Plumbing to Paint: Managing a Technology Project Myra Hope Eskridge, Web & DB Consultant MIT...

Plumbing to Paint:Managing a Technology Project

Myra Hope Eskridge, Web & DB Consultant

MIT Information Services & TechnologyDepartmental Consulting and Application Development

What is a Project?

• A process of discovery, design, and build that results in a new or improved system.

• …and typically involves coordinating more than one person or process.

Myra Hope Eskridge, 2010Page 2

Plumbing to Paint

• Running a technology project is like renovating your kitchen.

My best advice

• A project is an investment. You and your stakeholders will invest time and money in planning, design, build, testing, approving -- and eventually maintaining -- the evolving site.

• Time up front will save time and money later. Invest in Discovery.

What does a project look like?

discover design build

Acionix Consulting

Web Style Guide 3rd Edition

Yale Web Strategy & Utilization

IKM Network Communications, Ltd.

MIT IS&T DCAD

discover design build

Project Phases

• Define clear project goals, objectives, and scope.

• Discover project requirements by defining how users will interact with the site.

• Partner with professional talent who match the project's needs.

• Design the user experience through an iterative design exploration.

• Develop the design into a into a fully functioning web site.

• Deliver a final web site that meets all of the project's goals.

~from the DCAD consulting site: http://ist.mit.edu/services/consulting/web

Myra Hope Eskridge, 2010Page 9Myra Hope Eskridge, 2010Page 9

Current State

Why Invest in Definition and Discovery?

1. Build a business case for the project.

Project drivers

• The users don’t like how it looks

• It’s a deprecated model, no longer supported

• It takes too long to use

• It’s difficult to use

• The users need more features

Target State

Target State?

Why Invest in Definition and Discovery?

2. Identify users and learn what they need.

1. Build a business case for the project.

How do I know I have a project?

Top five project drivers:

5. It’s out of date

6. It’s broken

7. It’s not supported

8. I need better data

9. Management wants improvement

Define Scope

• Where am I?

• What do I need?

• For whom?

• When do I need it?

Define

• Where am I?

- Current State, Project Drivers

Project drivers

• It’s a deprecated model, no longer supported

• It takes too long to use: 8 secs to complete task

Define

Where am I?

• What do I need?

- Goals, Objectives, Target State

Metrics

Make your case with numbers

• on the web: page hits; usability study scores; number of completed applications in a given time period; number of help calls; time to load; etc.

cf: Web Site Analytics

• in a database: time needed to complete a task; number of separate processes needed to perform a task; time to load; etc.

cf: Usability Review

Drivers / Goals

• More interesting design

• An upgrade

• Reduced task completion time:

from 8sec to 3sec

• Easier to use

• It’s no longer supported

• It takes too long to use : 8 secs

to complete task

Project Driver Project Goal

Define

Where am I?

What do I need?

• For whom?

- Stakeholders, Users, and Audience

Stakeholders

• Persons or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or

whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the

execution of the project.

• Persons or organizations who exercise influence over the project and

its results.

Regulators

FacultyStudents

Developers

Manager

Sponsor

Users/Audience

• Internal Users

– creators and maintainers of the system

• External Users

– consumers of the system’s data or content

Stakeholders

systemExternal

UsersInternalUsers

Define:

Where am I?

What do I need?

For whom?

- Stakeholders and Users

- Target Launch,Time Constraints and Dependencies

When do I need it?

Target Date, Time Constraints, and Dependencies

• now

• we must launch in time for x (constraint)

• we can not launch until X (dependency)

• as soon as possible

Complexity

cost $ $$ $$$ $$$$+

project size quick small medium large

# of stakeholders few many

technology complexity simple complex

systems interfaces few many

process interfaces Few many

development hours (~1-20) (~10-40) (~30-80) (~60+)

Review:

• Where am I?

• What do I need?

• For whom?

- Stakeholders and Users

- Target Launch,Time Constraints and Dependencies

Timeline and Deliverables

The Projects

• Kitchen • Web Site

Define

Tasks:

ProjectScope

Deliverable:

(team/project manager) Define the project scope

(stakeholders) Approve the scope

Building a Team

Stakeholders

Building a Team

BusinessAnalyst

Project Manager

Stakeholders

Current State

• What’s wrong?

bad lighting

users need more features

broken infrastructure

old windows

difficult to find things

broken appliances

exposed code

users need more features

broken widgets

outdateddesign content needs

difficult to find things

Project Drivers

Kitchen

• Color looks old

• Plumbing is rickety, faucets don’t

work any more

• Cabinets are too high and shallow

• The space is laid out badly, difficult

to actually cook

Web Site

• The design is outdated

• It breaks or looks bad in current

browsers

• Search is unreliable and delivers

bad results

• Users have trouble doing what we

want them to do

Define

• Internal Users / Audience

– people who cook

– people who build and maintain

the equipment

– other people who live in the

• External Users / Audience

– people who eat

– other visitors to the house

• Target Date

– June 1, 2011

– Graduation weekend

Building a Team

BusinessAnalyst

Project Manager

Stakeholders

Discover

Tasks:Deliverables:

BusinessRequirements

Site Map

Request forProposal

(business analyst) Interview users, write

requirements and RFP

(stakeholders) Approve requirements and RFP

External Users

External Users/Audience

• Job-seekers

• Prospective or Current Students

• Faculty

• Partner Universities

• Prospective or Current Donors

Stakeholders

web siteExternal

Internal Users

• Content editors

• Reviewers / Testers

• Module programmers

• Systems administrators

• Database administrators

• Data analysts

Stakeholders

web siteExternal

UsersInternalUsers

Systems

Systems interfaces

• Hosting service

• Database(s)

• Authentication

• Payment processing

• Other web sites

Stakeholders

web siteExternal

UsersInternalUsers

systems

Drop-in guests

Shoppers

Dinner guests

Grandparents

Coffee guests

Caterer

Landlord

Plumber

Faculty

Developers

Content editors

Prospective students

Donors

Hosting service

Prospective donors

Stakeholders

Discover

Features

• Total Redesign

• Refrigerator

• New Sink Plumbing

• Paint

• Name Sign

Features

• Information Architecture

• Search

• Hosting

• Redesign

• Identity/Logo

Discover

Feature 5.0

• Refrigerator

Feature 5.0

• Search box

Discover

Feature 5.0

• Refrigerator

1. The user must be able to open

the door without hitting the

counter.

