Presenters from Berkeley, NYU, and Charles Sturt University will discuss the strategies the Sakai OAE managed project and its member institutions have developed for sharing user input from individual schools and programs with the managed project teams that lead development on Sakai OAE. Among the topics they will address are the challenges of balancing special institutional with general community needs in providing feedback on managed project designs; meeting local user needs within the confines of managed project design decisions when developing a local instantiation of OAE; the challenges, advantages, and practicalities of building an academic/IT collaboration on User Needs analysis; and methods to engage with users by means of standing student organizations and close observation of staff in their settings. More generally, the presentation will address the question of the right parties to involve in User Needs discussion and the best ways to involve them.

1. OAE
User
Needs
Process:
Think
Globally,
Act
Locally
Lucy
Appert
(NYU),
Greg
Hardham
(CSU),
Rachel
Hollowgrass
(Berkeley),
Jeff
Pasch
(NYU),
Robert
Squillace
(NYU),
Philip
Uys
(CSU)

2. OAE
User
Reference
Group
(URG)
• Goal:
Coordina)ng
Vision
and
tes)ng
designs
in
rela)onship
to
user
needs
• Challenge:
Ge5ng
beyond
“the
way
we’ve
always
done
it”
to
match
new
designs
with
user
needs
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 2

3. CirculaCon
of
User
Needs
De
si g
OAE
User
ns/ fee
Reference
De d b a
ve
Group
(URG)
lop ck
me
n t
te
InsCtuConal
User
Groups
ses
am
and
URG
RepresentaCves
ca
u se
s/
ed
ne
er
Us
InsCtuConal
Users
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 3

4. URG
Purpose
NOT
simply
requirements
gathering
BUT
A
conversa)on
between
User
Representa)ves
and
the
OAE
Design
Team
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 4

5. DUAL
APPROACH
Ins)tu)onal
Needs
Use
Cases
to
Gap
Analyses
to
Capture
Capture
Currently
user
needs
currently
met
Unmet
User
Needs by
exis)ng
solu)ons
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 5

6. Design
and
Feature
Workflow:
Managed
Project,
URG
and
InsCtuCons
InsCtuCon
MP
Review
as
a
group
(UX,
etc.)
ns
Desig
ck InsCtuCon’s
URG Evaluate
and
Fe edba URG
Rep(s)
perform
research
as
needed
ns
Desig
ct Post
feedback back
Selegns Fe e d
Desi
InsCtuCon’s
URG
Rep(s)
MP
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 6

7. User
Input
for
Berkeley’s
ImplementaCon
Pilot
users:
GoTo
Network: School
of
InformaCon
Students
Staff,
student
student
projects COSE:
and
staff
and
faculty
Student
advisory
input group
Research
ParCcipatory
design:
Staff,
Dev.
Process
students
and
SoUware
faculty
Students
on
EvaluaCon the
team Design
Development Consult
with
MP
Contribute
ContribuCon
to
MP model
for
students
and
others
(future)
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 7

8. Charles
Sturt
University
• A
mulU-­‐campus
university
across
New
South
Wales;
campuses
up
to
600
km
apart
• About
62%
of
our
38
000
students
studied
enUrely
off-­‐campus
in
2010
• A
further
13%
studied
in
mixed
mode
in
2010
(on
campus
and
by
distance
educaUon)
• Currently
using
Sakai
2.4
as
CSU
Interact
• Over
3000
subject
sites
are
provisioned
in
each
of
the
two
main
teaching
sessions
• About
3500
project
sites
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 8

9. Dashboard
of
Systems
for
ICT
Enabled
Learning
and
Teaching
Key
CSU Sakai OAE
Implementation
Major developments
at present
Source:
http://www.tinyurl.com/
ltsystemsdashboard
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 9

