To build a platform for (high, sustainable) use, we need to know what will thrill users. Finding the right concoction of technology, functionality and design to thrill and delight users takes a thousand decisions, pivots and changes. The JSTOR Labs team has been using Flash Builds – high-intensity, short-burst, user-driven development efforts – in order to prototype new ideas and get to a user saying “Wow” in as little as a week. In this talk, I’ll describe how we’ve done this, highlighting the partnerships, skills, tools and content that help us innovate.
2. JSTOR is a not-for-profit
digital library of academic
journals, books, and primary
sources.
Ithaka S+R is a not-for-profit
research and consulting service
that helps academic, cultural,
and publishing communities
thrive in the digital
environment.
Portico is a not-for-profit
preservation service for digital
publications, including
electronic journals, books, and
historical collections.
ITHAKA is a not-for-profit organization that helps the academic
community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record
and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways.
3. A new-ish team at ITHAKA
Mission: to seek out new concepts and
opportunities, to refine and to
validate them through research and
experimentation.
Among our methods: Flash Builds*
(or a version of them)
* We first heard of Flash Builds from Marty Cagan, describing the work of the Nordstrom Innovation Lab.
8. PARTNERSHIP W/ FOLGER
Folger Shakespeare Library
• Folger Digital Texts
• Shakespeare Quarterly
• Scholars and students
Objective: demonstrate the
value of Folger Digital Texts to
scholars and students and
demonstrate how it can be
cross-referenced with
Shakespeare Quarterly.
JSTOR
• The full archive run of SQ
• 2000+ other journals
• A newly-formed Labs team
Objective: validate the value of
using a primary text as a portal
into secondary literature.
11. • A diverse team with
technical, design and
business skills
• The best products combine
technical, design and
business innovations toward
a single goal
• Barest expression of that
goal = Minimum Viable
Product (MVP)
INGREDIENTS
A TEAM
Biz Image source:
http://uxtraordinary.com/venn-pie-agram/
12. • Flexible technology that
allows for componentization,
and continuous deployment
• Ability to produce, present,
augment and query content
in a variety of manners (aka
data science)
• A safe-space to fail, either
through a Labs team, an A/B
test or in-person testing
• Comfort with uncertainty
• The time to dedicate to the
work – eliminate
distractions; timed works
INGREDIENTS
A SPACE TO
INNOVATE
CulturalTechnical
13. • The ability to show work to
users early and often, with
the whole team present.
• User-research skills and
experience:
- Listening deeply
- Having multiple tools, fit
for purpose
- Knowing what can and
can’t be learned from a user
• Hypothesis-creation skills
and the discipline to know
what you’re trying to learn
when
INGREDIENTS
USERS
14. • Seeing through a user’s eyes,
you see the ecosystem in
which your product operates
• That helps show
opportunities / challenges
that can’t easily be met
• Partners can help to fill those
gaps
• Our best partnerships have
been open, exploratory
collaborations
INGREDIENTS
A PARTNER
Labs is dedicated to innovation so is a bit special, but all JSTOR teams work like this. Innovations aren’t limited to labs team.
Small team. Conversations supported by slack, other tools for collaboration
JSTOR is in the midst of a platform switch to increase our flexibility. We release over a hundred times every week. Can release “small” – a/b tests, or targeted rollouts. If your platform is just a production machine focused on your own workflow, it won’t work.
Comfort with uncertainty. Mobile devices.
No user-proxies allowed (e.g. sales).
Labs is always looking for partners – see me afterward if you’re interested