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January 2010

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Subject:
From:
Zachary Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
UofMN CSS Web Development <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:44:08 -0600
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It is about the user indeed.

I think there's always going to be unique needs and unique content.  Not 
everything is going to fit into one design or one tool or one central 
content strategy.  There's never going to be a central solution that 
fits every situation in an institution this big.  BUT, I think there 
could be solutions that fit many problems well and support the content 
that doesn't fit by helping people find it.


Peter Wiringa wrote:
> That's not a downer at all, but they are tough questions.
> 
> I'd argue that the content we should collaborate on the most should be 
> focused on the same or similar tasks users might want to complete, or 
> information they might want to obtain. H1N1 was a great example. Arts 
> and culture might be another one. Admissions. The list goes on. As I've 
> heard the new OIT described repeatedly, it's about the user, whereas the 
> old model was about departments and products and projects and services.
> 
> Problem is, how far can we take that at the systemwide level? Are we 
> just too big as an entire institution?
> 
> I'll leave the other three alone for now.
> 
> On 1/27/10 3:08 PM, Sara Hurley wrote:
>> I have sort of a practical question about this (not disagreeing with
>> either of you on this, and the usefulness of this, and not wanting to be
>> a downer) -
>> What content do we collaborate on? Who makes the decision? What staff is
>> responsible for coordinating efforts? Who owns the content?
>>
>> I know that isn't the fun stuff to think about, but it's one of the
>> things that stands in the way of system-wide stuff. And as someone who
>> has recently been a part of a college-wide web integration, managing
>> that kind of content integration is really, really tough. Especially
>> when non-tech stakeholders get involved in protecting "their" content.
>>
>> S
>>
>> Brian Hayden wrote:
>>> On Jan 27, 2010, at 2:59 PM, Zachary Johnson wrote:
>>>
>>>> Valid point... and to support what both you and Andre have said,
>>>> maybe we need the opportunity to setup landing pages for relevant
>>>> content more automatically...
>>>>
>>>> umn.edu/H1N1 could bring users to a page with important content and
>>>> links to other UMN sites for more details.
>>>>
>>>> something like that?
>>>
>>> I think that'd be fantastic.
>>>
>>> Here's a hackish thought for you... there could be UMN wiki pages that
>>> are just aggregators of links around the U for specific topics... and
>>> each of these could have a z.umn.edu short url, like... z.umn.edu/h1n1
>>> ...
>>>
>>> Sorry, my inner Rube Goldberg took over for a second. ;)
>>>
>>> -Brian
>>
> 

-- 
______________________________
Zachary Johnson * Web Manager
Student Unions & Activities
(612) 624 - 7270
http://www.sua.umn.edu/

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