Building and Managing Web Teams
Howard Rosenbaum, Indiana University, USA
http://www.slis.indiana.edu
In this workshop we will focus on building and managing web teams to design and manage complex museum web sites. Participants will learn how to put together and manage web teams and how to carry out a four stage analysis of a web site, the end product of which will be a report and a site redesign prototype. This will be an interactive workshop and the main topics are discussed, participants will carry out an abbreviated version of this methodology as they redesign a museum website (provided by the instructor).
First, participants will learn how to conduct an inventory of the site, describing the hardware and software used to develop and maintain the site.
Second, participants will learn how to conduct a socio-technical analysis of the site. This will involve determining the context and purposes of the site in the organization. Participants will learn about the roles the site is intended to play in the organization and ascertain the major stakeholders in the organization and the goals that they have for the site. They will learn how to describe the work flow involved in maintaining the site focusing on the main tasks of the people responsible for site design and development.
For these two steps, participants will use an interview instrument provided by the instructor to learn about the site from the people in the organization who work on it. This instrument can be easily modified to fit participants' specific needs in their own organization. Working in teams, each will interview the instructor.
Third, participants will learn how to describe the current information architecture of the site, focusing on its high level structure. This will involve a description of the organization of the site's content, labeling system, navigation scheme, and other functions. This will involve learning to create representations of the site using wireframes.
Fourth, participants will learn what is involved in developing a realistic project plan for redesigning a portion of the site or designing a new section. This plan will contain a well-thought out and appropriate set of steps to be taken by the organization to implement the team's recommendations. This will involve consideration of the changes that would improve the structure and functions of the site. It will also involve describing the financial, technical and personnel requirements necessary to carry out the plan.
Participants will come away from the workshop with a clear understanding of how to assemble and manage a web team that takes on the project of designing an organization's web site. They will also have a portable methodology that they can use in their own organizations.
Workshop: Managing Redesign [Afternoon]
Keywords: redesign, web_teams, project_management, team_building
