MW2010: A. Burnette, D. Mitroff Silvers + C. Sexton, Tales of the Unexpected: A Pragmatic and Candid View of Life Post-Launch
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A presentation from Museums and the Web 2010. Our paper continues the discussions and analysis begun at MW2009 in the paper, "Redesigning Your Museum's Web Site: A Survivors' Guide" (http://www.archimuse.com/mw2009/papers/burnette/burnette.html). Using real-life stories and examples from the post-launch lives of The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), the National Gallery, London (NG), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), we will reflect upon the often overlooked and under-considered period in most on-line projects: post-launch. While our previous paper explored the shared joys and challenges we faced in planning, developing, and deploying new and improved institutional Web sites, this paper and subsequent presentation will offer pragmatic and candid insights into our lives after the launch. We'll reflect upon what we did right and what could have been done differently, discuss results that we expected to find and those that were a surprise, and recount some practical lessons learned. Some of the issues covered include the unexpected impact of a redesign on an organization's strategic planning, the sobering limitations of what a content management system (CMS) can and can't do, and the ongoing difficulties of measuring success. By continuing the discussions we began in our first paper, we hope to offer the wider museum community an opportunity to tap into the first-hand knowledge and experience we gained from our three respective projects. Mini-Workshop: Redesign Evaluation [evaluation] See http://archimuse.com/mw2010/abstracts/prg_335002221.html
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MW2010: A. Burnette, D. Mitroff Silvers + C. Sexton, Tales of the Unexpected: A Pragmatic and Candid View of Life Post-Launch
- 1. Tales of the Unexpected: A Pragmatic and Candid View of Life Post-Launch
- 2. Allegra Burnette The Museum of Modern Art Dana Mitroff Silvers San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Charlotte Sexton The National Gallery, London
- 3. Redesigning Your Museumʼs Web Site: A Survivorʼs Guide
- 4. Todayʼs Big Takeaways The post-launch period is as critical as the development phase Plan for it Donʼt underestimate it
- 5. Our Goals Share lessons learned Highlight issues and challenges Help you be proactive
- 6. Your Goals How many people in room are: Contemplating a redesign? In progress? Post launch? What are you hoping to get out of this session?
- 7. Size Doesnʼt Matter We represent larger institutions But these are universal themes Itʼs more about people + process than budget + scale
- 8. Three Tales of the (Un)expected Cause, Effect, and Fallout The Efficiency Myth The Rock in the Pond
- 9. Cause, Effect, and Fallout Charlotte
- 10. The Organizational Impact of a Redesign hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.10178
- 12. Strategies: Now You See Them, Now You Donʼt www.fieldmuseum.org/urbanlandscapes/
- 13. The Alchemy of Success A clearly articulated strategy is essential, however... If you/your organization doesnʼt have one —youʼre going to have to make one up! Be nimble and flexible in your approach —change is inevitable so plan for it
- 14. Your Experiences Pre-existing, new, or ad hoc strategy? Shifting goals? Dealing with a changing landscape?
- 17. The CMS and Web Team New site + CMS ≠ miracle Playing the “CMS” card
- 18. Reality Check Reality is more nuanced Teams are working smarter and more efficiently... but just as hard!! Yet hard for colleagues to see
- 20. More Work, Same Team No added staff at all three institutions Loss of temp staff
- 21. The CMS and Staff http://community.tradeking.com/upload/0001/0383/ rube_goldberg_machine.jpg
- 24. What This Means Scaled-back expectations Iterative roll-outs Simpler interfaces for some users Systematic and rigorous oversight Ongoing documentation
- 25. The Benefits Content separated from presentation More efficient workflows Can build a more complex page in half the time More templates, more variety Fun!
- 26. The Takeaways A new site + CMS is not a miracle cure Donʼt overplay the CMS card Educate stakeholders and manage expectations Be realistic, flexible, and creative with your roll-out
- 27. Your Experiences Did your CMS live up to your expectations? What would you do differently? How has your CMS usage evolved?
- 28. The Rock in the Pond Allegra
- 30. Andrew Wyeth dies (links to Christinaʼs World) MoMA.org redesign launch
- 31. Andrew Wyeth dies Tim Burton opening (links to Christinaʼs World) MoMA.org redesign launch
- 32. Andrew Wyeth dies Tim Burton opening (links to Christinaʼs World) MoMA.org redesign launch ? ?
