10. Where we work
Strategy, Marketing
Communication &
Admissions
A Utility-belt approach to Mobilizing Content
11. So?
Strategy, Marketing
Communication &
Admissions
A Utility-belt approach to Mobilizing Content
12. If you get nothing else from this presentation…remember this:
13. If you get nothing else from this presentation…remember this:
• Mobile – It’s for the user
• Master the content – technology later
• Create legendary datasources
• Never give up
36. Content Strategy
SET GOALS
• Target Audience
• Describe the EXPERIENCE
• UNDERSTAND YOUR LIMITATIONS to overcome them
• HAVE GOOD CONTENT that supports your goals
46. Inventory
Hunt down the rest
Find it where it lives
47. Inventory
Hunt down the rest
Find it where it lives
48.
49. Logistics
ʒ
logistics (lɒˈdɪstɪks)
—n
1.
the science of the movement, supplying, and maintenance of
military forces in the field
2.
the management of materials flow through an organization,
from raw materials through to finished goods
3.
the detailed planning and organization of any large complex operation
50. Logistics
ʒ
logistics (lɒˈdɪstɪks)
—n
1.
the science of the movement, supplying, and maintenance of
military forces in the field
2.
the management of materials flow through an organization,
from raw materials through to finished goods
3.
the detailed planning and organization of any large complex operation
51. Logistics
ʒ
logistics (lɒˈdɪstɪks)
—n
1.
the science of the movement, supplying, and maintenance of
military forces in the field
2.
the management of materials flow through an organization,
from raw materials through to finished goods
3.
the detailed planning and organization of any large complex operation
135. When the call goes out for MOBILE…
(why you do it?)
It’s for the users
(how you do it?)
Make content lean & mean at
the source
(how you deliver it?)
Data Sources
Choose your mobile solution LAST
I care.Content first.Every picture.Every word.It matters.At a university with 58000 students, 12 colleges, 11 regional campuses…Tech (gadgets and tools) all built on what you define in the content. Tone, theme, voice, identity…
This presentation is about getting you past mobile and giving you an approach that will make you ready for whatever comes next. Regardless of tech.
Division.
So…. What we do and say…and how we do and say it, matters.key to understanding how we came up with this approach and why it works.
When it comes to mobilizing your content…its not for you…its not for your boss…Content content content. Yours or someone youre working with… Have a reliable way to distribute it. Doug will be help you through how to build legendary datasourcesIf you ever feel like giving up…give us a call and we’ll help you through it.
Our story begins
Our mobile story actually begins back in Fall 2009. Doug and I both had desk jobs at UCF IT…I wont bore you with stats, mobile was on the rise and after months of reports and memos on mobile I got the go ahead from our IT leadership to do 3 things: 1. draw up a project brief (replete with timelines, tech requirements, costs and justification) 2. Write a report on available mobile frameworks, vendor products and opensource solutions 3. Plan a prototype and Task the web developers with getting it ready for demo.
Our mobile story actually begins back in Fall 2009. Doug and I both had desk jobs at UCF IT…mobile was on the rise and after months of reports and a couple conversations about mobile Some of you might recall a 2009 article about how Dave Olsen at WVU built a mobile site in 19 days…I got the assignment to go ahead from our IT leadership and do 3 things: 1. draw up a project brief (replete with timelines, tech requirements, costs and justification) 2. Write a report on available mobile frameworks, vendor products and opensource solutions 3. Plan a prototype and Task the web developers with getting it ready for demo.
R: We got the green-light to do mobile…D: We’ll need some specs. What is our goal?R: To “do mobile”D: What?! R: Do. Mobile. – Make UCF.edu Mobile D: No. That’s not a goal. Mobile is simply a means to an end. What’s our goal?R: Y’know, take our main site and drop it into a mobile framework…D: What parts…there’s kind of a lot thereR: The useful parts: News, Maps, directory, etc…we’ll just make them smallerD: *frustrated* OK… ok… we can put something together...you got a list of the datasources?R: Datas horses?...