10. Online
Learning
Environment
Terms
of
reference:
• To
provide
ongoing
academic
input
to
the
shaping
of
CSU’s
online
learning
environment,
with
recogniUon
of
divisional
needs
as
secondary
users
of
the
OLE;
• To
formulate
academic
input
and
prioriUes
for
Sakai
Open
Academic
Environment
(OAE)
design
and
development
processes
where
requested,
with
recogniUon
of
divisional
needs
as
secondary
users
of
the
OLE;
• To
provide
detailed
advice
on
maders
referred
to
it
by
the
InformaUon
and
Learning
Systems
Commidee
(ILSC)
including
policy
and
procedural
issues;
• To
develop
ways
of
obtaining
wider
academic,
student
and
divisional
input.
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 10

11. OLE
RG:
official
membership
Director,
Strategic
Learning
&
Teaching
InnovaCon,
Learning
&
Teaching
Services
(Convenor)
Academic
representaCves
(appointed
by
Deans):
• Two
representaUves
from
each
Faculty
(Arts,
Business,
EducaUon,
Science)
Divisional
representaCves
(appointed
by
execuUve
directors):
• Director,
Student
Services
(or
Nominee)
• ExecuUve
Director,
Library
Services
(or
Nominee)
• Enterprise
Architect
-­‐
ApplicaUons,
Division
of
InformaUon
Technology
• Director,
Flexible
Learning
InsUtute
(or
Nominee)
• Director,
EducaUon
for
PracUce
InsUtute
(or
Nominee)
• One
Faculty
EducaUonal
Design
&
Media
Manager,
Learning
and
Teaching
Services
Specialists:
• Interact2
Project
Manager,
Business
Analyst
• Sakai
OAE
URG
member
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 11

12. OLE
RG:
operaUons
• MeeUngs
called
when
necessary,
but
lately
have
started
to
schedule
regular
meeUngs
and
cancel
when
not
necessary
• Director,
SLTI
gives
a
short
intro
• Commonly
meet
to
gather
feedback
on
OAE
funcUonality
&
design
issues
• Facilitated
by
Greg
Hardham,
CSU
rep
on
URG
• BA
takes
notes,
interprets
• Use
of
an
Interact
project
site,
especially
a
wiki,
for
medium-­‐term
feedback
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 12

13. Wiki:
gather
&
summarise
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 13

14. OLE
RG:
issues
• Requires
good
project
planning
to
make
effecUve
use
of
the
RG
• Operates
more
as
“feedback”
group
than
a
“reference”
group;
“reference”
suggests
reps
go
back
to
faculUes
and
divisions
to
get
feedback,
whereas
the
people
on
the
call
give
their
feedback
• Members
don’t
always
"represent"
their
Faculty
or
Division
• Feedback
can
be
immediate
or
considered
and
entered
into
the
meeUng
wiki
page
• Feedback
also
obtained
through
pilots
that
feedback
into
the
project
• The
OAE
agile
process
(sprints
&
milestones)
have
increased
difficulty
and
have
shortened
response
Ume
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 14

15. NYU
User
Needs
CommiZee
•
IT/Academic
Partnership
•
RepresentaUves
and
Areas
of
NYU
Sakai/ATLAS
Working
Group
Members:
–
GallaUn
School
of
Individualized
Study
(EducaUonal
Technology)
–
Liberal
Studies
(Academic
Affairs)
–
Nursing
(Academic
Affairs,
Student
Reps)
–
NYU
Libraries
(Digital
Technology
Services)
–
Steinhardt
(EducaUonal
Technology)
–
Wagner
Graduate
School
of
Public
Service
(Student
Affairs)
•
Administrators
Acquainted
with
the
Broad
Range
of
User
Needs
•
Focus
Groups
and
Requirements
Gathering
at
Unit
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 15

16. The
Why
of
the
Who
and
How
Advantages
• No
Surprises
• Academic
PaUence
and
Support
for
IT
Issues
• Variety
of
PerspecUves
• Full
Range
of
User
Needs
Represented
• TranslaUon
of
Values
and
Visions
into
ImplementaUon
and
PracUce
Challenges
• RestricUng
Comment
to
Needs,
not
Designs
• Time
Constraints
on
Academic
Reps
• Maintaining
Interest
in
Issues
Peripheral
to
Certain
Units
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 16