- 33. Analytics At Launch: National Gallery: Google Analytics SFMOMA: WebTrends and Google Analytics MoMA: Omniture and Google Analytics Post Launch: National Gallery: Google Analytics SFMOMA: Google Analytics (in progress) MoMA: Google Analytics
- 44. Invisible Administration MoMA: Project Tracking: Basecamp Bug and Feature Tracking and Documentation: Lighthouse SFMOMA: Bug Tracking: JIRA Feature Tracking: Pivotal Tracker Documentation: Confluence (wiki) National Gallery: Bug Tracking: UnFuddle & Online Support site Feature Tracking: Excel Documentation: Microsoft SharePoint (wiki)
- 45. Post Launch Budget SFMOMA: 10% of original development budget National Gallery: 10% of original development budget MoMA: 10% of original development budget
- 48. Mock-up of National Gallery mobile site courtesy of Jim Richardson, Sumo Design (sumodesign.co.uk)
- 50. The Takeaways A redesign wonʼt suddenly boost your popularity—content does A redesign is just a line drawn in the sand Documenting the process post-launch is just as important A website redesign is just one part of a larger digital strategy Have fun!
- 51. Your Experiences How has your redesign affected your traffic? What feedback was expected/a surprise? Has your redesign prompted new initiatives or larger projects? If you havenʼt finished yet, what do you anticipate/are concerned about?
Hinweis der Redaktion
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- -this is a follow-up to paper and workshop from MW 2009 -in it we covered: 1) shared joys and challenges  faced in planning, developing, and deploying new sites2) common lessons we learned -should note that we had one more co-author, Joanna Champagne from the National Gallery in DC -not here because they have not yet launched their new site -today we'll talk about what comes after you launch that new site
- -If you get one take-away from our presentation today, it's this -very common focus on the design and development of a new site and forget what happens after your site goes live      
- -today we are going to present 3 broad themes or tales if you will   - all were common to our post-launch lives -we'll each present a theme, but they are universally shared by all of us -after we present our experiences with each theme, we will present take-aways and pose key questions to you
- Story telling mode… OK I want you to image the scene… You’ve been slaving away for months to deliver your shiny new website You’ve agreed the design, chosen your CMS and toiled away to migrate your content And now with the dull thud of your post launch party headache is receding… What comes next? What kind of fall out should you expect post relaunch? What are those unexpected consequences? How will your new shiny website impact on your organization? And what about you and your role as a leader – what challenges are you going to face?   So over the next 7 seven minutes I’m going to be addressing these questions as I talk about Cause Effect and Fallout…
- I think it's important to recognize that no matter how cunning all those initial plans were, or how inclusive your discussions, or even how strategic your thinking - life post launch from our collective experiences also seems to be filled with a wide range of "unexpected consequences".    Our experiences to date have shown that the impact on our organizations have been far actually quiet reaching...   And there is no doubt that there is a reason for this…   [NEXT SLIDE]
- It really is the nature of the beast that a successful Web redesign needs to be viewed as systemic, institution-wide initiative – and not simply and side project “owned” by the web team.   Sooner or later it's going to involve every department within the organization on some level – be that decision making, defining the scope, or contributing material.   And as a consequence of that it's going to do an excellent job in exposing any fractures in your organization’s planning or working philosophy.   And - it's definitely going to highlight where there is a lack of collective and shared vision. Websites really don’t thrive in a vacuum! If there is no clear strategic plan – you’re going to end up filling in the gaps as SFMOMA had to.   Whilst it is possible to get to launch without a clearly articulated strategy – And I suspect this happens more often than we would imagine…   I think it does leave the project vulnerable to a kind of ‘death by a thousand cuts’ as all those decisions you made along the way are questioned or revisited now that the site is a reality and not simply an abstract proposition… [NEXT SLIDE >]
- One of the most striking things about Web site redesigns are that they are painfully effective at bringing these larger and often unresolved issues to the surface – especially issues around strategy and goal setting.   So for example: At both MOMA and NG when we started our projects we both had digital strategies in place, however post launch both organizations are completely revisiting not only their existing digital strategies but also their wider overarching plans.   These reviews I think we could in part attribute to the changed landscape cultural organizations are operating in: be that financial or political – and we are both grateful to have been able to have undertaken these projects before our respective economies tanked, because I’m not sure we would have had the resources to have carried out such root and branch reworkings if we were starting them now.   However in the case of the NG we also had the added dimension of a new Director – and his desire to effect the direction of the organization and its priorities.   Certainly in my experience the journey was made far more difficult in the post launch world when the Director wanted to change the strategic framework we had been operating under and our target audiences – wanting instead to shift focus from the general art novice to the scholar…and that’s given me some real challenges in terms of further modifying the site to publish and present scholarly material and in trying to garner knowledge about this audience segment in terms of the experience they expect online.   We’re still working through this but it does feel like we’ve just been asked to pull a radical 180-degree hand break turn – simply because Scholars were not identified as a primary target audience in our initial plan. So now we are playing catch up but with the added joy of doing it under the eye of the Director!   So I think if there is one thing to bear in mind it’s that there are real advantages  in being flexible and nimble in your approach – things are going to change and it’s going to be essential that you’ve factored that in as much as possible.