R: We got the green-light to do mobile…D: We’ll need some specs. What is our goal?R: To “do mobile”D: What?! R: Do. Mobile. – Make UCF.edu Mobile D: No. That’s not a goal. Mobile is simply a means to an end. What’s our goal?R: Y’know, take our main site and drop it into a mobile framework…D: What parts…there’s kind of a lot thereR: The useful parts: News, Maps, directory, etc…we’ll just make them smallerD: *frustrated* OK… ok… we can put something together...you got a list of the datasources?R: Datas horses?...
We moved forward trying to use what we had. But UCF IT doesn’t create or manage the content and what we ended up with was a stale – stitched together - beast . We demo-ed it and it got everyone talking. It totally functioned/worked on an array of mobile devices (as specced)…but it was not useful or sustainable as a tool for users. We tried to pare it down and make the content more manageable (digestable) for mobile…but most of it was just not set up for quick, on-the-go delivery. We are also advised not to recreate or modify any of the content…just use what had already been posted online.
The demo was passed around. Meetings were held. committees formed to discuss. Everyone agreed that UCF should do mobile – but no one agreed on what we should put in it, who was going to own it and no one was talking about the users. It was a circus…
A crazy circus of politics and beauracracy.
6-9 months later. And with no movement or decisions made
Doug and I now work for UCF Marketing/CommunicationsUCF Marketing operates like an ad agency. Like many of you here…it’s a very small group doing a surprisingly large amount of work.
We now work for UCF Marketing/CommunicationsMake content for the main siteFor years IT had been relinquishing control of the content management to MarketingWe made some new friends and learned a thing or two.
Big university. Crafting, shaping and maintaining a university’s brand and message is constant battle.Visit marketing comm people in other offices. Invite them to see how we work. Offer help.Roadshow.Ride a-longsMarketing 101 - Show slide from Brand and Communication presentations
I need a mobile site…is also not a question
Users read.Better content = better products for everyoneIt really helped to frame ‘mobile’
Ah Ha.
Ah Ha.
Mobile starts at the content levelEdit and omit at every opportunity.
We’re not just talking about copy and photos and videosIf you are the person in your office who enters everyone’s contact info for the university’s phonebook…that’s content.If you post events or respond to admissions questions in email. Content.The snippets that show up in your search results…that is content. Make it managebable, streamlined and to the point…it will work on mobile.
Before you go messing with the content. Set yourself up with some goals…it’ll help make sure you stay on the right track1. Its for the users….but which ones?2. Userexperience – user storyWriting a user story can help in this process…just sit down and pretend you are a user in a given scenario i.e. “I am a student who is walking around campus on the first day of class…what would be helpful to have available on a mobile device” or “I am a…” …Describe what you think their interactive experience would be if they had a great mobile tool available to them.[[ Be honest. ]]3. Resources and partnerships4.We still did not want to be reproducing or repeating content
Detective work. Our analytics showed users were looking for locations, directory info, reading sports stories and sharing on FB.Aside: don’t trust anyone coming at you with mobile #s.Your mobile numbers will go up. Tablets are a whole other business
Determine what content will be most useful, on the go.
---LOGISTICS---(this is what we’re really talking about here) logistics (lɒˈdʒɪstɪks) —n1. the science of the movement, supplying, and maintenance of military forces in the field2. the management of materials flow through an organization, from raw materials through to finished goods3. the detailed planning and organization of any large complex operation
From that list. Content will be split up into 2 types: what you want…and what you’ve got.
It is likely that many of you own some of this content.
Get it inshape. Again…edit and omit anything that is not needed
[[ if you own content, its your responsibility to make it fast, strong & meaningful ]]*Content creators/decision makers - this also means, if you’re developing new products or exploring vendor products it is your obligation to make sure your content can be made portable/distributable.…that means (homework) becoming familiar with some of the machine readable formats and ways to provide your content data (xml, json, webservices, apis).
