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The Art of the ‘One-Person Band’
Surviving as a small web team or a “team of one.”@ericepps
#hewebmi #MI2
About MeWeb Developer at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, IL
Started developing for the web 1998, in higher education since 2006
SVCC is small (about 4000), rural, located in northwestern Illinois
1. Stop the Redesign Cycle
“Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign”
- Cameron Mollalistapart.com/article/redesignrealign
Why Incremental Changes?1. Easier to implement
2. Easier to keep focus on solving problems
3. Easier for end users to adjust
2. Fire your Web Committee /Start a Web Committee
Effective Web CommitteesHigh ranking members
Able to effect changeAllows you to hear vision directly (and vice versa)
Small, but diverseGet Marketing and IT on the same page“We’ll bring in others as needed”
Focus on process and problems, not pixels
3. Train Smarter, Not Harder
Training IdeasDon’t just show someone how to do something, do a screen capture video!Develop an online, self-service refresher course.Consider whether it’s worth training (and retraining) someone who updates infrequently.“Open-lab” group training to cut down on support calls.
4. Automate and Integrate
Finding Areas to Automate/IntegrateDoes it need to be done regularly (every
day/week/month)?Is it a multi-step process that’s always the same?Does it need to happen when something else
finishes?Whenever X changes, Y needs to changeWhenever X is added, Y needs to be created
Does the same data exist in two systems?
5. Make Use of APIs
What & Why APIs?What?
API - Application Programming InterfaceRemember a bubble bath - SOAP & REST
Why?Someone else does your work for you!Richer information for website visitorsAccess to a wealth of information outside your
organization
Some APIs of Interestwww.careeronestop.org
Career profile, salary information, match skills to careers, and more from the Dept. of Labor
www.data.gov US government’s open data initiative
data.illinois.gov, data.michigan.gov State open data initiatives
www.govtrack.us/developerswww.programmableweb.com/apis/directory