Making big changes to your website or intranet

David Hobbs@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

http://websiteproductmanagement.com

About me

Vision / long range planning

Selection / RFP / Proof of

Concept / Pilot

Implementation / Rollout /

Migration

Tweaks, cleanup, and/or

improvements

For “one time” changes Ongoing

I help organizations focus their websites with big changes, by guiding, reframing, gaining consensus, and providing oversight.

@jdavidhobbs

Are you working on:

a) a single big change (like a replatforming project), or

b) improving your ability to respond to change in general

?

@jdavidhobbs

We will start at the end

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

What people see needs to be maintained and grown

The inner workings matter, since they enable the above

@jdavidhobbs

Vision / long range planning

Selection / RFP / Proof of Concept

/ PilotImplementation

Tweaks, cleanup, and/or

improvements

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

http://websiteproductmanagement.com/flowchart.html

What types of change are the hardest for you to

handle?

@jdavidhobbs

Some change should be fast, and some should be slow

@jdavidhobbs

What should be fast may be camouflaged

@jdavidhobbs

What types of changes should happen slower on

your site?

@jdavidhobbs

Ongoing change

@jdavidhobbs

Define a new service for something that should

happen faster.

@jdavidhobbs

THE BONES

@jdavidhobbs

• Allow what you know needs to happen soon, and don’t completely block yourself in

• Notably, it’s not about a ship-in-a-bottle• NOT about a rigid infrastructure• Enables growth

@jdavidhobbs

“Broken gets fixed. Shoddy lasts forever.” — Jack Moffett

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

3 Common “Bones” problems

• Shoddy work lasts forever• The amorphous blob• The rigid framework

@jdavidhobbs

What type of skeletal problems does your site

have?

@jdavidhobbs

It’s not about defining the whole thing and then phasing over time.

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

http://hobbsontech.com/content/early-planning-big-website-changes

What is your bias?

@jdavidhobbs

It’s not about defining the whole thing and first getting the structures right either.

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

Fragmentation

@jdavidhobbs

Fragmentation

@jdavidhobbs

Fragmentation

@jdavidhobbs

Fragmentation

@jdavidhobbs

When you talk about your web presence, what percentage are you

talking about?

@jdavidhobbs

A more rational approach

@jdavidhobbs

What is the vision for your web presence?

@jdavidhobbs

Illustrate the implications

http://hobbsontech.com/content/visualizing-impact @jdavidhobbs

http://hobbsontech.com/content/content-handling-process-asking-right-content-migration-questions

How will you determine and illustrate the impact of

your vision?

@jdavidhobbs

Instead, define the essentials and broadly how you will be moving forward

@jdavidhobbs

We’ll need:• Multiple

green spaces• Various trees

and shrubbery• Nice paths

@jdavidhobbs

For your big changes, what needs to be defined now, and what can you define

later?

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

Technical Drag

Even if you implement ideally, more complexity takes more effort to deal with

http:

//w

ww

.loc.

gov/

pict

ures

/res

ourc

e/cp

h.3a

1882

6/

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

Where are problems injected into your

website?

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbshttp://hobbsontech.com/content/standards-arent-defined-theyre-architected

http://hobbsontech.com/content/rules-content-migration

@jdavidhobbs

http://migrationhandbook.com/self-evaluation/

@jdavidhobbs

How will you reduce weight now and on an ongoing

basis?

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

Content

Site

Core

@jdavidhobbs

How can you maximize impact of your changes?

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

(unicorn)

@jdavidhobbs

(muddy puddle)

@jdavidhobbs

• Unfocused• Not possible in

the first place• Tried all at

once rather than over time

Why the mismatch?

@jdavidhobbshttp://hobbsontech.com/content/castles-and-tents

@jdavidhobbs

What are your priorities for the next six months?

@jdavidhobbs

@jdavidhobbs

http://websiteproductmanagement.com