Presented by Corey Vilhauer at the Now What? 2014 conference on April 24, 2014 in Sioux Falls, SD. We talk about content strategy, post-launch analytics, and general site maintenance, but we’re all plagued by one question: how do we do this? The answer, of course, is vague and frustrating: IT DEPENDS. We’ll discuss the myth of the perfect methodology – the fact that, no matter what, we cannot stop adapting, changing and improving our methods, and in the process we will begin to shift the discussion from WHAT makes a methodology to HOW we put together one of our own.

1. CREATING A
METHODOLOGY
And the Myth of Perfection
Corey Vilhauer Now What? 2014

2. I’M COREY
VILHAUER
@mrvilhauer

3. “I’m sorry, I must be the worst
speaker you’ve ever seen.”
- Me, Probably.

4. LET’S TALK ABOUT
WEB CONTENT

5. “I’m sorry, we must be the worst
team you’ve ever worked with.”
- A Real Client

6. METHODOLOGIES
WHAT A METHODOLOGY IS

7. METHODOLOGY
A formal documentation of a
set of processes

8. ASK A QUESTION
RESEARCH A PROBLEM
FORM A HYPOTHESIS
TEST THE HYPOTHESIS
COMMUNICATE/CHANGE

9. METHODOLOGIES
ALLOW FOR
REPLICATION

10. EACH
COMPANY
IS DIFFERENT

11. EACH
INITIATIVE
IS DIFFERENT

12. EACH
PROJECT
IS DIFFERENT

13. EACH
ONE OF US
IS DIFFERENT

14. WE
ARE ALL
SNOWFLAKES

15. METHODOLOGIES
WHAT A METHODOLOGY IS
WHY THEY MATTER

16. “We don’t really have a process for
getting articles approved.”
- A Real Client

17. “We send things to university
relations but we are never really
sure when they’re finally
published.”
- A Real Client

18. “LOL”
- A Real Client

19. 1. COMMUNICATE
OUR PROCESSES

20. 2. STANDARDIZE
OUR PATH

21. 3. ALLOW FOR
THOUGHTFUL
VARIANCES

22. YOU CAN’T BREAK
THE RULES IF YOU
DON’T MAKE THE
RULES
YOU CAN’T BREAK
THE RULES IF YOU
DON’T MAKE THE
RULES

23. METHODOLOGIES
WHAT A METHODOLOGY IS
WHY THEY MATTER
HOW TO BEGIN

24. XX
THESE ARE GUIDES
NOT METHODOLOGIES

25. A GUIDE, NOT A MAP

26. WE CAN’T
TELL YOU
WHAT
TO DO

27. ALWAYS BE COLLECTING

28. X X

29. MAKE A LIST

30. DETERMINE HOW

31. DETERMINE WHY

32. BRING ‘EM TOGETHER

33. YOU ARE NEVER FINISHED

34. “Instead of driving an idea blindly
into the world … you are guided by
the feedback you get. There are no
beginnings or endings - just small
steps forward.
- Robin Sloan

35. METHODOLOGIES
COMMUNICATION
REPLICATION
CHANGE

36. THANK YOU
www.eatingelephant.com/nowwhat2014
@mrvilhauer
for notes and resources: