Digital Strategy in Action:

From Planning to Doing

Sunday May 7, 2017

1:00 - 2:15 pm

Introductions

Mark Osterman

Adult Learning and Engagement Manager

Tatum Walker

Associate Director of Digital Strategy

@walke328

artsmia.org

Douglas HegleyChief Digital Officer

Minneapolis Institute of Art

@dhegley

http://www.slideshare.net/dhegley

This digital

strategy needs

some serious

analysis

Image source: https://humanisticstudies.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/freud.jpg

Act One

Strategy

Vision

Mission

Strategy

Action Plan

Image Source: http://www.esterline.com/Portals/13/EIT%20Images/Standard_Building_Blocks_4.png

Image Source: http://adsmarket.com.np/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/why-digital-strategy.png

ProsAdvantages and Opportunities

Digital Strategy

● Emphasizes the transformative power of digital

● Enhances institutional buy-in

● Aligns digital efforts

● Provides clarity & transparency

● Ensures relevancy & long-term success of digital

● Recognizes digital as a dynamic, speciality area

● Helps manage expectations

● Provides language and perspectives to support funding

and partnership opportunities

Digital Strategy

● Confirms that digital is separate, in a silo

○ Someone else’s job

○ not core to mission

● Unnecessarily complex

● Sounds self-justifying (or even defensive)

● Looks really, really expensive

● Implies that digital is merely a series of projects

ConsPotential Pitfalls

Digital Strategy for your Organization?

Will depend on:

Readiness

The organization

The people

Digital Strategy for your Organization?

Will depend on:

Readiness

The organization

The people

The quality of the plan

Relevance

Flexibility

Digital Strategy for your Organization?

Will depend on:

Readiness

The organization

The people

The quality of the plan

Relevance

Flexibility

Implementation

Communication

Roll-out

Ongoing utilization

Readiness via the Digital Strategy Maturity Model

An honest look in the mirror

Not a value judgment

Guides understanding

Where does your org stand?

How does that impact your approach to digital?

Mirror, c. 1775, Unknown artist, United States, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Gift of

James F. and Louise H. Bell in memory of James S. and Sallie M. Bell, 31.18.3

Digital

Customer

Experience

Excellent

… meh …

Adapted from Forrester Research Inc (2014)

Digital Operational

ExcellenceHighLow

Digital Connector Digital Master

Digital Dinosaur Digital Operator

Digital

Customer

Experience

Excellent

meh …

Adapted from Forrester Research Inc (2014)

Digital Operational

ExcellenceHighLow

Image Sources: https://geekszine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/medium_5533140316.jpg https://d13yacurqjgara.cloudfront.net/users/662463/screenshots/2087638/seq-22-digital-champion-2_1.gif http://theiowarepublican.com/wp-

content/uploads/2015/03/head-buried-in-sand.jpg http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/11/data-farm.jpg

● To help evolve the museum’s digital ecosystem to a connected network of platforms,

frameworks and tools to create dynamic, high-impact digital experiences for all our visitors both

online and onsite.

● To build staff knowledge and awareness of the potential technology has.

● To help set clear goals, strategies and guidelines for how technology should be considered.

● To use as an advocacy tool to build staff awareness about accessibility and the role technology

can play in enhancing access.

● To avoid diluting digital strategies within other larger strategic documents that staff are not

engaged in.

Why a Digital Strategy at Vizcaya?

Why a Digital Strategy?

Our Long Range Plan makes clear that the organization needs to broaden its impact

and that digital provides an opportunity to do so.

The Digital Strategy answers two questions:

How should Ford’s Theatre use digital media to support our Long Range Plan?

What will it take to get there?

Digital Connector Digital Master

Digital Dinosaur Digital Operator

Digital

Customer

Experience

Excellent

meh …

Adapted from Forrester Research Inc (2014)

Digital Operational

ExcellenceHighLow

Image Sources: https://geekszine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/medium_5533140316.jpg https://d13yacurqjgara.cloudfront.net/users/662463/screenshots/2087638/seq-22-digital-champion-2_1.gif http://theiowarepublican.com/wp-

content/uploads/2015/03/head-buried-in-sand.jpg http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2011/11/data-farm.jpg

Act Two

Where are we now?

● Tell Vizcaya’s Story

● Promote Access

● Engage Audiences

Digital Guiding Principles

● Vizcaya sparks dialog with audiences by emphasizing interpretation by people, for

people.