17. Think
Globally:
InsCtuConal
User
Needs
and
MP
Designs
A Recent Example
• User
Journey
Wireframes
posted
by
MP
4/5/11
• NYU
User
Needs
discussion
4/14/11
• Notes
Passed
to
URG
rep
(Lucy)
4/15/11
• Notes
Posted
to
User
Journeys
PresentaUon
Page
in
Sakai
Project
Confluence
site
4/15/11
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 17

18. Managed
Project
—
Design
A
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 18

19. Managed
Project
—
Design
B
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 19

20. Managed
Project
—
Public
View
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 20

21. Managed
Project
—
User’s
Dashboard
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 21

22. NYU
User
Needs
Comments
• See
User
Need
for
different
kinds
of
acUvity
feeds
for
external
users
of
the
system
than
for
logged-­‐in
users
• System
acUvity
displayed
to
external
users
in
a
slider,
with
the
insUtuUon
deciding
what
it
wanted
to
feature
• For
Logged-­‐in
user,
acUvity
feed
shows
what
is
happening
most/most
recently
in
the
system
• Sepngs
that
would
allow
logged-­‐in
users
to
customize
what's
shown
in
these
acUvity
feed(s).
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 22

23. The
Needs
of
the
Few,
The
Needs
of
the
Many
Achievements
• Providing
Detailed
Feedback
for
URG
• Flagging
Issues
• Involving
User
RepresentaUves
without
Derailing
Project
• Thoroughly
Learning
the
Designs
by
Close
Analysis
• Leg
Up
on
ImplementaUon/CustomizaUon
Needs
Challenges
• Balancing
Local
Needs
Against
Interest
of
the
Community
• Recognizing
Limits:
Not
in
Charge,
Not
the
Guiding
Vision
• AccepUng
Lack
of
Response
from
MP
During
Busy
Periods
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 23

24. Act
Locally
Kaltura Integration
• Model
of
University/SAWG/UN
Working
RelaUon
• University/SAWG
Sets
Broad
Path
(AdopUng
Kaltura)
• SAWG
Chairs
Provide
UN
Chairs
with
Parameters
for
Discussion
-­‐
Kaltura
IntegraUon
as
Model
for
Other
IntegraUons
• UN
Smaller
and
More
Self-­‐SelecUng
than
SAWG
-­‐
Discussion
rather
than
Report
Format
• UN
Finds
SoluUons
that
Work
for
All
Stakeholders
• UN
Gets
Granular
.
.
.
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 24

25. Let’s
Get
Granular
Three Examples of UN Recommendations to SAWG
• Videos
would
reside
in
Kaltura
(files
from
other
exterior
repositories
would
reside
in
those
repositories
–
these
may
include
SimulaUon
Lab
content,
eBooks,
Faculty
Digital
Archive
materials,
etc.);
links
to
external
videos
would
appear
as
content
in
ATLAS
(this
will
require
some
alteraUons
to
the
video
widget).
• Links
to
items
in
exterior
repositories
(e.g.,
Kaltura)
would
carry
tags
and
be
searchable
like
any
other
content
in
ATLAS.
The
content
profile
for
a
Kaltura
video
will
contain
a
video
player
as
well
as
metadata.
• Forced
tags
would
be
adached
to
material
in
exterior
repositories
so
users
could
search
ATLAS
content
links
by
repository
(e.g.,
if
a
user
searched
ATLAS
content
for
"video,”
video
links
from
any
source
would
appear
-­‐
YouTube,
Kaltura,
Vimeo,
etc.
But
if
a
user
searched
for
"Kaltura"
(or
"NYUStream"),
only
the
video
links
from
that
repository
would
appear.
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 25

26. QuesCons
• Lucy
Appert
(NYU)
lucy.appert@nyu.edu
• Greg
Hardham
(NYU)
ghardham@csu.edu.au
• Rachel
Hollowgrass
(Berkeley)
rhollow@berkeley.edu
• Jeff
Pasch
(NYU)
jeffpasch@nyu.edu
• Robert
Squillace
(NYU)
rs84@nyu.edu
• Philip
Uys
(CSU)
puys@csu.edu.au
12th
Sakai
Conference
–
Los
Angeles,
California
–
June
14-­‐16 26