The Challenge is Institutional:Merging Customer Needs with New Operating Realities

Mike McConnellUniversity of Aberdeen

Why You Don’t Need a New Website

Mike McConnellUniversity of Aberdeen

Why You Don’t Just Need a New Website

Mike McConnellUniversity of Aberdeen

We’re implementing a new CMS!!

We’re half way through a branding exercise!

We’re going responsive! (on the top level pages)

We’re implementing a new CMS, also!!

We’re going to Terminal 4!

We’re leaving Terminal 4!

We’ve got a new IA!

We’re merging Squiz with Google appliance thingy!

I used to be creative!

Trying Agile! (with Prince 2)

Templates! jQuery! SiteImprove! Cluck cluck cluck!

Why You Don’t Need a New Website Project

Mike McConnellUniversity of Aberdeen

www.abdn.ac.uk

Awkward Metaphor

©

SYMPTOM

CAUSE

www.abdn.ac.uk

Our big fat web project

• 18 months!• New CMS!• 6 developers!• Committees!• PRINCE 2!• Colleges! Schools! Marketing! Etc!• Horse-trading!• Fights!• Ennui! Despair! Self-loathing!• Committees!• Committees!

www.abdn.ac.uk

Our big fat web project

Yes! No! Single template Content authors

Content managed Content strategy

Universal navigation Brand and ‘message’

Uniform design Analytics, metrics, user data

Highly customisable Customer focus

Changes can be applied globally Social media

Easy to use for non technical authors Capture of customer data

Controlled and secure Strategic development

www.abdn.ac.uk

Our big fat web project

Yes! No! Single template Content authors

Content managed Content strategy

Universal navigation Brand and ‘message’

Uniform design Analytics, metrics, user data

Highly customisable Customer focus

Changes can be applied globally Social media

Easy to use for non technical authors Capture of customer data

Controlled and secure Strategic development

Syste

m

Peop

lePr

oces

s

WEBSITE

INSTITUTION

It’s not your fault

Blame

Why Don’t You Switch Off Your Webserver and Go Out and Do Something Less Boring Instead

Mike McConnellUniversity of Aberdeen

Carpe Diem

Mike McConnellUniversity of Aberdeen

www.abdn.ac.uk

Yay Digital

©

www.abdn.ac.uk

Digital Strategy Group

“To provide high level direction for the delivery and resourcing of the University’s digital engagement, including the production of an overall digital strategy”

Invitation to Tender

www.abdn.ac.uk

Invitation to Tender

…to define a digital vision for the University of Aberdeen; to ensure that this is embedded in University strategy, and to help assess what people, systems and processes are necessary to deliver this vision

www.abdn.ac.uk

Proposed stages1. Discovery: understand current capabilities and activities; market and customer analysis

2. Vision - identify opportunities and strategic aims; prioritise ideas; research these with target groups; develop an operating model

3. Planning: produce a high level business plan with options and recommendations

www.abdn.ac.uk

Proposed stages1. Discovery: Where we’re at

2. Vision: Where we want to be

3. Planning: How we get there

www.abdn.ac.uk

Responses• 17 bids

• Great variance in cost 18K-300K

• Great variance in activities and outputs

• 2 types of response:• digital design agencies

• enterprise architecture approaches

Precedent/KPMG appointed

www.abdn.ac.uk

The Magical Pyramid of Digital Loveliness

Customer Enterprise

www.abdn.ac.uk

Process

www.abdn.ac.uk

Potential Scope

1. Discovery

www.abdn.ac.uk

Discovery

• 5 week process• 7 one-to-one interviews• 8 Group Workshops• Over 100 staff involved• Market and customer analysis• Decide focus areas (scope)• 192 page report

www.abdn.ac.uk

Discovery - internal• Many different systems• Many with usability issues• Paper-based / manual processes• Different processes required by different

sections• Lack of unified CRM• Under-utilisation of applications• Lack of Management Information • Massive current effort to upgrade university back

office systems (ERP) absorbs most available change capacity

www.abdn.ac.uk

Discovery - external

• aged design• > 36,000 pages• findability issues• calls to action unclear• mobile unfriendly• explaining site, not a selling site

• struggles to promote

• struggles to show-off

• struggles to attract

www.abdn.ac.uk

Discovery – sector comparison

• promoting the University - poor• attracting research - OK/poor• celebrating academics - mixed OK/poor• being international - poor• partnering with business - OK• recruiting students - poor• social and community outreach - none

