Michael Edson: Prototyping the Smithsonian Commons

Prototyping theSmithsonian

Commons

Michael EdsonDirector, Web and New Media Strategy

Smithsonian Institution, Office of the [email protected] | @mpedson

mailto:[email protected]

http://twitter.com/mpedson




Note: I’m going to skipa lot of these slides as I

present this!(But I it’s all online for reference)

Prototyping theSmithsonian

Commons




Smithsonian Commons Prototype Overture

Story 1: Visitor (Smithsonian Commons Prototype)

http://www.si.edu/commons/prototype (coming soon)

http://www.si.edu/commons/prototype

Story 2: Teacher (Smithsonian Commons Prototype)



Story 3: Millennial (Smithsonian Commons Prototype)



Story 4: Enthusiast (Smithsonian Commons Prototype)



Smithsonian Strategic Plan


Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough

http://www.si.edu/about/

Four Grand Challenges



1. Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

2. Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

3. Valuing World Cultures4. Understanding the

American Experience

Four Grand Challenges







American Experience

Four Grand ChallengesStrategy

Schmatergy! We’ve seen strategy

before!

A GenericHumbug





American Experience

Four Grand ChallengesStrategy

Schmatergy! We’ve seen strategy

before!

A GenericHumbug

No! This is about solving big hairy problems— ”work that

matters” (via @timoreilly)http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-fir.html

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-fir.html

Empower citizen-scholars!

Blend assets w. new technology!

Solve big complex problems!

Interdisciplinary collaborations and

partnerships!

InterdisciplinaryCollaborative

Entrepreneurial

“Innovative informal education” !!!

“Use our vast resources for the public good in

the midst of unceasing change”

c

This is big, audacious, important stuff.

This is work!

This is relevance earned through a job well done.

First order questions

First order questions

• Where is this work going to take place? • What kind of organization, infrastructure,

platforms will be needed to support it?• What is the organizational change model?

How will change happen? What will it look like?

• Who will be the innovators? The connectors? The drivers of change?

My workplace, like so many others,is deeply conflicted

about these questions.

Chris AndersonFree, the Future of a Radical Price


“I found that the idea you could create a huge global economy around a base price of zero was invariably polarizing”

From the introduction to Free



Duh!



Duh!Huh!?

Duh!Huh!?

Thermocline(a metaphor)


Stratified water temperature acts as a barrier

Knowledge, communication,action models are different

Management

Practitioners


Messages get distorted, lost


Thermocline Issues define the change environment and

explain why strategy is needed (and why, for us, the commons is such an important

idea)


Urgency

Thermocline Issues

Complacency

John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency

In exchange for publicfunds and public trust,

museums shoulddo work

for society

Thermocline Issues

Museums are for…

What could you accomplish with$1b /year for 50 years?

Institutions built onthe model of

social entrepreneurship:

Think Big,Start SmallMove Fast

Thermocline Issues

Institutions built onthe model of

enduring wisdom*

We can move slowlybecause wisdom endures

*Via Peter Schwartz, GBN

Thermocline Issues

Focus on innovation/discovery

inside the Institution

Catalyze innovation/discovery

outside the institution

Joy’s Law: no matter who you are, most of The smartest people

work for someone else

Thermocline Issues

You can managetechnology and content

separately

The most interestingecosystems are

in “border habitats”between the two

Thermocline Issues

Fixation on superficialaspects of Web 2.0and Social Media

“There’s no such thingas social media, it’s just

doing stuff with aComputer. Everyone

go to bed.”

Thermocline Issues

The Web is a bigger megaphone

The Web is a fundamentally new

way of gettingthings done

Thermocline Issues

“we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and

to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organization …Getting the

free and ready participation of a large, distributed group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible

to simple.” Clay Shirky

Thermocline Issues

Make money, nowBuild an ascendant brand

by“doing work that matters”

Tim O’Reilly http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-fir.html

“Once [the Smithsonian] has increased user base 100x or more, many other possibilities open”

Carl MalamudPublic.resource.org

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-fir.html

Thermocline Issues

The Desktop Internet 3.5 Billionmobile subscribers

Thermocline Issues

The Desktop Internet 3.5 Billionmobile subscribers

Moore’s Law meansthese things will be 20X

More powerful in a few years...It’s going to get FREAKY!

