11 11-13 July 2018
University of York York
Tickets cost £400 (includes 2 nights' accommodation) Event now over!
Day 111 July 2018

3:00 PM

Telling the Birkbeck Story: How Customer Journey Mapping Helped Us Develop Our New Approach To Web

by Chris Scott  , Jane Van de Ban  ,

The quality of prospective student experiences can have wide-ranging impacts, most obviously on recruitment but also more widely on reputation and retention. In an age where digital pervades everything, the challenge of ensuring great experiences is more important, and more complex, than ever. Universities therefore need to be able to analyse and shape student experiences. In this presentation, we will unpack our use of customer journey mapping (CJM) and show how this translated into the new content and web design of Birkbeck, University of London. We’ll review some of the benefits that can be expected from CJM and discuss how to optimise application of the technique. We will also review some of the common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Summary:
  • Title: Telling the Birkbeck Story: How Customer Journey Mapping Helped Us Develop Our New Approach To Web
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P2
  • Speakers: Jane Van de Ban, Birkbeck & Chris Scott, Headscape
  • Date and time: 15.00-15.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/telling-the-birkbeck-story

1:45 PM

IWMW 2018: Introduction

by Claire Gibbons  , Brian Kelly  ,

Brian Kelly and Claire Gibbons gave the introduction to the IWMW 2018 event and welcomed the delegates.
Summary:
  • Title: IWMW 2018: Introduction
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P0
  • Speakers: Brian Kelly and Claire Gibbons
  • Date and time: 13.45-14.15 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/118 Lecture Theatre
Additional resources:   https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/iwmw-2018-introduction-and-welcome

2:15 PM

10 Things I Wish I’d Known Earlier (In My Career)

by Alison Kerwin 

Alison Kerwin heads up the Marketing function at the University of York and has responsibility for brand, marketing and internal communications. Prior to York she was the Head of Digital at the University of Bath and before that Edge Hill University. Reflecting on her career and roles at three very different institutions Alison will share the knocks and triumphs, both personal and professional, that she has experienced along the way. She'll also explain how York are trying to break apart digital silos to build a fully integrated marketing team with digital principles at its core. Summary:
  • Title: 10 Things I Wish I'd Known Earlier (In My Career)
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P1
  • Speaker: Alison Kerwin, University of York
  • Date and time: 14.15-15.00 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/10-things-i-wish-id-known-earlier-in-my-career

2.15 PM

Workshops

The following workshops took place:
Day 212 July 2018

9:00 AM

Blending Internal and External Services

by Russell Sneezum  , Adrian Binzaru  ,

Digital teams don’t always have the skills or resources to undertake a task successfully themselves. There are times when effort provided from beyond the host institution could be used. But how do institutions go about deciding when such approaches are appropriate? Speakers including digital team managers, vendors and consultants will give their thoughts. The session will provide plenty of time for Q&A. A number of speakers will take part in this session, which will also provide opportunities for questions from the audience.
Summary: Resources

11:00 AM

Understanding Invisible Labour

by Gareth Edwards 

Institutional web teams are increasingly being asked to deliver more sophisticated, audience-focused experiences whilst also being under pressure to reduce overheads and devolve control. One of the biggest barriers to both can be the hidden micro-tasks that fall between the gaps. In this talk we look at these various forms 'invisible labour' can take, how to identify it and how to manage or mitigate its impact on web teams. Summary:
  • Title: Understanding Invisible Labour
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P3
  • Speaker: Gareth Edwards, University of Greenwich
  • Date and time: 11.00-11.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Resources Video hosted on YouTube https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/understanding-invisible-labour

11:30 AM

Stress…and what to do when everything starts falling apart

by Andrew Millar 

We don't really talk about just how stressful it is working in digital. We're underfunded, misunderstood and working in an environment where things are constantly changing. How do you cope with all that, and what exactly do you do when it all starts falling apart? Summary:
  • Title: Stress...and what to do when everything starts falling apart
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P4
  • Speaker: Andrew Millar, University of Dundee
  • Date and time: 11.30-12.00 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/stressand-what-to-do-when-everything-starts-falling-apart