- If you can't have a formal institutional wide strategy in place then recognize the challenge and try and develop a working strategy around what you are doing - document the decisions you are making along the way...make that as formal as possible. Ensure the infrastructure is a flexible one as you're almost inevitably going to have to make changes.  
- Has your redesign prompted a larger digital strategy?
- -Educating staff at all levels of the organization on what is involved in maintaining a new, expanded, and more complex Web site should not be underestimated.
- -Common misperception: just by redesigning and adding a CMS, the Web team should miraculously be able to take on even more work.    -In fact, this is heavily played card when seeking approval for a Web site redesign   -We all played this card to different extents/varying degrees-And we all had vague but sincere hopes this would somehow be true  
- -but the reality is much more nuanced.      -keep in mind that it's easy for your colleagues to see your new design and IA    -BUT much harder for them to "see" and appreciate what else is going on
- More content More assets More tagging More metadata More complex data inter-relationships     what this means = MORE work Invisible work
-   -And no added staff at all 3 of our institions -We're all doing more with same resources   -to add insult to injury, we all had temp staff during our redesigns and once sites went live, temp staff ended  
- Not for technologically faint of heart Too complex for casual user    
-   -Be realistic about staff usage -for all of us, the first priority was to make to things manageable for us -second priority to distribute usage within organization   -and some pages will always just be updated by web team    -took SFMOMA 4 months to roll out cms usage -- we thought it would be 1 month -SFMOMA has 10 users + 2 admins-we thought we'd have more   -NG realized their CMS interface too difficult for general staff so not rolling out as widely as anticipated   -MoMA ended up using WordPress admin tools that publish out to the Ruby on Rails site rather than building custom tools (why reinvent the wheel if people are already comfortable with the tool?) Still extending Web team’s tools on an as-needed basis, but simplified for the non-power user.   -sfmoma still using web-based form for some users    -Distributed authorship necessitates even more editorial oversight to ensure consistent quality and cohesiveness of on-line content.    
- - leadership and communication challenge here in managing organizational expectations about redesigns     
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- When you launch a redesign, it’s essentially like throwing a rock in the pond. There’s a big splash that causes lots of excitement, which is then followed by a series of outward ripples that go on for a much longer period of time. This is what we call life post launch.
- One might naturally expect a redesign to lead to increased traffic, but as the three of us found, that is not necessarily the case. This chart here shows the traffic for MoMA.org throughout 2009. As you can see, the redesign caused a bump in traffic (the dips you see throughout, by the way, are weekends). But so too did the death of Andrew Wyeth and the Tim Burton opening in the fall. And there are other bumps that we still can’t attribute to anything specific.  When SFMOMA launched their redesign, it was right around the time of the Presidential election and after their popular Frida Kahlo exhibition had closed. Both of these had an impact on the potential uplift in their launch traffic.   And the National Gallery’s traffic is up about 8% overall, but they can't necessarily chalk that up to redesign versus just a general trend.  So for the three museums represented here, our traffic results since launch have confirmed for us that it is our content, exhibition programming, marketing, and influences even beyond the museum that cause changes in the traffic more than a mere redesign.
- One might naturally expect a redesign to lead to increased traffic, but as the three of us found, that is not necessarily the case. This chart here shows the traffic for MoMA.org throughout 2009. As you can see, the redesign caused a bump in traffic (the dips you see throughout, by the way, are weekends). But so too did the death of Andrew Wyeth and the Tim Burton opening in the fall. And there are other bumps that we still can’t attribute to anything specific.  When SFMOMA launched their redesign, it was right around the time of the Presidential election and after their popular Frida Kahlo exhibition had closed. Both of these had an impact on the potential uplift in their launch traffic.   And the National Gallery’s traffic is up about 8% overall, but they can't necessarily chalk that up to redesign versus just a general trend.  So for the three museums represented here, our traffic results since launch have confirmed for us that it is our content, exhibition programming, marketing, and influences even beyond the museum that cause changes in the traffic more than a mere redesign.