Gardeningchange model*

Build a platform &cultivate Web 2.0

as a way of thinkingabout work

Thermocline Issues

Manufacturingchange model

“Lets Build Product Xand be done with it”

* Via Josh Greenberg, NYPL

Every user is ahero

In their ownepic journey

Thermocline Issues

Provide servicesto passive audiences

Myths/misconceptions about the relevance, reach, and impact of

traditional models

Myths/misconceptions about the relevance, reach, and impact of traditional models

(See Imagining a Smithsonian Commons) - Text w. links and footnotes: http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version - PowerPoint: http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-powerpoint - Ustream (from CIL 2009): http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1327813

http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version

http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-powerpoint

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1327813

“Most organizations don’t getserious about strategy untilthey are afraid or in pain”

Leo Mulen, CEONavigation Arts

Hey!

We wrote aWeb and New Media

Strategy!!!

Hey!

We made aWeb and New Media

Strategy!!!

Smithsonian 2.0 Conference

Process: Workshops to Wiki


Process at-a-glance“The main intent of the workshops is to move relevant

information to the wiki where it can be openly evaluated, sifted, weighed, and considered by all.”


As participants are speaking, what they’re

saying is being typed and saved on a public wiki


“What I say really matters (because I know it will be

seen/heard after the meeting ends)”

Process: Workshops to Wiki“Not everything that matters will get said in the next hour by the people in this room.

The wiki encourages thoughtful synthesis and new

ideas”


The Wiki becomes the strategy

• Faster than traditional committee-driven process (Time is the enemy)

• Increase size of brain trust (Joy’s Law)• Improve the odds for change• Improve odds for execution (public promises not easily

forgotten) • Outside champions more likely to support “commons” goals

than status-quo insiders• Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model• “You get what you practice”

The advantages of public, transparent, and fast

Very important slide!

• Faster than traditional committee-driven process (Time is the enemy)

• Increase size of brain trust (Joy’s Law)• Improve the odds for change• Improve odds for execution (public promises not easily

forgotten) • Outside champions more likely to support “commons” goals

than status-quo insiders• Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model• “You get what you practice”

The advantages of public, transparent, and fast

Very important slide!

More in Fast, Open, and Transparent: developing the Smithsonian’s Web and New Media Strategy http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-the-smithsonian-web-and-new-media-strategy-what-it-is-how-we-made-it-and-why-it-makes-a-difference-3656578 andhttp://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson/edson.html

http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-the-smithsonian-web-and-new-media-strategy-what-it-is-how-we-made-it-and-why-it-makes-a-difference-3656578



http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson/edson.html

Web & New Media Strategy Structure

• Three Themes– Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience– Update the Smithsonian Learning Model– Balance Autonomy and Control within SI

• Eight Goals External Mission

BrandLearning

Audience

Internal InterpretationTechnologyBusiness ModelGovernance

Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations

How the strategy attacks the challenge points

Update the Digital Experience

“We are like a retail chain that has desirable and unique merchandise but requires its customers to adapt to dramatically different or outdated idioms of signage, product availability, pricing, and check-out in every aisle of each store. This needs to be addressed to realize the full potential of the Smithsonian’s digital initiatives.”

Urgency

Update the Learning Model

“This strategy is based on the growing understanding of learning as a hybrid of formal education and self-directed discovery that can be brought together and enhanced by online tools and communities…. that allow our audiences to be our partners in the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

Urgency

Balance Autonomy and Control

“The expertise and accomplishments of unit-based staff, however, need to be supported and enhanced by an internal commons of shared tools, services, and standards.”

Urgency

1. Mission

“Once on the fringe of institutional and public awareness, Web and New Media initiatives are now considered to be a critical part of the Institution’s core activities and future: They need to be funded and managed accordingly.”