● Vizcaya digitally documents, preserves and promotes its institutional legacy.

● Vizcaya’s content is universally accessible.

● Vizcaya fosters partnerships for digital development and learning.

● Vizcaya identifies, measures and inspires passion in its audiences.

● Vizcaya produces media-rich interpretive content that’s timely, interactive and multi-

purpose.

Digital Goals

Our Long-Term Digital Values

Sustainability. We bite off just as much as we can chew.

Be Compelling. If it doesn’t inspire our staff and Board, it won’t inspire our audiences or peers.

Mission-critical. Every digital initiative is clearly tied to our organizational goals.

Momentum Building. To effect change, we balance quick wins with long term plans.

Measurable. Data helps guide our efforts, and holds us accountable.

People-centric. We prioritize the needs of staff and audiences, over technology for its own sake.

Jean-Leon Gerome, The Carpet Merchant, c. 1887, Minneapolis Institute of Art, 70.40

Mia2021 Strategic Plan

Deepening Relationships

● Collaborative team environment

● Shared goals

● Aligned with strategic plan

● Workplace culture, applied

● Empowerment

@dhegley

Act Three

Methods, such as:

Prioritization

Project Management

Stakeholder involvement

● Digital Strategy was put into the Learning Division with

cross departmental collaboration through institutional task

forces that include the Interpretive Planning Taskforce and the

Technology Task Force.

● Task forces advise the museum about the opportunities and

challenges posed by the rapidly evolving media and

technology fields. This structure decentralizes digital efforts

and integrates them throughout the museum divisions

Project Management

Project Management - Digital Strategist

● Lead the development and implementation of an

institutional digital strategy, ensuring a holistic plan

across all museum departments and digital initiatives.

● Ensure that Vizcaya is true to its mission and

institutional priorities by sharing its many resources –

its collections, its history, its interpretive programs with

local and global audiences.

● Explore the full potential of digital technologies to build

and enhance engagement with existing audiences,

develop new audiences, strengthen the Museum’s

brand, increase accessibility and build awareness of

Vizcaya as a cultural and educational resource.

● Vizcaya Museum and Gardens convened artists,

technology innovators, museum staff and other cross-

pollinators to explore and discuss the role technology

can play in advancing Vizcaya’s digital objectives,

needs and guiding principles.

● This group evolved into the Technology Advisory

Committee

Vizcaya Technology Advisory Committee

Access as Priority for Digital Initiatives

● Vizcaya is a National Historic Landmark that strives to meet

accessibility laws and internal goals, but is also greatly challenged

with accessibility for its diverse visitors.

● Vizcaya is not a purpose built space. Providing access in ways

that preserve the character of the historic institution requires

creativity and collaboration among staff.

● We are intent on experimenting with technology to help offer

greater access (physical and intellectual) opportunities to all of our

visitors.

● “Constraint as an impetus for innovation.” Sina Bahram

Organizational Structure

Digital Strategy was put into Communications and Marketing

with cross departmental collaboration through

digital committees to break down silos.

Approach

Collaborate

Designed to get departments collaborating and thinking

digitally

Meets like a human-centered design workshop

Empower

Focused monthly themes

Empowering staff and building self-efficacy with digital - lots

of documentation and capacity building

Project Management

Each project may have a different project manager

Entire team discusses the value and role of digital to the project

Current Projects

Social Media - Social Media Manager

Website - Associate Director of Digital Strategy

CRM - Database Administrator and Director of Communications and Marketing

Visitor Experience - Cross team

Accessibility - Associate Director of Visitor Services

Who owns digital?

We all do!

Prioritization

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing - Steven Covey

Image Source: https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/disp/300c4815792697.5629703b838b5.jpg , quote added

46

High

High

(Hard)

Low

Low

(Easy)

Importance,

Via STRATEGY

Difficulty,

via practical

REALITY

Decision-Making

© Douglas Hegley 2014

©

47

Cool Blue

Do a select few

Seek funding & partners

(We wish we could do them all)Risk: Too many at once

(saying yes to everything)

Red Flag

Do only if necessary

Stop! (or proceed with extreme

caution)

(We wish we could have none)Risk: Bogs down & exhausts resources

Green Light

Do these fast

Make a prioritized list, get moving

(We wish there were fewer)Risk: Resources pulled away from Cool Blue

Gray Fog

Do only if there are resources

“Busy work” or dreamy distractions

(We wish we had more time)Risk: People fall into it , esp. in times of stress

High

High

(Hard)