Clunky

www.abdn.ac.uk

Scoping

Evaluation criteria Weighting

Level of Waste/Inefficiency/Lost Income (£ pa) 10Student and Other Stakeholder Engagement 30Stakeholder satisfaction with Service Delivery 30Uptake/Adoption of Digital Culture 15

The Development of a Differentiating Brand 15

www.abdn.ac.uk

Prioritisation Framework

www.abdn.ac.uk

Priority focus areas

• Undergraduate (UG) Admissions

• Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Admissions

• Student Learning Experience

2. Vision

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision

• 5 week process• 3 further workshops aligned with

priority focus areas• Digital Forum• 50 page report

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision - Target Operating Model

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision - Target Operating Model

Digital Forum

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision – Digital forum

• 2 days• 100 staff• 4 customer experience maps

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision - Focus areas mapped

Undergraduate (UG) Admissions:• Acquiring, Admitting and Welcoming, Home &

International UG students

Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Admissions• Acquiring, Admitting and Welcoming, Home &

International PGT students

Student Learning Experience• Learning Management • Freeing up the Academics’ year to Teach and

Research more

Digital Team

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision – Restructured digital team(s)

www.abdn.ac.uk

Vision – Team roles• Digital copywriting• User experience designers• Digital visual designers• Front-end developers• Instructional designers• Instructional developers• Digital project managers• Analytics analysts• Social community manager

3. Planning

www.abdn.ac.uk

Planning• 108 page report• 4 Customer Experience Maps• 10 Outline Business Cases • Implementation Plan

www.abdn.ac.uk

Outline Business Cases (OBCs)

• issue and context

• a summary explanation of proposed solution

• high level view of indicative costs and timescales

• summary of all identifiable risk, issues and dependencies, including mitigation/resolution activity

• indicative benefits realisation timescales where apparent

www.abdn.ac.uk

Planning - OBCs1. Identify & acquire best in class Student Records System

2. Procure a single end-to-end CRM system

3. Develop a new digital customer interface for the CRM

4. Develop improved management information

5. Enhance access to pastoral and administrative support

6. Improve / consolidate VLE functionality

7. Improve admissions processes

8. Improve web presence and the use of social engagement

9. Consolidate and improve digital capability

10. Improve the coordination and management of change

www.abdn.ac.uk

Planning - implementation

Next steps

Next steps

©

www.abdn.ac.uk

6 months

• Present to University Management Group

• Governance structure approved and in place

• Digital Strategy Programme Manager in place, with administrative support

• Head of Experience (or equivalent) identified

• Communications strategy (Internal)

• Map current activities / resources / roles

• Identify quick wins

serendipity[ser-uh n-dip-i-tee]

1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

2. good fortune; luck.

www.abdn.ac.uk

Enterprise Resource Planning

www.abdn.ac.uk

Business Improvement

…to facilitate and catalyse, remove barriers, and help groups work better together, with the overall aim of improving the university for students, staff and other partners.

www.abdn.ac.uk

External Relations• Director of External Relations• Head of Marketing• 2 x Digital Communications Officers• 3 x Digital Marketing Officers• 1 x Social Media Marketing Officer• 3 x College Marketing Officers• 2 x Marketing Officers• 1 x Internal Comms Officer

www.abdn.ac.uk

WEBSITE

INSTITUTION

The Iceberg of Misery

www.abdn.ac.uk

The Magical Pyramid of Digital Loveliness

www.abdn.ac.uk

The All-Seeing Eye of Digital Engagement

www.abdn.ac.uk

ConclusionWebSomething that the University has:

• a website/marketing channel

• a web team

Dealt with by specialists

DigitalSomething that the University is:

• services delivered digitally by default

• a seamless customer experience across multiple channels

• all parts of the institution will be digital as integral part of how they work

www.abdn.ac.uk

Questions

www.abdn.ac.uk

My Junk

m.mcconnell@abdn.ac.uk

linkedin.com/in/mikeramcconnell

@mike_mcconnell

www.abdn.ac.uk

Picture credits• “Happy chicken” by Martin Abegglen

https://www.flickr.com/photos/twicepix/2209931934Creative Commons

• “Queensferry Crossing” by John Simhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/jtsretired/17783107652Used with explicit permission, all rights reserved

• Iceberghttps://search.creativecommons.org/Creative Commons

CommitteeMarketoonist.comUsed without permission

• Retro clockhttp://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/5154089/retro-digital-flip-clock-red-contemporary-clocks Used without permission

• All seeing eyeLicensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dollarnote_siegel_hq.jpg#/media/File:Dollarnote_siegel_hq.jpg

• Question chickenhttps://pixabay.com/ Creative Commons

The End