Digital Strategy

Presentation to MCN Taiwan

March 2010

Douglas Hegley

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vice-President/President-Elect, MCN

Acknowledgements

• I am honored to be here

– Representing MCN, including MCN President Erin Coburn, and the

entire MCN Board of Directors

• Thank you to Dr. D.T. Lee for the invitation to participate in

the MCN Taiwan Chapter’s 2010 Annual Meeting, and for

your leadership of the MCN Taiwan Chapter.

• Thank you to Dr. James Lin for his dedication to MCN

Taiwan, and for working closely with us to maintain the strong

partnership between our two organizations.

• We all benefit from our continued work together.

“Go Digital”

Why?

• Mission

–Share information with the public

• Audience

–Expectations for access

• Importance of visitors

–Revenue depends on numbers

Digital Information

• Can be disseminated on a scale never

before imagined

• “Living Content”

–Can be updated constantly

–No need to release revised print publications

Digital Content

• Available, portable

–Attracts wider range of audiences

–Enhances and augments experience

–Engages and inspires

–Satisfies niche audiences

Long Tail: Audiences

• Mass audience (seek a large supply of a few

really popular things)

• Niche audience (they seek, but total demand for

any given thing is low and production cost is

high)

Long Tail: Supply

• Historically, we provided for this area (demand

was relatively high and repetitive production

efficient)

• We could not provide for this area, even though

total volume of the two sections is identical

Long Tail: Digital Content

• Before (analog publishing model):

– Print only a few things, but in large quantities

• Now (digital publishing model):

– Provide a large (comprehensive) array of unique

topics, sometimes in relatively small quantities

– Add to it over time

– Please a much wider potential audience

Digital Content Online

• Enables cross-collection discovery

–Search indices• http://www.google.com

–Aggregation• http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/museumdata/default.htm

–APIs• http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/api/

• http://www.programmableweb.com/api/science-museum

The Real

• Digital information is supplemental to the

experience of actual objects

How?

• Question: How do we “go digital”

effectively?

• Answer: Develop and use a

comprehensive Digital Strategy

What is Digital Strategy?

• A plan of action

• Encompassing the real needs to:

–Make digital content

–Share digital content

–Keep digital content fresh

Digital Strategy helps to

ensure:• Agility

• Productivity

• Effectiveness

• Transparency

• Innovation

Agility

• Iterations

• Collaboration

• Requirements & solutions can evolve

over time

Productivity

• Parallel workflows

• Constant re-evaluation & adjustment

• Rapid implementation

• Practical R&D

Effectiveness

• Getting the right things done

• Collaboration and iteration allow for

focus to shift as needed

• No one works for months on something,

only to discover it’s not what was

required in the first place

Transparency

• Decision-making is carried out in public

• Builds trust

–Audience has access to information and

processes of authoritative sources

• Removes myths

Innovation

• “new stuff that is made useful”

• McKeown, Max (2008). The Truth About Innovation.

• Modernize

Innovation 1950s

Innovation 1960s

Innovation 1970s

Innovation 1980s

Innovation 1990s

Innovation 2000s

Innovation is always

temporary• Today’s NEW is tomorrow’s OLD

–The pace of change is increasing

–Digital tools help us to keep up

?

Digital Strategy: Vision

• Hint: keep digital strategy on track by

writing and using a meaningful Vision

Statement

Vision Statement: Key

Elements• Outline primary goals

–What is to be accomplished?

• Concentrate on the future

–In five years, we will _________.

• Provide source of evaluation and clear

decision-making criteria

–Should we do this?

Vision Statement

• Use the Vision Statement as a tool to

evaluate all tasks

• “How does this fulfill or support the vision?”

• Don’t lose the forest for the trees

Digital Strategy Scope

• Broad range of goals

–From idea through production to

presentation

–A lot of trees!

