It's late and I'm tired from a busy first day with the mStoner team ... but I promised I'd write. The day was a success thanks to those who came for strategic discovery discussions and some hard work by the re.web team. (Thanks to Andrew Bauserman, Tina Coleman, Kathy Larrieu, Joel Pattison, and Mark Windley.)
The turnout was super - 41 attended a non-stop series of meetings that began at 9:00AM and concluded at 6:15PM. Whew!
To wrap up the day, the mStoner team met with a group of talented, sincere, charming, and bright students. Our students represent the essence, and what's best, about W&M. Who wouldn't be engaged by a future web site that captures that?
posted by Susan Evans
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
"Take me to your leader."
The mStoner team of Voltaire Santos Miran, Patrick DiMichele, and Mark Sheehy landed on campus today. 9:00AM finds them in the Brafferton meeting with Gene Nichol, Geoff Feiss, Michael Fox, and Jackson Sasser.
The remainder of the day includes time with Arts and Sciences, Admission, Libraries, and lots of students! No lunch break either - they are brown bagging it with a group of departmental web editors.
Want names? See the confirmed list of W&M faculty, staff, and students who will talk with mStoner.
Later tonight, we'll try to blog about day one of the mStoner visit.
posted by Susan Evans
The remainder of the day includes time with Arts and Sciences, Admission, Libraries, and lots of students! No lunch break either - they are brown bagging it with a group of departmental web editors.
Want names? See the confirmed list of W&M faculty, staff, and students who will talk with mStoner.
Later tonight, we'll try to blog about day one of the mStoner visit.
posted by Susan Evans
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Q&A About Grad Schools
Q: Are you guys going to give William & Mary's Graduate Schools a chance to participate in re.web?
A: Of course!
Q: That's a relief. But... does that mean the graduate schools are going to look just like the home page?
A: Not exactly. When we were auditioning web consultants there was universal agreement that a University's graduate schools should have a complimentary, but not identical look. Think of them as "siblings" to the home page.
Q: Have any grad schools decided to take advantage of the numerous, wonderful benefits of re.web and participate?
A: Yes!-- Law, Education and The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Would you like to know how they're going to be included in strategic discovery?
Q: Actually, I would.
A: In addition to the three days mStoner spends talking to people from the College, each participating graduate school is going to get one day of strategic discovery to themselves. That means their students, faculty staff and administration will have a full day to talk to mStoner about nothing but their respective school.
Q: That's swell. I'll bet they really appreciate that.
A: We hope so.
Q: When are these meetings with the graduate schools going to occur?
A: The School of Law will have their one day strategic discovery session on September 21. Other Graduate Schools will follow later in the fall.
Q: Why does the Law School get to go first?
A: Because they were enthusiastic, and anxious to get started.The Associate Dean of Technology, Trotter Hardy has worked very hard to get ready for mStoner's visit in September.
Q: Is that the only reason law gets to go first? Just because they were so eager?
A: I promise you, it really was that simple.
Q: Will the new grad school web sites launch at the same time as the College's?
A: We will know more after the first mStoner visit. Some of them may go live at the same time as the College's site, but others will be phased in one-by-one after the launch of www.wm.edu.
Q: There's no way you can get them all done at the same time?
A: Sorry, but I don't think so. High-quality web design does take a lot of time and energy you know!
Q: Yeah, yeah, I know. We want to do this thing right.
A: Absolutely.
Posted by Joel Pattison
A: Of course!
Q: That's a relief. But... does that mean the graduate schools are going to look just like the home page?
A: Not exactly. When we were auditioning web consultants there was universal agreement that a University's graduate schools should have a complimentary, but not identical look. Think of them as "siblings" to the home page.
Q: Have any grad schools decided to take advantage of the numerous, wonderful benefits of re.web and participate?
A: Yes!-- Law, Education and The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Would you like to know how they're going to be included in strategic discovery?
Q: Actually, I would.
A: In addition to the three days mStoner spends talking to people from the College, each participating graduate school is going to get one day of strategic discovery to themselves. That means their students, faculty staff and administration will have a full day to talk to mStoner about nothing but their respective school.
Q: That's swell. I'll bet they really appreciate that.