Here is your opportunity to work with your friends in IT…talk to them about your efforts and ask them to help you build repositories of good content that can be shared with others around campus. LEAD.
[[ Become obsessed with good content ]]Find who makes it…ask them if they have a datasource to hook in to.We became detectives, searching for worthwhile content, tracing it back to the source and finding the people/dept who provided them. We scoured the webspace to find anything that would be useful (or might be useful in the future). Finding ways to encourage the IT people to make the data available and training the content providers to focus the content and make it tighter, more focused, more concise.
If it doesn’t exist….but you know it would help the users…make a plan to get it.
Youre not going to get everything you want…but if you consistently follow this approach: make good content. Find good content. Make it available and share it. You’ll end up with the things you need over time to build a great mobile experience for your users.---LOGISTICS---(this is what we’re really talking about here) logistics (lɒˈdʒɪstɪks) —n1. the science of the movement, supplying, and maintenance of military forces in the field2. the management of materials flow through an organization, from raw materials through to finished goods3. the detailed planning and organization of any large complex operation build the relationships to get the goods you need and reliable delivery paths to get it where it needs to go.
What youre doing here is logistics.After you’ve gotten your goals defined and your content
build the relationships to get the goods you need and reliable delivery paths to get it where it needs to go. I tasked the programmers with going out and doing this too. Contacting other developers on campus and having them advocate for webservices and api access. Researching the best ways to implement tools that would make data more accessible. We became vigilant…looking for new projects that were starting up around campus – we (nicely) interceded/involved ourselves in the projects to make sure that new content would be precise and useful (and data driven).
It’s a dirty business sometimes…but cleaning up the content/data and getting it delivered is worth it. We had a goal. We had a priority list. I set development timelines…Now its time to really get to work:
Now its time to talk about mobilizing
DOUG GETS CLICKER
Content people, raise handsHands up, control of tech
Tech PeopleHands up, full control of copy
If content => tech like myselfIf tech => content person (like roger)When talk about mobile, see content differently.How do do we communicate?
Hands: good quality content, illiterate tech guyGive him a data source, I define a data source as: quality content + comptr readableIf university has its act together
Already providing content as data via RSS, API, JSON, XMLGood content that is computer readableYou have a damn good tool to add to yourutility beltAnd you’ve already done the heavy lifting for mobile
We being hunting for data sourcesStart with the easy ones
News
WP
Great at syndication
Using RSS, ournews is now computer readableQuality contentComputer ReadableData SourceWe now have a useable mobile tool
Continuing our search for data sources
Events
exports iCal
EventsComputer readable formatDatasource
Done
Photos
Our photographers upload to flickrFlickr understands sharing
They provide us an RSS feed
A data source
Photos done
Emergency Mangement
They provide us an RSS feedHope you’re starting to see a pattern
Content that is computer readableBecomes a data source
Done
Campus MapWe built a new campus map
Having full control of itSimple matter to implement API
Done
These were the low hanging fruit.Good quality content sourcesthat were also computer readable
If you’re a content provider content avail as data source done worrying about mobile
Tech guy, someone wants into mible work toward turning content into DSThis is the HARD PART transforming content into data sources
Looking at Alumni, Online Learning And Transportation
We began with Alumni
Not everything goes according to planAlumni had their own designs on mobile
So we had to part waysNext is
Online Learning
Online learning turned out to be a political snake pitWe didn’t’ want to get bit
So we avoided that political battle
What’s next?
Parking and TransportationOur users wanted shuttles on their mobile siteAnd we loved the idea of shuttlesZooming around device real time
Knew each shuttle had a tracking deviceThere had to be dataWe fought for the data and
Finally got it!We thought we were on our way
But the data was terribleThere was a huge delayUnuseable
Shuttles were lostRoger: NOT TRUEThis is important to our user experienceDid have some content
Regardless, lesson learned: Without DS, tech guys have nothingContent creators responsibility work is delivered in a format that is computer readable.