12:00 PM

Lightning Talks

by Carley Hollis  , Mark Fendley  ,

Got something you'd like to say? Perhaps a gripe or a success. Or something you'd like to share with others? If you can keep it to 4 minutes (or even shorter) you have the opportunity to give a lightning talk! We're encouraging people who haven't spoken at IWMW before, or maybe haven't even been to IWMW before, to share their experiences, thoughts and ideas with the, very encouraging, IWMW audience in a fast-paced but informal style. No slides, no gimmicks, just your story in four minutes or less. Please contact one of the event organisers (Claire Gibbons - who is the session chair - or Brian Kelly if you'd like to speak). Go on - give it a go! Summary:
  • Title: Lightning Talks
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P5
  • Speakers: Hannah Love (University of Leeds), Mark Fendley (University of Kent), Kevin Mears (University of South Wales), Rob Fowles (University of Derby), Carley Hollis (University of St Andrews) and Paul Bradley (eQAfy)
  • Date and time: 12.00-12.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Summary of the Lightning Talks Brief summaries of the lightning talks are given below. Speaker: Hannah Love, University of Leeds Topic: Saying 'No' Abstract: Sometimes we need to say ‘no’ to requests as they are first presented. Helping colleagues work through their problem and other ways to solve it, and understanding the challenges they face and sharing user insights can help you negotiate an answer to which you can all say ‘yes’. Video: Speaker: Kevin Mears, University of South Wales Topic: Why you can and should draw Abstract: Kevin has drawn at varying levels for many, many years, in this talk he talked passionately about how everyone can draw well enough for it to be worth doing, and evangelised the positive benefits of drawing. Video: Speaker: Carley Hollis, University of St Andrews Topic: Benefits of sharing knowledge and expertise: a case study from the University of St Andrews. Abstract: One of the biggest strengths of working in digital in higher education is the community of peers available across the UK. Whether you build your network through attending IWMW, participating in the HE Digital Slack channel, asking for mentorship or building a regional group of local peers, there is so much to be gained by sharing our knowledge and our expertise. Find out how this has worked for the University of St Andrews. Video: Speaker: Mark Fendley, University of Kent Topic: When purchasing a CMS stalls, build your own! Abstract: CMSes have been a talking point of IWMW for years. We finally jumped on the bandwagon, and part way through the wheels fell off. We dusted ourselves down, surveyed the wreckage, and went a different route. Now our home-built CMS is in the hands of real users building sites which will launch this year. Enterprise is often, but not always the answer. More news to come as we continue our journey...! Video: Speaker: Rob Fowles, University of Derby Video: Not available Speaker: Paul Bradley eQafy Topic: How and why would you rank UX, governance and technology in urgency and importance to solve? Abstract: We help higher education institutions manage the risks their website infrastructure, or web estates, create. Typically, we find issues about an institution’s web estate fall into three clusters: user experience, governance and technology. How and why would you rank UX, governance and technology in urgency and importance to solve? Video: Resources

2:00 PM

Don’t be Content with Average Content

by Dave Musson 

In the social media landscape of 2018, we've got more tools to get messages out there than we know what to do with - from a humble tweet to a live video, we're spoiled for choice. But, are you making the most of these tools by using them to share your very best content? And, are you creating the kind of content that the algorithms will love and that will, ultimately, get seen by your audiences? Join Dave Musson, editor-in-chief of The Native, for an ideas-packed session to get you thinking about the message and not just the method. He'll offer suggestions on what you should be doing more of, what you need to do better and what, quite frankly, you need to kill off. Summary:
  • Title: Don't be Content with Average Content
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P6
  • Speaker: Dave Musson, The Native
  • Date and time: 14.00-14.40 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/dont-be-content-with-average-content

2.45 PM

Masterclasses

The following masterclasses took place:
Day 313 July 2018

9:15 AM

User Needs, Content Design and Culture Change: Digital Transformation at the University of Southampton

by Padma Gillen  , Ayala Gordon  ,

The University of Southampton is in the middle of an epic journey. In this presentation, we’ll share that journey with you. It began with the understanding that our hundreds of microsites and thousands of publishers had become unmanageable. The web content was growing at a rate of over 5000 pages per year and no one really knew how to make it stop! Not only was it impossible to manage and expensive to maintain, it was giving the users a poor experience and damaging the University’s brand. Something radical needed to happen. The University hired Padma Gillen to help them navigate the path. Padma (who was formerly Head of Content Design at the Government Digital Service) has been helping us to develop a user-needs-based content strategy that works for the specifics of the higher education sector. Significant changes to governance and processes have been required to make this a reality, including a move to Agile. This presentation will introduce you to user needs workshops, engaging with disgruntled academics, wooing senior management, tackling outdated content management systems and many other dangerous and no doubt familiar beasts. Ayala Gordon, Southampton’s Head of Digital will co-present with Padma Gillen to tell the story, share lessons learned and set out the principles, strategies and approaches necessary to arrive successfully at an agile, user-centred content strategy that meets the needs of the HE sector. Summary
  • Title: User Needs, Content Design and Culture Change: Digital Transformation at the University of Southampton
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P7
  • Speaker: Ayala Gordon, University of Southampton & Padma Gillen, Llibertat
  • Date and time: 09.15-09.45 on Friday 13 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/user-needs-content-design-and-culture-change-digital-transformation-at-the-university-of-southampton

