10 Giant Mistakes I Made This Year
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Transcript of 10 Giant Mistakes I Made This Year
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About Me
Making the Internet since 19957 years of consulting experienceJoined NAR as a consultant Advanced case of hubris
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About the National Association of Realtors
Million member association5,000 pages of content, as well as
applicationsTeam of three Content editors, 1 IA1 dedicated developer from IT
department
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Stakeholders
Our membersPublications/Communications -
owners of the processIT departmentDepartments - co-owners of the
contentThe Association as Communicator
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Objectives
Find and install a new CMS.Map the site.New navigation and labeling.New visual design.Migrate all the content to new CMS.Tag with metadata.
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Timeline
Map, redesign, IA and migrate 5,000 - 6,000 pages
of content from Lotus Notes into TBD CMS with a staff of 4 while maintaining normal updates, without vendor help, in
18 months.
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By The Way
3 people on this team are writers, and don't really know anything about metadata, technology, large scale implementation, or information structures.
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So, what happened?
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We had no process (so everyone got treated differently).
This is really just a good user flow!Write down the steps that you're
going to follow for approval on a piece of paper.
Draw a good diagram to go with it.Hand out this at the start of every
meeting.
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We thought metadata would solve all of our problems.
Really the idea of metadata.Make sure to clearly explain all of
your techniques.Stay appropriate to your audience.If it's untested, manage
expectations.
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We knew that user-centered design triumphed over all (including the relationships with our stakeholders).
It's important to have usable design.Messaging is a push and a pull.We ignored what the association
needed to push out that our users may not care about.
Be prepared to be the only one in the room who knows something is wrong.
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We hired bad consultants that we didn't know were bad (now we know better).
Business development = subject to exaggeration.
Network.Get references. Ask hard questions.
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We ignored our internal clients' immediate needs.
We lost credibility by telling people that we couldn't help them.
When it came time to work directly, they thought we were idiots!
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We thought everyone should be doing everything
(so no one knew what their job was).Do IAs edit?Do editors write labels?Do developers make graphics?Define jobs well, but make sure that
duties overlap.
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We didn't spend enough money.
Remember the magic triangle of good, fast, cheap? We needed good and fast...
Get consultants, get vendors, get any outside advice to get smart fast
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We didn't narrow our focus (for the goals of our redesign).
If you can't explain what you're doing in an elevator pitch, rethink your project.
Phases are crucial for large projects.
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We narrowed our focus too much (for the needs of our technology).
Work on the "what" not the "how" when you’re not the expert.
Don't select a CMS in three months.
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We set unrealistic timelines.
The project plan is not your destiny, it's a guideline.
Be conservative in your planning. Underpromise.
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The Transition from Designer to Entrepreneur
Remember that you're there to solve business problems -- all the problems, not just the information design problem.
Be flexible. Be agile. Evolve. Show your value. Your best value
may not be as a designer.
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What can you learn from my pain?
Growing pains do hurt - and that's ok. (That which does not kill it makes us stronger)
Fail forwardYou need to explain your value and
the potential ROI of your work. (We did this right!)
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Learn from my pain (con’t)
Don't forget to learn yourself.When you don’t know what you’re
doing, pick good, better, best.Really, the clients just want a web
site. You’re there to know about quality.
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Can you avoid every mistake?
No! At some point, you just have to guess and do it.
(It's called using your best judgment.)
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Next steps
Meet everyone in the room who lives near you.
Take 5 people out to lunch in the next two months
Stay for Lou’s Roadmap!