous to see it grow and evolve. We've now got a truly superb team of consultants, and no shortage of great ideas and new initiatives in the pipeline. We've also got a great team of support staff who make so many things possible. I'm definitely feeling that the business is really picking up pace now, with tremendous opportunities in the coming year or two. Now that we're finally starting to get the resources that we need, a whole range of projects start to become possible. Looking ahead, our focus on innovation remains unchanged. This is not just innovating the fields in which we work, but also innovating how we work as a consulting firm. We've already launched whole new aspects to our business, such as the Intranet Leadership Forum and the Intranet Innovation Awards. We have also set ourselves several industry-wide challenges to solve (or at least shed some more light on), ensuring that we'll be thinking and working hard over the coming year. So thanks to all those that have helped us over the last ten years, or have given us the opportunity to work with them. It's been a great decade, and I'm looking forward to even better times to come. Posted by jamesr at 10:43 AM
| Permalink
|
|
|
Yes, our team is growing again. I'm very pleased to welcome 
![[Column Two]](/images/ColumnTwo/xml.gif){kind=small}