Ensure your content is useable as a data source.This responsibility holds true for the techy people too.Just because you have data, doesn’t mean it is a data source.I want to ask you guys…
Are any of you responsible for things like….?Is anyone here responsible for data? How is it accessed? Publically accessible? I’m hearing “No” You Monster! “yes” My Hero! (gets utility belt)
Just because you have datadoesn’t mean it is a data source.We learned this the hard way.
Users needed a phonebookReally important to the mobile experience
Needed access to directory informationGave IT a call
IT stalledDidn’t say no, but stalled
And stalled
Eventually they got tired of us asking
We received a single data exportWe soon learned why they stalledWhen we opened it up
"Good gosh batman, the data is terrible!!!"Several people were duplicatedSome of it was laughable
One professor was listed 8 times, as 8 different people.We had data but not a data source.Started a new directory search project
Caught most of the offendersAnd now it exports the information as JSONand gave JSON search results
Now had a data source for directory informationThis effort goes *beyond mobile* (elbow nudge, wink at titular line)
A data source is versatileAble to plug into Map search results no longer just buildings, orgs as wellEven though the data was bad
The data now had more eyes on it
People were submitting updates and corrections.
People helped us fix the data.Gotham is now a little bit cleaner.breathUp next is
The LibraryWe hoped the library system would know how to index and share that information.Our library's website had a lot of data driven aspects to it and we went searching for a data source.We found an ally
sitting in the bottom of the library's basementDoinglot of development,A lot of crime fighting.Learned, Lib System in FL is all IntegratedOr in High Ed Web terms, confusing as all hell.Our ally already had deciphered the state's indexing systembuilt useable tools around it, Only needed to make it public
and give us some instruction on how to use itWe now had a library catalog data source.“But that’s not all!”He also had system to which public computers availableGave us an XML feed, a new unexpected data source
So our efforts went beyond mobileDiscovered our Green Arrow was an expert on Google mapsWhen I was building the new campus map, I was able to leverage that knowledge
The hard part is DONE!This is our mobile content.Worked hard make sure it’s lean and mean. We’ve spent the time to make them computer readable.This is our mobilized content.We’ve talked a lot about creating tesedatasources.
We haven’t talked about implementing them in a mobile solution.I’ve purposefully left this to the end of our presentation.Important, save this THE END of your mobile journeyAny mobile solution as long as you have the content data sources.
Most are plug and play, they’re empty utility belts without tools.This is key to the utility belt approach.Do the hard part first, worry about your content.Pick your mobile solution last
We have everything we needed to roll our mobile contentAnd….
that's when Central IT stepped in
Told us "You don't know what you’re doing, we’re here to ‘DO MOBILE’"
“Ahhh!” swings head like punched"and we're going to purchase an enterprise mobile solution for the university"
“Ouuuhhh!” swings head to other side
We replied "NOOOOOOO!!!! Don't do it"Mobile is not technology you can just buy.It’s not something you “DO”It's the content that mattersSpend that time and effort on improving the quality of our data
Make it publicly accessibleComputer readable. Easy to access.Stop worrying about the technology and fight for the content!
sighFast forward a few months and we now have Blackboard's Mobile Central.
It turns out that it's not too bad, it's actually built by some *terribly clever* folks.We soon had central IT coming back to *us* and asking if they can use our data sources!
We told you! You have nothing without content!Data sources first. Mobile solution LAST!
Yesterday I added a new slideThe Notre Dame guys presented in the Technical TrackTalked about fostering a culture of sharingMade a quick note about mobile
“More than any sitem.nd.edu highlights our use of other data sources”After their presentation, I asked if I could steal one of their slidesJust to show you, this is the way to do it.I’m not feeding you a bunch of BS
If you ever feel like giving up…give us a call and we’ll help you through it.
And that is the utility belt approach to mobile!
Side note: good example of content lean/mean, events.Complaint: event description too long on mobile.Just so you know I’m not feeding you BS,NO, description is simply too long