2. The refrigerator door must

hold at least 4 gallons of milk.

3. The refrigerator must produce

copious amounts of ice.

Feature 5.0

• Search

1. The user must be able to find

the search box easily.

2. The system must

automatically fill in the search

term as the user types.

3. The system will present

search results ranked

according to defined priorities.

Target State

Kitchen Floor Plan Site Map

Discover+

Tasks:Deliverables:

Risks:a. Not capturing all of the requirements.Secret allies: your stakeholders and end-users. Plan to interview every type of user, and to go through at least two revisions of your requirements, with full participation and review from stakeholders.

b. Not achieving stakeholder approval.Secret ally: your project sponsor

BusinessRequirements

Site Map

Request forProposal

(team/business analyst) Interview users, write

requirements and RFP

(stakeholders) Approve requirements and RFP

Partner

Deliverable: Tasks:

Proposal (PM) Send out the RFP for bids

(prospective designers) Submit proposals

(team) Review proposals; hold interviews; select

vendor

(team) Begin writing content

Partner +

Deliverable: Tasks:

Risk:a. Vague language, for example: “etc.”, “as needed”, “TBD” may open the project up for unending costs later.Secret ally: clarity, and a thorough review.b. Finding the right mix of vendors for the project.Secret ally: stakeholder experience, and DCAD

Proposal (PM) Send out RFPs for bids

(prospective designers) Submit proposals

(team) Review proposals; hold interviews; select vendor

(team) Begin writing content

Building a Team

BusinessAnalyst

Project Manager

Stakeholders

Designers

Usability Team

AccessibilityTeam

Design

Deliverables: Tasks:

VisualDesigns

Wireframes,Style Guide

ContentDeck

(designer) Create designs

(usability and accessibility teams) Review designs

and provide feedback

(team) Meet regularly with designer to review

designs; select final option

(designer) Create design deliverables

(team) Finish the content

Design +

Risk: Design may result in development cost beyond budget.Secret ally: If developer is involved early, they can review designs and give feedback about complexity

VisualDesigns

Wireframes,Style Guide

ContentDeck

(designer) Create designs

(usability and accessibility teams) Review designs and provide feedback

(team) Meet regularly with designer to review designs; select final option

(designer) Create design deliverables

(team) Finish the content

Building a Team

BusinessAnalyst

Project Manager

Stakeholders

Designers

Developers

Usability Team

AccessibilityTeam

Develop

Deliverable: Tasks:

Prototype

(developer) Build site templates from the designs and

completed site content

(usability and accessibility teams) Review prototypes

(project manager and team) Manage changes

(team) Review and comment on templates; approve

when ready

Develop+

Deliverable:

Risk: Small enhancements may build into big expenses.secret ally: your developer can inform you of incremental costs

Prototype

Tasks:

(developer) Build site templates from the designs and

completed site content

(usability and accessibility teams) Review prototypes

(project manager and team) Manage changes

(team) Review and comment on templates; approve

when ready

Building a Team

Systems Owners

BusinessAnalyst

Project Manager

Stakeholders

Designers

Developers

Usability Team

AccessibilityTeam

Testers

Deliver

CompleteSite

Service LevelAgreement

(developer/s) With feedback from team, complete the

(team) Review and comment on completed site;

approve when ready to launch

Deliver+

Risk:Issues discovered during testing may be costly. Time spent in Discovery will save you time and money in development.Secret ally: your requirements.

CompleteSite

Service LevelAgreement

(developer/s) With feedback from team, complete the

(team) Review and comment on completed site;

approve when ready to launch

Post-Launch

Post-launch Tasks:

(developer) Begin “warranty” period. Complete any

remaining fixes or adjustments

(team) Continue to review and test updates to the site

(site maintainer) After “warranty” period, begin

maintenance SLA

Myra Hope Eskridge, 2010Page 61Myra Hope Eskridge, 2010Page 61

Appendix A: Project Management Resources

At MIT:

• Departmental Consulting and Application Development (dcad@mit.edu)

• Publishing Service Bureau (psb@mit.edu)

• Usability Team (usability@mit.edu)

• Accessibility Team (atic@mit.edu)

Appendix A: Project Management Resources

On the Web:

• http://ist.mit.edu/services/web/reference

• http://www.webstyleguide.com/wsg3/index.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management

Appendix B: Project Documentation Templates

On the web:

• http://www.jiludwig.com/Template_Guidance.html

• http://www.uservices.umn.edu/pmo/batoolkit.html

Appendix C: Project Phase Images

http://www.acionyx.com/projects.php

Acionyx Consulting

Web Style Guide 3rd Edition

http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/languages/html/webstyle/wsg3/1-process/7-development-process.html

http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/web/process/index.html

Yale Office of Web Strategy & Utilization

http://www.ikm.co.uk/our-services/project-management/

IKM Network Communications, Ltd. (U.K.)

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