Idea

• Ideas can originate from anywhere, inside or

outside your organization

Idea

Refine

• Take some time to refine the interesting ideas

Idea

Refine

Prioritize

• Use the Digital Strategy to evaluate the ideas

and decide which ones to pursue now

Idea

Refine

ProducePrioritize

• Staff acts on the priorities they have been given

Idea

Refine

ProducePrioritize

Interface

Metadata

CatalogStore

• Content: create, edit, catalog, store, protect

• Access: build or buy tools to provide a way in

Idea

Refine

Produce

Present

Prioritize

Interface

Metadata

CatalogStore

• Audience now gets to

experience the content

Idea

Refine

Produce

Present

Prioritize

Audience

Interface

Metadata

CatalogStore

Interaction

• Active participation

and interaction

Idea

Refine

Produce

Present

Prioritize

FeedbackAudience

Interface

Metadata

CatalogStore

Interaction

• Collect audience

reactions

Idea

Refine

Produce

Present

Prioritize

Update

FeedbackAudience

Interface

Metadata

CatalogStore

Interaction

• Use feedback to

improve the

entire cycle

Unified approach

Audience

Content Technology

Cycle

• Making digital content cannot take place

without technology

• The technology is influenced by the

needs of the digital content

• The two are mutually-informative in a

continual loop

Technology(Interface)

Content(Message)

In the summer of

1874, Manet was

staying outside Paris at

Gennevilliers, not far

from the house in

Argenteuil that he had

found for the Monet

family. He had refused

to participate in the

independent exhibition

Collaborate

• Work together, constantly

–Strengthens communication

–Reduces bureaucratic overhead

–Engages and motivates staff

–Produces rapid results

Audience

• Digital Strategy helps to re-imagine the

concept of audience

–Based on the way that our audiences behave

and what they expect

Audience Then

• Was:

–Captive

–Passive

–Absorbing

– “Talked to”

Audience Now

• Is:

–Multi-tasking

–Active

–Seeking

– Interacting

– “Talked with”

User Experience

• “The user experience development process

is all about ensuring that no aspect of the

user’s experience … happens without your

conscious, explicit intent.”

• Jesse James Garrett (2000) The Elements of

User Experience

Elements of User Experience

• Flaws?

– “Content Requirements” enter early in the

process; that’s good.

–But then “Content” seems to disappear; that’s

bad!

• To reiterate: keep digital content production in

mind throughout your development process.

Digital Stuff

• Images

• Audio

• Video

• Multimedia & interactives

• Maps, charts, diagrams, graphics, etc.

• Text

Digital Content

• We have a lot

• It’s growing

• It’s messy (especially all that text!)

• It’s likely to get worse

• See: Kristina Halvorson (2010) Content Strategy for the Web.

What do we do?

• A subset of the Digital Strategy is a

specific Content Strategy

• Two key points:

1. Ensure that digital content is a valuable asset, not

simply something to fill in at the last minute

2. Make sure that someone is responsible (not just a

gate-keeper, but an owner) for the content

– For much more, read Halvorson’s book

Relevant and Up-to-datePrioritize

Create

Store

Edit

Publish

Review

Content

Governance

• Establish and maintain:

• Standards

• Policies

• Guidelines

• Review and approval procedures

–Without these, content will multiply

Documentation

• Vision

• Strategy

• Policies & standards

• Workflows

• Document, share, use

Is it too late?

“We are creating all kinds of digital stuff,

but we don’t have a Digital Strategy … is

it too late for us?”

It’s never too late

• Organizations with experience in creating

digital content have gained insights that

will help guide the strategy.

• The strategy is unique to each

organization; the principles are the same

Summary: Core Principles

• Vision Statement

• Digital Strategy

• Workflow Cycle– from concept through production & storage to presentation

• Content Strategy

• Iterations (use feedback, keep content updated)

• Collaboration

• Transparency

• Governance

Questions?

Thank you

douglas.hegley@metmuseum.org