9:45 AM

Student Recruitment Enquiries in CRM

by Mike McConnell  , Megan McFarlane  ,

This talk will look at how the University of Aberdeen triage student recruitment enquiries. We have put in place a dedicated enquiry room with staff triaging incoming enquiries and in this session will present how we are funnelling enquiries from a variety of sources to the correct team. We’ll look at how we are advancing our practices to leverage the power of CRM, in handling and triaging enquiries, and how the data from an enquiry is used to communicate the most relevant content, to recipients, via the most suitable method. Summary:
  • Title: Student Recruitment Enquiries in CRM
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P8
  • Speaker: Megan McFarlane and Mike McConnell, University of Aberdeen
  • Date and time: 09.45-10.15 on Friday 13 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/student-recruitment-enquiries-in-crm

10:15 AM

Hands off – it’s ours! Taking back the reins

by Keith McDonald 

In 2017, the University of London launched a new website to combine its many London-based concerns (from institutes to accommodation) with its distance-learning arm, the International Programmes. Among the many challenges this raised was the need to streamline our content ownership and governance. Previously, ownership of the distance-learning arm alone was divided among 50 colleagues, plus the dozen institutions that provide academic support for the courses. This created problems including inconsistency, inaccuracy, high maintenance and sovereignty. The Web and Marketing teams resolved to take back the reins, which creates its own set of challenges. How would internal and external stakeholders respond to a more defiant stance to content ownership? Would senior leaders support us in our mission, or cede to pressure from outside? Reflecting on a complex HE organisation with unusual structures, this case study could inform anyone with aspirations to simplify content ownership and governance.

Summary:

  • Title: Hands off – it’s ours! Taking back the reins
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P9
  • Speaker: Keith McDonald, University of London
  • Date and time: 10.15-10.45 on Friday 13 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre (SLB/118)
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/hands-off-its-ours-taking-back-the-reins

11:15 AM

Resurrecting the Content King

by Jenni Taylor 

What kills great user experience? Bad content. What makes good design pointless? Bad content. What’s time consuming, takes lots of resource and is hard to get right? Good content. The number one reason visitors come to your website? Content. In a world where “new technologies and channels of communication are emerging at a rapid rate”, how do we keep sight of what really counts to our users? When managing bigger projects and wider ranging stakeholders how do we reintroduce content at the start of the process? This talk will explore the problems facing digital teams when trying to ensure content is considered up front in every project. It will cover the challenges caused by content management systems that make editing content so simple people forget how important it is, and stakeholders who are so seduced by design that they think a snazzy layout is the solution to every user need. I propose that we get back to basics when it comes to content. I’ll discuss how we might solve this problem and what in-house digital teams can do to help stakeholders see the value in interesting, relevant and timely content that doesn’t just sit on your site and wait to be found.

Summary:

  • Title: Resurrecting the Content King
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P10
  • Speaker: Jenni Taylor, Cardiff University
  • Date and time: 11.15-11.45 on Friday 13 July 2018
  • Venue: Main lecture theatre
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/resurrecting-the-content-king

11:45 AM

Looking To The Future

Brian Kelly and Claire Gibbons, the IWMW 2018 co-chairs concluded the event by looking to the future.

Summary:

  • Title: Looking To The Future
  • Type: Plenary
  • Hashtag: #P11
  • Speakers: Brian Kelly and Claire Gibbons, IWMW 2018 co-chairs
  • Date and time: 11.45-12.15 on Friday 13 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/118 lecture theatre
M/class

