The Art of the ‘One-Person Band’

Surviving as a small web team or a “team of one.”@ericepps

#hewebmi #MI2

About MeWeb Developer at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, IL

Started developing for the web 1998, in higher education since 2006

SVCC is small (about 4000), rural, located in northwestern Illinois

1. Stop the Redesign Cycle

“Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign”

- Cameron Mollalistapart.com/article/redesignrealign

Why Incremental Changes?1. Easier to implement

2. Easier to keep focus on solving problems

3. Easier for end users to adjust

2. Fire your Web Committee /Start a Web Committee

Effective Web CommitteesHigh ranking members

Able to effect changeAllows you to hear vision directly (and vice versa)

Small, but diverseGet Marketing and IT on the same page“We’ll bring in others as needed”

Focus on process and problems, not pixels

3. Train Smarter, Not Harder

Training IdeasDon’t just show someone how to do something, do a screen capture video!Develop an online, self-service refresher course.Consider whether it’s worth training (and retraining) someone who updates infrequently.“Open-lab” group training to cut down on support calls.

4. Automate and Integrate

Finding Areas to Automate/IntegrateDoes it need to be done regularly (every

day/week/month)?Is it a multi-step process that’s always the same?Does it need to happen when something else

finishes?Whenever X changes, Y needs to changeWhenever X is added, Y needs to be created

Does the same data exist in two systems?

5. Make Use of APIs

What & Why APIs?What?

API - Application Programming InterfaceRemember a bubble bath - SOAP & REST

Why?Someone else does your work for you!Richer information for website visitorsAccess to a wealth of information outside your

organization

Some APIs of Interestwww.careeronestop.org

Career profile, salary information, match skills to careers, and more from the Dept. of Labor

www.data.gov US government’s open data initiative

data.illinois.gov, data.michigan.gov State open data initiatives

www.govtrack.us/developerswww.programmableweb.com/apis/directory