A: We hope so.
Q: When are these meetings with the graduate schools going to occur?
A: The School of Law will have their one day strategic discovery session on September 21. Other Graduate Schools will follow later in the fall.
Q: Why does the Law School get to go first?
A: Because they were enthusiastic, and anxious to get started.The Associate Dean of Technology, Trotter Hardy has worked very hard to get ready for mStoner's visit in September.
Q: Is that the only reason law gets to go first? Just because they were so eager?
A: I promise you, it really was that simple.
Q: Will the new grad school web sites launch at the same time as the College's?
A: We will know more after the first mStoner visit. Some of them may go live at the same time as the College's site, but others will be phased in one-by-one after the launch of www.wm.edu.
Q: There's no way you can get them all done at the same time?
A: Sorry, but I don't think so. High-quality web design does take a lot of time and energy you know!
Q: Yeah, yeah, I know. We want to do this thing right.
A: Absolutely.
Posted by Joel Pattison
Friday, September 7, 2007
Information Architecture is Key
Information Architecture (IA) is more noticeable by its absence than its presence. For this reason, some define IA by what is lacking when IA is weak—a site map, a navigation system, or search. But IA is more than this.
IA is the blueprint and foundation for the site. It is essential to the site map, navigation system, and search, as well as, for a consistent strategic message. But merely building a site with these features will not produce strong IA.
Solid IA provides a framework, not only for developing these features, but also for the evolution of the site—enabling the site to weather the inevitable changes to message, content, design, and navigational structure—thus providing long-term sustainability for the site.
Without a good IA, we risk deploying an aesthetically appealing, technically sophisticated site with great content which will not grow with us.
Yes, but what exactly is IA? And how will the re.web project address IA within the new W&M web presence? Read what we're thinking...
Posted by Andrew Bauserman
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Taming the Beast
Our web environment is a beast. We have tens of thousands of pages written in multiple languages by hundreds of authors using dozens of web authoring tools. There are countless custom applications with varying degrees of ... hmmm ... "uniqueness?" Secure sites, public sites (or somewhere in between), personal pages, official content, news, myWM, Banner, webmail, Blackboard, and let's not even talk calendars.
Basically, if you can find it on the web, chances are we have it here at W&M. And Information Technology is proud to offer and support it.
But... (and you knew it was coming), managing this environment is not without its challenges. Enter re.web. As we assess our current environment in light of the goals of the re.web project, the potential benefits that would be provided by a commercial Content Management System are hard to ignore.
Stay tuned for more CMS-related information in this blog!
posted by Mark Windley
Basically, if you can find it on the web, chances are we have it here at W&M. And Information Technology is proud to offer and support it.
But... (and you knew it was coming), managing this environment is not without its challenges. Enter re.web. As we assess our current environment in light of the goals of the re.web project, the potential benefits that would be provided by a commercial Content Management System are hard to ignore.
Stay tuned for more CMS-related information in this blog!
posted by Mark Windley
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Numbers Don't Lie
The re.web project site has received more than 13,000 hits since going live 9 months ago -- there have been 3,736 visits in August alone. This project clearly captures the attention of the W&M community.
posted by Joel Pattison
posted by Joel Pattison
Friday, August 24, 2007
If Architects Had to Work Like Web Designers . . .
I've seen this around the blogosphere - can't find it attributed to an individual. Regardless, there's a lot of truth in the humor.
posted by Susan Evans
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Mr. Architect:
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them).
As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)
Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.
Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet.
However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.
Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.
While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor's house he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.
Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.
You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can't happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.
PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.
PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.
posted by Susan Evans
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Mr. Architect:
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them).
As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance costs as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you choose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)
Please take care that modern design practices and the latest materials are used in construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted, however, that kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.
To insure that you are building the correct house for our entire family, make certain that you contact each of our children, and also our in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all of these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices that you make.
Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house: get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet.
However, keep in mind that my wife likes blue.
Also, do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under roof within 48 hours.
While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should have appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has. I advise you to run up and look at my neighbor's house he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.
Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used only for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.
You must be thrilled to be working on as an interesting project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can't happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.
PS: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle this responsibility, I will have to find another architect.
PPS: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.
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