2:45 PM

SLB/004 seminar room

Maximising User Experience With Limited Resource

by Adrian Binzaru  , Megan McFarlane  ,

With 93% of 12-17 year olds online everyday, it’s never been more important to maximise your institution's website to deliver the best possible student experience - but that takes time and resource. In this three part masterclass, University of Aberdeen’s Enquiry and Conversions Manager, Megan McFarlane and Gecko Engage VP of Product, Adrian Binzaru will discuss how to deliver the best possible online user experience for prospective students with limited staff resource. We’ll begin with best practises around capturing the initial student enquiry, before diving deeper into topics such as ensuring your institution is GDPR-compliant and reducing workload for the university’s IT team with the help of new technology. We will then put you in the shoes of your students and ask you to look at your site from a different angle. Summary:
  • Title: Maximising User Experience With Limited Resource
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B8
  • Facilitators: Adrian Binzaru and Megan McFarlane
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/004 seminar room
 

2:45 PM

SLB/101 seminar room

Your Digital Activities Need a Governance Framework, Yesterday

by Claire Gibbons 

More and more institutions are undertaking large-scale transformation projects to enhance the user experience and streamline their digital activities, be it the amount of online content they have, the number of users with access to the institutional CMS, or the number of channels they maintain to communicate with their varied audiences. But these projects will be worthless without an underpinning Digital Governance Framework upon which all digital activities sit. Come along and find out what a Digital Governance Framework is, why you needed one yesterday, and how to get the ball rolling in your organisation. We’ll explore the differences between change and transition, how you can be the Digital Leader in your organisation and see how small wins, policies, procedures, and standards just might navigate you through the chaos of streamlining digital. Claire Gibbons is the co-chair of IWMW 2018 and a freelance consultant with a major passion for higher education and all things digital within it. Having worked at a UK HEI for over 19 years, and with several other universities since, Claire understands the pain points, and the potential, around digital, and recognises that whilst all Universities are different, they’re not really! Summary:
  • Title: Your Digital Activities Need a Governance Framework, Yesterday
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B1
  • Speaker: Claire Gibbons
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/101 seminar room
Resources

2:45 PM

SLB/003 seminar room

How to Overcome Resistance to Build a User-centric Site

by Paul Boag 

Note this session is full! We all know what an outstanding University website should be, but making it happen feels impossible. We want to work in more agile ways and put the user's needs first, but institutional inertia seems to crush innovation. In this workshop, we will explore a tried and tested methodology successfully implemented in many higher education institutions. A method that is agile, iterative and most importantly overcomes resistance to create a better user experience. Summary:
  • Title: How to Overcome Resistance to Build a User-centric Site
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B3
  • Speaker: Paul Boag
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/003 seminar room
Resources  

2:45 PM

SLB/005 seminar room

Customer Journey Mapping

How does someone go from knowing nothing about your organisation, engaging with it, applying, accepting, turning up, and graduating? Learn how to map your customer journey from discovery phase to advocate phase in this hand-on masterclass. Summary:
  • Title: Customer Journey Mapping
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B5
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/005 seminar room
Resources  

2:45 PM

SLB/006 seminar room

Forever User-Centred, The GDS Way

by Karl Orsborn 

Higher Education institutions (HEIs) have been looking towards GDS’ approach to designing and developing user-centred digital services (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard). Wunder, a full service digital agency, completely supports this approach and has worked with large, complex organisations in this way for years, including international universities and central government (https://beta.food.gov.uk/). At IWMW 2018, our specialists will be delivering a practical masterclass for HEIs to equip you with the tools and techniques you require to adopt this approach and start implementing what you’ve learned/validated as soon as you get back to campus. Running the session, our team will consist of people from consulting, service design, and delivery management backgrounds - including ex-GDS employees. Each of them understands how to effectively design and implement this approach on all levels in accordance with the GDS standards (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live) from strategy planning and stakeholder engagement to service design (user research, prototyping, testing), continuous iterative development, and beyond. Whilst we can deliver a general best-practice masterclass, based on our experience and understanding of delivering successful university web solutions, we’d prefer to provide participants with a highly valuable session. In order to do so, we will be getting in touch with participants ahead of IWMW 2018 to gather your needs, goals, and more. We’ll then use our findings to mould the session into something of far greater value - true GDS style! We look forward to seeing you in July! Summary:
  • Title: Forever User-Centred, The GDS Way
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B7
  • Facilitator: Karl Orsborn
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/006 seminar room
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/forever-usercentred-the-gds-way

