WEB Extreme makeover

1
WEB Extreme make-over

• EUPRIO 2008, Stavanger
• Monique Jipping
• Director Communications Services
• Utrecht University

2
This workshop (1)

• How to lead an organisation and its many
  stakeholder groups into the direction you want?
• How to structure and implement decisions?
• How to manage completely decentralised ICT and
  communications services in order to apply website
  and portal functionalities?

3
This workshop (2)

• About Utrecht University
• Preliminary stage
• Project approach
• Main conclusions
• Evaluation of visual design
• Implementation and lessons learnt

4
About Utrecht University (1)

• Students 30,000
• Staff 8,600
• Budget 700 million
• 4 locations in Utrecht and Zeeland
• 7 Faculties (covering all disciplines except
  technology and agriculture)
• 49 undergraduate programmes (3 English-taught)
• 196 graduate programmes (89 English-taught)
• Shanghai Ranking no. 1 in the Netherlands, no. 7
  in Europe, no. 42 in the world.

5
About Utrecht University (2)

• Communications policy and its implementation at
  university level are carried out by 2 departments
  (more than 60 staff, coming under the Secretary
  General and Executive Board)
• Communications teams within faculties (of 3 to 8
  people, coming under the faculty directors)
• Communications professionals within service
  departments (1 or absent)
• A total of approx. 150 communications
  professionals

6
Preliminary stage (1)

• ICT and Communications issues
• Administrative discord
• Rivalry between ICT and Communications directors
• Shared interests
• Consistent communicative appearance
• ICT efficiency

7
Preliminary stage (2)

• The objective of the project was formulated as
  follows
• A modernised web presence facilitating
• Information exchange, communication and
  collaboration
• With internal and external target groups
• From a single information source, which is
• Used by all university departments

8
Preliminary stage (3)

• Concrete aims
• A digital service desk for Intranet and Internet
• A question-oriented information structure
• A single corporate CMS ( one information source)
  with integrated portal functionality
• Consistent and attractive lay-out
• Improved search functionality
• Changed management structure
• Collaborative tools

9
Preliminary stage (3)

• We started off in an unconventional way
• We formulated objectives (which is still
  conventional)
• We immediately set up a project organisation
  (which is not)
• The project objectives managed to unite the
  Executive Board members.
• The project organisation showed that
  developments in the fields of ICT and
  communications are inextricably linked.

10
Project approach (1)

• In November 2005 a preliminary document was
  drawn up and approved by the Executive Board. The
  project would include the following steps
• Proof of concept
• Product selection
• Final report (November 2006)
• Migration plan
• Programme of demands
• Management plan
• Information structure
• Information structure and management model
  (February 2007)

11
Project approach (2)

• The Executive Board was designated commissioner
• The ICT and Communications directors were
  designated contractors
• A project group was formed consisting of talented
  ICT and Communications staff, from central,
  faculty and service department levels.
• Later on a steering committee was set up
  consisting of a faculty director, a faculty dean
  and a representative of the implementation
  partner.
• Numerous working groups consisting of staff from
  faculties and service departments carried out
  work on various parts of the site.
• A survey was conducted into the English version
  of the site.

12
Main decisions (1)

• Product selection Microsoft Office Sharepoint
  (MOSS 2007)
• Plan of action / migration plan (phasing)
• Information structure and management model
• Visual Design

13
Main decisions (2)

• Product selection
• External orientation (conference, work visits)
• Internal sounding boards
• Programme of demands
• Proof of concept
• Decision to purchase MOSS 2007

14
Main decisions (3)

• Plan of action /migration plan
• No big bang but going live in phases
• First corporate, then faculties, service
  departments and portals

15
Main decisions (4)

• Information structure
• We cannot all feature on the home page!

16
Main decisions (5)

• Management model
• Web coordinators and key users
• Corporate and local web teams
• Service desk and operational management by own
  organisation
• Outsourcing of technical management

17
Main decisions (6)

• Visual design
• Navigation, design and content working group
  (November 2006)
• Selection of design bureaus
• Internal evaluation of three optional designs
• Interaction design
• Visual design (October 2007)

18
Evaluation of visual design (1)

• Working group and work sessions
• Consultant
• Communications Network
• Presentation to the Executive Board
• Design
• Decision

19
Evaluation of visual design (2)

• Design principles
• Fixed page layout including fixed frames
• Images used as distinctive element
• Consistent application of corporate logo (sol)
  and arch
• Utrecht University yellow used as distinctive
  (corporate) colour

20
Evaluation of visual design (3)

• Principles
• Design in line with corporate house style (logo,
  arch, typography, imaging material, colour)
• Fixed page composition 1 basic pattern, 3 basic
  pages (main page, introduction page and detailed
  information page)
• Implications for faculties
• The basic pattern applies to all departments
  which are for 100 part of Utrecht University.
• Individual profiling is allowed with regard to
  content, sub-menu, imaging material, header and
  individual start pages.
• Departments which are not for 100 part of
  Utrecht University (inter-university research
  institutes) can participate in the new CMS. They
  will have to commit to the corporate web policy,
  even with regard to design.

21
Evaluation of visual design (4)

• The consultant developed an evaluation form,
  requesting opinions per page and per design.
• Use the simplified form to evaluate the new home
  page of Utrecht University yourself!
• UU colours
• Corporate red and yellow ochre
• Faculties pink, dark red, bright yellow, pale
  blue, dark blue, green, purple
• Handing in results the English version of the
  original form will be put on the EUPRIO-site as a
  model.

22
Implementation

• Going live was planned for April, we did not meet
  this deadline
• ICT setbacks outsourcing of technical
  management, bugs in MOSS 2007, new insights
  regarding method of feeding content
• Communications setback resistance

23
Lessons learnt

• Communications and ICT are complementary
• Use the best people and keep them motivated
• Intranet first, internet second
• Meeting deadlines is essential extending them
  is reality
• From August to end of 2008 www.uu.nl!

24
Just a little bit longer and then we will have
this
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
Evaluation

• Thumbs up
• Thumbs level
• Thumbs down