- One might naturally expect a redesign to lead to increased traffic, but as the three of us found, that is not necessarily the case. This chart here shows the traffic for MoMA.org throughout 2009. As you can see, the redesign caused a bump in traffic (the dips you see throughout, by the way, are weekends). But so too did the death of Andrew Wyeth and the Tim Burton opening in the fall. And there are other bumps that we still can’t attribute to anything specific.  When SFMOMA launched their redesign, it was right around the time of the Presidential election and after their popular Frida Kahlo exhibition had closed. Both of these had an impact on the potential uplift in their launch traffic.   And the National Gallery’s traffic is up about 8% overall, but they can't necessarily chalk that up to redesign versus just a general trend.  So for the three museums represented here, our traffic results since launch have confirmed for us that it is our content, exhibition programming, marketing, and influences even beyond the museum that cause changes in the traffic more than a mere redesign.
- I think it’s interesting to note the analytics tools we are all using. SFMOMA and MoMA launched their new sites with two services in place in order to compare the results and then later dropped one (SFMOMA in still in the midst of making this shift).   The National Gallery, on the other hand, moved entirely over to Google analytics with the launch of their new site. Post launch we are all in a continuous exercise in refining our analytics and how we respond to our findings. There are definitely staffing issues involved with this as well. For example, MoMA previously had someone dedicated part time to analytics but with the rise of social media, that person’s responsibilities have increased and they no longer have time to devote to this work. The National Gallery uses a freelancer, but continuing that role is dependent on maintaining the funding. Analytics is time consuming and should not be underestimated. You need to dedicate effort if you are going to use it in a meaningful way. Do not make the mistake in thinking that it is just a plug and play service, but used effectively, it enables you to work smarter and make solid decisions based on data rather than instinct. And take the time to learn what the data means, as it is easy to misunderstand information that is being given to you and make decisions based on that. I should add that much of this is an example of do as I say not as I do, as we are still very much in the midst of getting a better handle on our tracking and results.
- But even with a better handle on them, the stats for our websites don’t show the whole picture. For example, the traffic I showed doesn’t include our retail site, MoMAstore.org. Or Facebook.    Or Twitter. Or YouTube. Or Art Babble. Or any other social outlets we are involved in. So we need to be thinking about a more broader set of stats to more accurately present the landscape beyond our sites.
- But even with a better handle on them, the stats for our websites don’t show the whole picture. For example, the traffic I showed doesn’t include our retail site, MoMAstore.org. Or Facebook.    Or Twitter. Or YouTube. Or Art Babble. Or any other social outlets we are involved in. So we need to be thinking about a more broader set of stats to more accurately present the landscape beyond our sites.
- But even with a better handle on them, the stats for our websites don’t show the whole picture. For example, the traffic I showed doesn’t include our retail site, MoMAstore.org. Or Facebook.    Or Twitter. Or YouTube. Or Art Babble. Or any other social outlets we are involved in. So we need to be thinking about a more broader set of stats to more accurately present the landscape beyond our sites.
- But even with a better handle on them, the stats for our websites don’t show the whole picture. For example, the traffic I showed doesn’t include our retail site, MoMAstore.org. Or Facebook.    Or Twitter. Or YouTube. Or Art Babble. Or any other social outlets we are involved in. So we need to be thinking about a more broader set of stats to more accurately present the landscape beyond our sites.
- In addition to analytics, it is also critical to look at the usage and experience of your site post-launch. All three of us conducted follow up user testing and surveys. This chart, created by Cogapp, shows the tagging system that was applied to the various issues raised by MoMA’s user testing to help us prioritize what to do moving forward.
- As one example, our post-redesign testing revealed that there was user confusion with our collection search filter. When we were developing it, we thought we were being comprehensive and clear, but it turns out that we were simply trying to do too much in one place.
