Slides for a plenary talk on "Using the start-up playbook to reboot a big university website" given by Ross Ferguson, University of bath at the IWMW 2014 event held at Northumbria University of 16-18 July 2014.

1. **
Using the startup
playbook to reboot a
big university
website
Ross Ferguson
IWMW 2014

2. **
Fuck yeah startups
* Problem-solving
* Creative
* Practical
* Disruptive
* Replicable
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

3. **
What else can be run
as a startup?
* Dating
* Taxi services
* Energy
* Parliamentary records
* Diplomacy
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

4. **
GDS is a startup by
government
* Alphagov
* Changed gov.uk
* Changing the Civil Service
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

5. **
Can bath.ac.uk be
run as a startup?
* What’s the opportunity?
* Are the right people in place?
* Do the methods transfer?
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

6. **
Got a problem?
* Same old, same old
* Usage is meh
* Tired tech
* Sell, sell, sell
* Demotivated teams
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

7. **
It’s week 44
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

8. **
New goals
* Devolve publishing and engagement
* Make tasks easier
* Make the work meaningful
* Be known for delivery
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

9. **
New old team
* One team, multiple functions
* HE vetrans and noobs
* Producers, not managers
* Trusted to self-facilitate
* New governance
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

10. **
Delivery principles
over process
1. Put user needs first
2. Make decisions based on data
3. Release iteratively and often
4. Keep things simple and consistent
5. Provide ongoing support
6. Work in the open
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

11. **
Products, not pages
* Roadmap
* Backlogs
* Agile delivery
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

12. **
The users made me
* Self-initiated
* User research
* No client work
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

13. **
Tools of the trade
* Slack
* Trello
* Heroku
* Foundation
* Bamboo
* Github
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

14. **
Fail fast, lower risk
* MVP
* Show and tell
* Weeknotes
* Pivots
* Retrospectives
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

15. **
How’s it working
out?
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

16. **
The downsides
* Agile vs waterfall
* Too much product
* Burn out
* Sprinting alone
* Autonomously aligned
* Discipline is hard
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

17. **
The upsides
* Always be shipping
* Meeting everyday needs
* Bring us problems
* Monitoring performance
* On the panels
* Seeing ourselves in others
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

18. **
Is it replicable and
scalable?
* University of Bath
* University of Wherever
* Mentality, methods, model
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

19. **
We will
transform the model,
spin out a product,
or fail
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

20. **
Try it
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson

21. **
blogs.bath.ac.uk/digital
@rossferg
rf396@bath.uk
IWMW 2014Ross Ferguson