Social network analysis was used on a large, political project to better understand information flows. It revealed who the central and influential individuals were, how knowledge spread through formal and informal networks, and differences between core and peripheral members. This informed the development of detailed "ZenAgile personas" capturing user profiles, communication preferences, and social roles to help target communications and ensure all user needs were met. Analyzing the information architecture and social networks in this way helped improve knowledge sharing and minimize unnecessary work.

1. Social Networking Analysis: uncovering the secrets of information flow for our information architecture Maria Horrigan Principal Consultant OZIA October 09

2. Slideshare and blogswww.slideshare.com/murphwww.barocks.comZenagile.wordpress.com@miahorri#OZIA09 , #SNA

3. Information and knowledgeHuman absorptive capacityGrowthTimeCohen & Levinthal 1989A world of rapidly growing knowledge ….

4. ....that is increasingly connected..and just a click awaylocalnetworksOld colleaguescolleaguesat other officesnew friendsfamilylocalcolleaguesold friendsvirtualcommunitiesold classmates

5. Case study Context: (very political, high profile project)Started with waterfall analysis (2 years)No idea what the end solution would be likeLots of information, but in people’s headsMultiple stakeholders across multiple silosInformation flows between individuals and groups not well knownExternal industry pressure for project to occurHow could we leverage the network for the benefit of the project?

6. SNA - the six degrees of separation

7. Social Networking Analysis (SNA)Helped us explore questions such as:How does information flow into the network?Where does the information flow?Who is involved and why?What are they saying?What do they know?How do they interact?Strength of relationships & interactions ?Are there emergent sub-groups?

8. What we didAdopted an agile approachBroke down huge project puzzle into smaller business issues to solvePartnered IA+BAs to lead three streams of activities (IA had visualisation of all the different parts of the puzzle)Used SNA in each stream to uncover the information needs of the usersUsed “skinny” documentationto convey to stakeholders the key features of the system, its processes and the flow of information

9. Intoinformal organisationTurnedformal OrganisationUncovered organisational networks Teigland et al. 2005

10. Centrality : revealing network structure Very centralized network - one or a few very central ‘nodes’. If removed, network quickly fragments and fails Less centralized network - resilient. Many nodes can fail yet allow remaining nodes to still reach each other Boundary Spanners - connect their group to others. Innovators as have access to ideas and information in other clusters Periphery of a network -may connect to networks not currently mapped. Important sources of fresh information

11. SNA – Revealing Network Centralityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_analysis_software

12. What we found: Degree of CentralityHub has most connections – authority gainedIt not the “more connections the better”, but where they lead to…..and how they connect the otherwise unconnected

13. What we found: Betweeness Centrality Great influence over what flows (and does not)“location location location”Broker role between Industry and Organisation

14. What we found: Closeness Centrality Shortest path to all others – gives quick accessExcellent position to monitor info flowsBest visibility of what is happening in the network

15. Formal vs Informal Info Flow

16. Formalvs Informal Info Flow

17. Formal vsInformal Info Flow

18. User Profiles within the OrganisationBoundary SpannerPotential blockerInfluencerKey sourceKey UserProject ChampionGatekeeperKey UserKey decision makerTrusted advisorPeripheryKey User

19. Access to more Knowledge and Info… but of course these are just a subsection of the networked organisationMap shows 1st & 2nd degree relationships Someone on the periphery of your network may have access to many other networks within the organisation

20. Leveraged CentralityUnderstood who might be “blockers” or “gatekeepers” of information and contentFound people to go to in order to elicit information Minimised re-work & unnecessary consultation – meeting fatigueQuickly identified who might know the answer, communicate with them, understand their lessons learned, improve likely success Knew who and how to communicate key messages through use of targeted IA tools

21. Captured SNA in personasStarted off with ‘skinny’ view of users gained thru workshopsAdded to personas as info uncovered thru SNA – place in the network, information preferences, types, communication styles & channelsBuilt up personas as we went in our agile project iterations, rather than all-at-once

22. From skinny to zen personasAs our project knowledge evolved, we added to our understanding of users:Their information preferencesTheir expectationsTheir capabilitiesTheir information needsTheir social network profiles (Forrester’s Technographics)Documented as ‘ZenAgile’ personas

23. Added style preferences to personas People oriented

24. Animated

25. Creative

26. Outgoing

27. Goal oriented

28. Assertive

29. Task & information focusedTTalkersDDriverstaskpeopleSSupportersCControllers Logical

30. Information & task focus

31. Detail orientated

32. Cautious & risk averse

33. People oriented