This presentation provided some helpful content about technical approach and context about how HPAC organized the business end to execute this web project. Capturing the business goals remains the critical first step; requirements provide an important starting point but must also retain the flexibility to deliver on the underlying business goals.

1. Reboot: Developing a Drupal
Solution for Harvard.edu
Presented at ABCD - CMS
HPAC Digital Communications
digitalcomms@harvard.edu | October 19, 2011

5. 5
Source: xkcd.com/773

9. harvard.edu = part of an
overall internet strategy
including: destination,
outbound and outpost
9

11. social results
Platform Launch Overall Results Specific Wins
Facebook May 2009 • From 0 to 870,000 fans • Considered leading integration by
peers and agencies alike
• Weekly total reach of ~850K
• Among the first University news
• Two points of integration with Gazette sites to integrate Facebook open
(recommend, activity) graph
Twitter May 2009 • From 0 to 76,000 followers • Considered leading integration by
Image goes herealike
peers and agencies
• Innovative new algorithm tracks best times
for send tweets • First University hashtag #harvard10
offered unified view of
• Use of hashtags gets Harvard in the Commencement
conversation for popular topics
YouTube August 2009 • From 0 to 33,000 subscribers • Steady growth since digital
EDU dissemination hire
• 6,700,000 total video views
• Sandel’s Justice as first proof point
of benefit outweighing brand risk
Foursquare October 2009 • From 0 to 51,000 friends • Media lift as first university to adopt
a location based service
• Top check-ins at Coop, Harvard bookstore,
John Harvard statue Johnston Gate, and
Widener Library
iTunes U April 2010 • From 0 to 500,000 downloads/month • Media lift despite late entry
• Hundreds of assets both from HPAC and • Big collaboration wins by getting
feeds pulled in from Schools and Centers coverage on iTunes U (HKS/JFK50,
11 SEAS/Science & Cooking)

12. user experience

13. acknowledging that search
and social are increasingly
the primary means for
information discovery

14. What: referral visits from search and social to the Harvard Gazette
When: Sept 1-30, 2011 compared with the same period in 2010
Search: 46,153 to 67,187 (+45.57%)
Social*: 39,696 to 155,198 (+290.97%)
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
Sep-10
80000
Sep-11
60000
40000
20000
0
Search Social
* Social referral number is measured by an advanced segment in Google Analytics. Criteria include medium equals to “social” and
sources matching linkedin.com|foursquare.com|blogspot.com|wordpress.com|youtube.com|facebook.com|twitter.com|delicious
.com|digg.com|flickr.com|ning.com|twitter.com|blogger.com|typepad.com |reddit .com|stumbleupon.com|hootsuite.com|
wikipedia.org|bit.ly|ow.ly|tinyurl|tumblr.com, slashdot, tweet and popurl.

15. influence
control

16. discoverability

17. For example, finding Harvard s asthma research requires
clicking through 5 pages of Google search results
17

18. aggregation
+ syndication
=
amplification

19. What we knew we needed
1. Defined business goals
2. A detailed list of
requirements
3. A CMS that met those
requirements
4. Really, that’s it.

21. I showed it
It doesn’t
to my son,
speak to me Let’s take it
and …
back to the
committee
Can the
pictures It has to
move? “pop”
Is that the
right
crimson?
Can it be
cleaner?
Make the
logo bigger

23. context & objectives
measurement & iteration

24. context & objectives
requirements & build

25. Analytics insights.
Not “data puke.”

26. Who’s coming?

27. What are they using?

28. How do they get here?

29. What are they doing?

30. And how do we know?
<a href="http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/
2011/10/harvard-375th-history-in-photographs/"
onClick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent',
'Feed25_video_HPA2', 'OffsiteClick', 'http://
news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/10/
harvard-375th-history-in-photographs/', 4]);">

32. 1. Defined business
goals
2. A detailed list of learning iteration
requirements
3. A CMS that met
those
requirements communication

33. Thank you.
digitalcomms@harvard.edu | October 19, 2011