Urgency

2. Brand

“Shift the Smithsonian brand voice away from attributes of institutional/omnipotent/ authoritarian towards attributes of individuality/ relevance/passion for learning.”

Changing

role of

Institutions

3. Learning

“The emergence of a new class of learning techniques—built on a foundation of broad and unrestricted access to information, social sharing, creativity, play, and participatory learning—supplement [standard learning] protocols and enable vast new audiences to use the Smithsonian as one part of their lifelong learning journeys”

New model

of knowledge

creation

4. Audience

“The online experience must become more interactive and able to facilitate ongoing dialogues between the Smithsonian and its users to ensure the continuing relevance of the Institution, particularly to digitally attuned audiences.”

Denographic

Tsunami

5. Interpretation

“Web and New Media technologies are crucial to the Smithsonian’s core research activities and to the wide collaborations that must occur among geographically distant participants…”

New

collaborative

models

6. Technology

“Many of the menial or difficult tasks performed by unit Web and New Media teams—and the public—can be served by a unified Smithsonian platform, and the development of a shared platform, over time, will allow data, ideas, e-commerce, and collaboration to flow across institutional boundaries in ways that are not possible in the current decentralized model.”

New ways of

working

7. Business Model

“The Smithsonian’s basic business model is to create social and economic value through the increase and diffusion of knowledge…Ultimately, the most valuable business asset we can cultivate—and the one that is most fundamental to our core mission—is a community of engaged and committed Smithsonian enthusiasts.”

Social

entrepreneurship

8. Governance

“Successful governance and leadership are the keys to accomplishing any of the goals in this strategic plan..”

Urgency

The Smithsonian Commons

“The Smithsonian Commons will be a special part of our digital presence dedicated to the free and unrestricted sharing of Smithsonian resources and encouraging new kinds of learning and creation through interaction with Smithsonian research, collections, and communities.”

The whole

shebang!

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/



The strategy talks about an updated digital experience, a new learning model that helps people with their "lifelong learning journeys," and the creation of a Smithsonian Commons—a new part of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities.


What is a Commons?

A set of resources maintained in the public sphere for the use and benefit of everyone

What is a Commons?

What is a Commons?

The Anti-Commons…

What is a Commons?

An organized workshop where raw materials can be found and assembled into new things.

What is a Commons?

Imagining a Smithsonian Commons• http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version

Museum Commons: A professional interactionhttp://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherry

http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version

http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherry


How do we talk about this?


What does this mean for staff and users?


What does this mean for staff and users?

A lot of new ideas for sr. decision makers to unpack

Huh?Let’s Build a

Prototype!

What’s a Prototype?

An audio-visual presentation that shows the attributes of a fully completed Smithsonian Commons as seen through the eyes of our users.

Let’s Build a

Prototype!

What’s a Prototype?

Push / pull between understanding what this thing is and understanding how to sell it

Let’s Build a

Prototype!

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com

The Smithsonian Commons Will…

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Experience+Brief+-+Addendum+-+The+Smithsonian+Commons+Will

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Experience+Brief+-+Addendum+-+The+Smithsonian+Commons+Will

Conceptual Development: “Low Rez” Wireframes

Conceptual Development: Paper Prototypes

“Experience Brief”

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Smithsonian+Commons+Prototype



Outlines four stories

Museum Visitor4th Grade Teacher

MillennialEnthusiast / Citizen Scientist

The “flow” of the storyline is described

Which outcomes/benefits for are illustrated

Key themes shown in this story

…Functionality of the Commons that is

demonstrated

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Experience+Brief+-+Mockup+of+Prototype+Home+Page

Prototype Home Page Mockup








Prototype Home Page Mockup

These stories need

pictures/content!




Asset Research

Asset Research

Commons/Strategy Hypothesis 1If we encourage reuse of our materials we can catalyze amazing discovery/ innovation/ creativityCommons/Strategy Hypothesis 2We have some amazing stuff that’s isolated on deep content pages: if we can do the aggregation and curation in a web 2.0 platform we will have something remarkable to show

Hirshhorn online catalog page

Prototype depiction of

same sculpture

Found on Flickr!

