Post on 20-Aug-2015
Making big changes to your website or intranet
David Hobbs@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
http://websiteproductmanagement.com
About me
Vision / long range planning
Selection / RFP / Proof of
Concept / Pilot
Implementation / Rollout /
Migration
Tweaks, cleanup, and/or
improvements
For “one time” changes Ongoing
I help organizations focus their websites with big changes, by guiding, reframing, gaining consensus, and providing oversight.
@jdavidhobbs
Are you working on:
a) a single big change (like a replatforming project), or
b) improving your ability to respond to change in general
?
@jdavidhobbs
We will start at the end
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
What people see needs to be maintained and grown
The inner workings matter, since they enable the above
@jdavidhobbs
Vision / long range planning
Selection / RFP / Proof of Concept
/ PilotImplementation
Tweaks, cleanup, and/or
improvements
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
http://websiteproductmanagement.com/flowchart.html
What types of change are the hardest for you to
handle?
@jdavidhobbs
Some change should be fast, and some should be slow
@jdavidhobbs
What should be fast may be camouflaged
@jdavidhobbs
What types of changes should happen slower on
your site?
@jdavidhobbs
Ongoing change
@jdavidhobbs
Define a new service for something that should
happen faster.
@jdavidhobbs
THE BONES
@jdavidhobbs
• Allow what you know needs to happen soon, and don’t completely block yourself in
• Notably, it’s not about a ship-in-a-bottle• NOT about a rigid infrastructure• Enables growth
@jdavidhobbs
“Broken gets fixed. Shoddy lasts forever.” — Jack Moffett
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
3 Common “Bones” problems
• Shoddy work lasts forever• The amorphous blob• The rigid framework
@jdavidhobbs
What type of skeletal problems does your site
have?
@jdavidhobbs
It’s not about defining the whole thing and then phasing over time.
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
http://hobbsontech.com/content/early-planning-big-website-changes
What is your bias?
@jdavidhobbs
It’s not about defining the whole thing and first getting the structures right either.
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
Fragmentation
@jdavidhobbs
Fragmentation
@jdavidhobbs
Fragmentation
@jdavidhobbs
Fragmentation
@jdavidhobbs
When you talk about your web presence, what percentage are you
talking about?
@jdavidhobbs
A more rational approach
@jdavidhobbs
What is the vision for your web presence?
@jdavidhobbs
Illustrate the implications
http://hobbsontech.com/content/visualizing-impact @jdavidhobbs
http://hobbsontech.com/content/content-handling-process-asking-right-content-migration-questions
How will you determine and illustrate the impact of
your vision?
@jdavidhobbs
Instead, define the essentials and broadly how you will be moving forward
@jdavidhobbs
We’ll need:• Multiple
green spaces• Various trees
and shrubbery• Nice paths
@jdavidhobbs
For your big changes, what needs to be defined now, and what can you define
later?
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
Technical Drag
Even if you implement ideally, more complexity takes more effort to deal with
http:
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@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
Where are problems injected into your
website?
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbshttp://hobbsontech.com/content/standards-arent-defined-theyre-architected
http://hobbsontech.com/content/rules-content-migration
@jdavidhobbs
http://migrationhandbook.com/self-evaluation/
@jdavidhobbs
How will you reduce weight now and on an ongoing
basis?
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
Content
Site
Core
@jdavidhobbs
How can you maximize impact of your changes?
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
(unicorn)
@jdavidhobbs
(muddy puddle)
@jdavidhobbs
• Unfocused• Not possible in
the first place• Tried all at
once rather than over time
Why the mismatch?
@jdavidhobbshttp://hobbsontech.com/content/castles-and-tents
@jdavidhobbs
What are your priorities for the next six months?
@jdavidhobbs
@jdavidhobbs
http://websiteproductmanagement.com