2:45 PM

Overcoming SEO Challenges to Optimise Your Website

by Dan Sitner  , Russell Sneezum  ,

Search is your organisation's window on the world and the number one source of traffic to your site. But, are you making the most of the exposure it offers? In this session we'll start from the beginning, revisiting organic search and why it's still important. We'll look at the changing landscape of search, and trends in Google, to understand it's impact on content. Ending with best practices and next steps to take forward in your organisation. We'll touch on aspects of website setup, organisational challenges, content quality, keyword strategy and the competitive landscape.
Note: In order to provide a 'taster' for IWMW events this session is open for free to those working with web services in the higher education or other public sector bodies in the Yorkshire area.  If you would like to attend place contact Brian Kelly (email ukwebfocus@gmail.com). Summary:
  • Title: Overcoming SEO Challenges to Optimise Your Website
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B9
  • Facilitators: Russell Sneezum and Dan Sitner
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room

2.45PM

SLB/002 seminar room

Digital Training Masterclass

by Jennifer Hamrick 

One of the biggest challenges facing web teams is limited resources to develop and maintain massive websites. Rather than relying on external sources, which can be costly, another solution is to train internal staff to become competent digital advocates and practitioners. By empowering staff within your institution to develop and manage content across digital channels, you will be able to 'do more with less' because you can utilise staff resources outside of your department or team. This masterclass covers how to create and run digital training courses for staff in higher education. By the end of the session, participants will understand the benefits of training higher education staff in digital communications topics, and they will be able to create their own lesson plans. Summary
  • Title: Digital Training Masterclass
  • Type: Masterclass
  • Hashtag: #B2
  • Speaker: Jennifer Hamrick, University of St Andrews
  • Date and time: 14.45-17.30 on Thursday 12 July 2018
  • Venue: SLB/002 seminar room
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/digital-training-masterclass-iwmw-2018  
W/shop

4:15 PM

Designing Usability Tests to Solve Common Problems [A8]

by Marie Kitney  , Melanie Read  ,

Throughout 2017, the University of London and Numiko worked together to completely overhaul the intuition’s online presence. We brought two sites together into one, unified site that serves students in 180 countries worldwide. With different modes of study, as well as 18 UK institutions to consider, the UX challenges involved were considerable. This session will walk participants through the principles of good usability test design, and we’ll also look at some of the tools available. Participants will be challenged to design a test(s) around a specific, given usability topic and we’ll share  our thoughts on what worked and what didn’t in our own project. Summary:
  • Title: Designing Usability Tests to Solve Common Problems
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A8
  • Speaker: Melanie Read, University of London and Marie Kitney, Numiko
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room
Resources   https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/designing-usability-tests-to-solve-common-problems

4:15 PM

How to Market Something No-one is Searching For [A7]

by Duncan Ireland 

This will provide an opportunity to hear stories about the approaches taken to institutional social media content and how to use that to help meet your marketing and advertising objectives.  The University of the Highlands and Islands will describe practical examples from their journey and invite comments and discussion on this work. Topics referenced will cover AdWords, geo-targeting, interest groups, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, overlapping audiences, institutional activity in the context of smaller business unit activity. The workshop will then provide an opportunity for participants to present elements of their work with social media and receive feedback from others. This part of the session will be very informal and the information can be presented by attendees in any format they like – a simple spoken overview from their seat or using whatever form of slide or technology they prefer. Summary:
  • Title: How to Market Something No-one is Searching For
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A9
  • Speaker: Duncan Ireland, University of the Highlands and Islands
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room

4:15 PM

Yorkie Bars, Jammie Dodgers & Seven Other Essentials For Successful Usability Testing [A1]

by Paul Kelly 

Usability testing is an invaluable tool for finding out what is and isn't working on your website, but it can feel like there's a never-ending list of things to in order to make it happen. There are scenarios to write, participants to recruit, stakeholders to manage, rooms to book, AV equipment to wrangle and reports to write. And last but not least, lots of problems to fix once you've carried out your tests. In this session I’ll share practical tips gained from the dozens of usability tests that we’ve ran in the last year at York, covering the whole testing process from figuring out what to test in the first place to making sure that your participants show up on the day. There'll be lots of examples taken from the tests that we've carried out, with advice on what software to use, processes you can follow and tips for how to be prepared for when things don't go to plan. Summary:
  • Title: Yorkie Bars, Jammie Dodgers & Seven Other Essentials For Successful Usability Testing
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A1
  • Speaker: Paul Kelly, University of York
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room

4:15 PM

Solving Problems and Making Friends Using Design Sprints [A4]

by Steve Burrows 

Most organisations know what their biggest challenges are. Although, if you ask around, you may find that everyone has a slightly different interpretation of them. And without a shared understanding of a problem, it’s really hard to get to a solution. That’s where the Design Sprint can help. It aims to bring people together to fully understand a problem and generate design ideas as possible solutions. A prototype is built based on the chosen solution. This is tested with real users, generating feedback at a very early stage, saving time, effort and money. Summary
  • Title: Solving Problems and Making Friends Using Design Sprints
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A4
  • Speaker: Steve Burrows, University of Dundee
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room
Resources