We are one part of people’s heroic

journey

People can’t stop taking pictures

and “connecting”

Hirshhorn online catalog page

Flickr

Dramatic, multiple

perspectives

Flickr search for “Hirshhorn Sculpture”

WOW! It just goes on and on!

Crab Nebula on Smithsonian

Astro. Observatory site

Commons prototype “Space

& Time with Tom”

Based on “Tom’s Astronomy Blog”

link from http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2009/01/out-of-this-world-google-maps.html

Found: Google Sky mashup of

the Crab Nebula

Our rendition of the mashup

OMG! Our stuff on Flickr

Commons!

Rich, connected, compelling

Amazing things at the Smithsonian

You could never see this kind of cross-

collection compilation

Many of these pictures are from Flickr because of

quality, resolution, and intellectual

property problems on SI sites

Smithsonian content can

provide a real 360-degree

portrait

Smithsonian sites rarely show collections, expertise, programs,

research, and community

content side-by-side

(Theodore Roosevelt searchResults from commons prototype)

Smithsonian sites rarely show collections, expertise, programs,

research, and community

content side-by-side

si.edu search results

Flickr search for “Smithsonian

‘Theodore Roosevelt’”

Using Google’s “site:” syntax to find things on

SI.EDU related to “Theodore Roosevelt”

OMG! We’ve got audio recordings

of Theodore Roosevelt

http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=1086



Asset Research

Commons/Strategy Hypothesis 1If we encourage reuse of our materials we can catalyze amazing discovery/ innovation/ creativityCommons/Strategy Hypothesis 2We have some amazing stuff that’s isolated on deep content pages: if we can do the aggregation and curation in a web 2.0 platform we will have something remarkable to show

Asset Research

Through asset research for the Commons prototype, we found amazing “hidden” assets throughout Smithsonian Web sites, and amazing content created with/from Smithsonian resources by YOU, our amazing customers.

(Asset inventory documents are on Scribd athttp://www.scribd.com/mpedson )

http://www.scribd.com/mpedson

What makes the Smithsonian Commons different than just a good Web site?

The Attributes of the Smithsonian Commons

VastAnyone in the world can have access to the whole Smithsonian, including access to deep collections and the vitality, curiosity, and creativity of our staff, visitors, partners, and our extended global community. The Smithsonian is at the center of an amazing network of ideas, collections, and people. No other institution can offer so much to so many.

FindableThrough the Smithsonian Commons the vastness of the Smithsonian can be discovered because search, navigation, and the overall user experience is about helping people to find the content they’re interested in, in the ways they expect to find it, including through recommendations and comments by staff experts - - and visitors - - external search sites, and social networks.

ShareableSharing is the foundation of collaboration and learning. The Smithsonian’s impact can be greatly amplified if what we have and what we do is easy to share. The Smithsonian Commons is about catalyzing creativity and innovation by encouraging the use and re-use of our collections and expertise for work and pleasure, in social networks, on mobile phones, and in the classroom, workshop, and laboratory.

FreeThe Smithsonian is built on the idea that the tools of discovery and knowledge creation should be available to all, and the Smithsonian Commons will be built on the idea that free, trusted, high-quality resources can create a lot of good in the world…

12 characteristics of a commons

From Museum Commons, a Professional Interaction(with Rich Cherry, Balboa Park)http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/museum-commons-a-professional-interaction-museums-and-the-web-2010-michael-edson-and-rich-cherryandhttp://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson-cherry/edson-cherry.html



http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson-cherry/edson-cherry.html

http://www.archimuse.com/mw2010/papers/edson-cherry/edson-cherry.html

Federated Designed for usersFindableShareableReusableFree

Bulk DownloadMachine ReadableHigh ResolutionCollaboration w/o controlNetwork effectsPublic Domain

12 characteristics of a commons

Art is the lie that helps ustell the truth

Pablo Picasso

The prototype…

Thank you!






Michael Edson: Prototyping the Smithsonian Commons

Technology

Transcript of Michael Edson: Prototyping the Smithsonian Commons