- By stepping back and looking at how visitors were using the search filter, we were able to simplify it significantly. We hope to do additional testing to see if confusion still exists and make further refinements if needed. Other needed changes become clear right away through immediate or anecdotal feedback and don't need to wait for user testing or surveys. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to account for this iterative process of testing and tweaking in your planning, especially because everyone will be lining up, waiting for you to be available to work on the new post-launch project they’ve been so patiently waiting for. (Or maybe not so patiently...) But this kind of work is also a difficult thing to communicate back to the museum staff, who often expect that the redesign was a discrete project and once finished, is finished. Building time for this in your project plan from the beginning and getting them to understand this iterative nature early in the redesign planning process will go a long way towards managing expectations later.
- Or you may want to go back and address items that didn’t get the full attention during the redesign or that were the best version of what you could do at the time. For example, during the redesign project, we knew that the Education department wanted to re-examine the language they used for their programs. But the redesign schedule did not allow for the time needed to complete that examination. We launched with a reworked version of what existed previously and are currently in the process of a more comprehensive updating of this material.  
- As another example, the National Gallery carried out a comprehensive accessibility audit on the site post launch and as a result are currently revisiting their audio and video players to ensure they not only offer a better overall user experience, but are also fully accessible. So the point here is really about the principle of evolving post-launch, when either the landscape's changed or we're clearer about what is needed. During a redesign project, you can get so focused on getting to the finish that it can be hard to see the forest for the trees. Having some time to step back, get feedback, and then take a fresh look at what you’ve produced is a critical part of the redesign process. And the time needed for this work should not be underestimated. It’s been a year since we launched the new MoMA.org, and we are still very much in the midst of it. For those of you who heard Richard Morgan’s presentation on the V&A’s collection, we are indeed doing those smaller projects that he referred to, but only now that we are on the other side of the wall of the large project of the redesign. Being on this side of the wall means that large overhauls are essentially a thing of the past—we are now working more iteratively on changes at a smaller scale.
- Post launch documentation is critical for keeping track of all of these small projects—just as critical as the documentation during the project. Knowledge management becomes really important as teams shift/consultants go away. Tools are needed to help keep track of bugs, old features, and new projects. A few of the tools we use are listed here.  
- And in order to implement all the post-launch tweaks and changes, you will need to set aside continued budget for the redesign. This is where educating your administration is again important as you may get the question: "you're done. why do you need more money?" It’s interesting to note that all three institutions ended up with the same allocation. Note that this percentage is based on the development or programming budget, not design, IA or content development. This may be a good benchmark to start with, but I would also look carefully at the scope and timeline of your project and think about how much you are going to need to go back and finish, clean up, or fix based on that.
- All three redesign projects have led to or been a key part of resulting larger digital strategy initiatives. SFMOMA's initiative is focused around their new building/expansion project. MoMA had a series of retreats that have spawned workshops across the museum that report back on findings and recommendations.   And the National Gallery has been conducting comprehensive strategic reviews As Charlotte mentioned, these initiatives may be the result more of a building project, the economy and a change in leadership rather than a new website. Dealing with the economy and “the new normal” we find ourselves in certainly necessitates larger organizational strategic planning. But the changes in the base structure of our online presences change the way we engage with these larger museum-wide efforts. In a sense, our landscape is changing because the landscape has changed. An overall strategy is critical to establish direction. The direction leading up to a redesign launch can be quite clear. The direction after that has to be established in order to avoiding getting pulled in multiple directions post-redesign and for prioritizing and budgeting.
- And now that we have these new platforms, we are ready to reach beyond them. As we’ve seen so far at the conference, mobile is one key component of that outreach. SFMOMA: had a mobile version of their site right after launch, but are looking to expand it.
- The National Gallery is just starting discussions on a mobile version of their site, and here is an initial mockup.
- And MoMA will shortly be launching the first iteration of our mobile site along with an iPhone app. All of these projects are enabled by the changes made through the redesign process, namely separating out the presentation from the data, and making use of CMS tools. As new devices and technological options come along, we’re in a better place to respond and evolve. And evolving is absolutely necessary.
- So what does all this mean? If you take away anything from my portion of this talk, I guess it would be these points. For the last point, it’s important to keep up the momentum and spirit when everyone starts working on disparate projects. During a redesign project, everyone becomes focused on a singular effort and there can be a spirit of comraderie that prevails. Post-launch, that singular focus gets dispersed and there can be a real sense of let down and loss of morale. Make sure to give your team a well-deserved break, but also follow up with a clear direction of where you are going next and how they are going to be a part of that.
- So now some questions for you about your experiences.