4:15 PM

Optimising Your Content Management System [A2]

by Stephen Evans 

You have just acquired a new shiny content management system, but within a few weeks it has rapidly descended into a complex mess of content and assets that requires forensic debugging to find out how it was put together. Or, you are looking after an existing system struggling to keep control of the increasing complexity. Sound familiar? This workshop is an opportunity to discuss ideas and approaches for ensuring your content management system is well organised and sustainable. Using our experience of the TerminalFour content management system T4, we will demonstrate the lessons we have learnt the hard way and how we are now putting in place practices to ensure our system is well managed and maintained. For example, having standards for code, naming conventions and procedures for creating new assets and sites. It will also discuss the best approaches to take when converting a design from a third party into assets in T4. While the examples will be based on T4, we hope that there will be something for anyone responsible for looking after a content management system. Summary:
  • Title: Optimising Your Content Management System
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A2
  • Speaker: Stephen Evans, University of St Andrews
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room

4:15 PM

Content Strategy: a Learning Journey [A5]

by Sarah Fisher 

Content strategy, we all know how to do that, right? You've been on the course, read the right books, and need to get on with it. This session is about how we took the theory and are making it work for Information Services at the University of Kent. So I'll share our journey so far, and the tools and techniques we've developed. It will be a collaborative session where you will get the opportunity to share what has worked and hasn't worked for you. We all face similar challenges, and this is an opportunity to learn from each other. Can we write the ultimate list of content strategy Dos and Don’ts for our sector? You will come away with a further understanding of some of the practical steps and tools that can help you develop and implement a content strategy in your institution, the knowledge that you are not alone, and the confidence to continue fighting the good fight! Summary:
  • Title: Content Strategy: a Learning Journey
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A5
  • Speaker: Sarah Fisher, University of Kent
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room
Resources

4:15 PM

You’ve Got (Too Much) Mail: Encouraging Self-Service Through Improving Content [A3]

by Duncan MacGruer  , Lauren Tormey  ,

At the University of Edinburgh, there’s a current emphasis on encouraging our users to self-serve in order to save support staff time and money. To achieve this, we’ve been working on enhancing the University’s IT help pages through a process of continuous improvement: usability testing with target audiences; making editorial improvements to webpages; and assessing how effective our changes are. In this session, we’ll go through the process and how we’ve been implementing it at the University. We’ll then demo the process where you’ll have the chance to participate in a collaborative review of usability testing videos and come up with content improvement suggestions. Summary:
  • Title: You’ve Got (Too Much) Mail: Encouraging Self-Service Through Improving Content
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A3
  • Speaker: Lauren Tormey and Duncan MacGruer, University of Edinburgh
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/youve-got-too-much-mail-encouraging-selfservice-through-improving-content

4:15 PM

Expertise in Your Ears: a Rough Guide to Podcasting [A9]

by Dave Musson 

While people are falling over themselves to get excited about video, there’s another content vehicle taking the online world by storm; podcasting. And, despite being 15 years old, the medium continues to flourish. In fact, more Americans listen to podcasts on a weekly basis than go to the movies, the average listener subscribes to six shows and 85% of listeners take in the whole show - the kind of low drop-off rate you’ll never get with video. But, when it comes to Higher Education, the sector still seems somewhat hesitant to get involved, despite being blessed with some of the best stories to tell, and the most informed storytellers to tell them. Higher Education podcasting has the potential to vastly improve research dissemination, public engagement, career support and even student recruitment, yet there aren’t that many examples to hold up as good practice. Join Dave, a presenter of three podcasts and subscriber to many more, to understand why podcasting should be on your agenda. You’ll get some inspiration to start your own show, guidance on how to make something brilliant without the need for a big budget and we’ll even have a go at creating some audio right there and then! Summary:
  • Title: Expertise in Your Ears: a Rough Guide to Podcasting
  • Type: Workshop
  • Hashtag: #A9
  • Speaker: Dave Musson, The Native
  • Date and time: 16.15-17.45 on Wednesday 11 July 2018
  • Venue: Seminar room
Resources https://www.slideshare.net/iwmw/expertise-in-your-ears-a-rough-guide-to-podcasting