Low

Low

(Easy)

Importance,

Via STRATEGY

Difficulty,

via practical

REALITY

Decision-Making

© Douglas Hegley 2014

Mia: The TDX Project

Thomas Struth “Audience 1 (Galleria Dell Accademia), Florenz”, 2010.51.2, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Establish a modern approach

Engage audiences via digital platforms

Provide moments of delight- Social interaction

- Informal learning

Source: https://www.i-scoop.eu/digital-transformation/

Source: https://www.i-scoop.eu/digital-transformation/

Tell Stories with Digital (it’s great for storytelling)

Layered content

Self-guided

Hyperlinked

Evolving

Writing Workshops

Professional writing consultation from Kris Wetterlund, helped inform:

http://www.museum-ed.org/a-guide-to-interpretive-writing-about-art-for-museum-educators/

Act Four

Outcomes

Digital Engagement & Customer Experience

Does this digital stuff matter?

How is it measured?

Case studies

● Use technology to make Vizcaya’s existing resources

more accessible (universal design) for dynamic

learning.

● Use technology to better understand our audience

and their needs.

● Use technology to invest in digital production and

dissemination infrastructure.

● Integrate digital strategies into our institutional

strategic and interpretive plans.

Desired Outcomes

● Phase out Vizcaya’s video of second floor decorated

rooms.

● Transition to an active visitor-centered experience.

● Enhanced accessibility and inclusion for diverse

audiences and allows access to the second floor and

non-accessible areas of the gardens.

● ADA compliance through proper kiosk design,

appropriate installation and site preparation, and

accommodating software application development.

Outcomes - Virtual Access Tour

http://vizcaya.org/virtualtour/index.html

Outcomes - Virtual Access Tour Design

Outcomes - 3D Documentation

Adapting 3D documentation technologies to create interactive

experiences that expand the community’s access to our

collections and increase opportunities for discovery.

● Bridging established preservation technologies

with interpretive digital technologies.

● Innovative approach to conservation,

accessibility and interpretation.

Outcomes - 3D Documentation (cont.)

https://vimeo.com/201330607/d9d0bcaf5d

https://sketchfab.com/darumatech

https://youtu.be/SxyLC3dTzEg

Outcomes - Better Understand our Audience

GPS Visitor Mapping Project

Outcomes - GPS Visitor Mapping Project

What can this do?

•Inform Interpretive Strategy

•

•Improve Visitor Flow

•

•Identify Future Wi-Fi

Connectivity Hotspots

What can’t this do?

•Provide precise data inside the

house

•

•Demonstrate intent or sentiment

•

•Automate easy data answers

Tools: Five Pre-paid iPhone 5s Devices, Trails Pro App,

Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Earth, QGIS

Time Spent:

House 1/3

Gardens 2/3

Average 2:14 Maximum 3:35 Minimum 52

Website Redesign

Challenges to address:

Clarifying our identity

Ticketing process

Engage audiences in our stories

Website Outcomes

Evaluating

Digital

People:

Use it

Together

Time

Stories

Art

Act Five

Challenges

Challenges

Practical constraints

Change is hard

The courage to pivot when needed

When non-techies are the decision-makers

The widespread use of touchscreens is problematic for those with

impaired vision.

Moving Forward:

● Visitor controlled contrast adjustment for the displays.

● Alternate display mode with larger fonts with large widely

spaced controls.

● Alternatives to the visual display such as descriptive auditory

experience.

Challenges - Virtual Access Tour

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops

strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the

Web accessible to people with disabilities. WACG3

● Alternative Text for Images - rendered visually,

auditorily, tactilely, or by any combination.

● Keyboard Input – not reliant on mouse, but

assistive technologies.

● Transcripts or Podcasts.

Challenges - Website and Virtual Online Tour Needs

● How to integrate Universal Design to increase

accessibility and inclusion for diverse audiences (audio

description)?

● How to create visitor-centered and developmentally

appropriate experiences?

● How to capture visitor data to further improve and

enhance the visitor experience?

● How to enhance visitor wayfinding experience?

● All of this is: expensive, high maintenance, requires

staff training – new expertise.

Challenges - Digital labels, kiosks, Apps

● Know the Law: Make sure staff understand

which accessibility laws apply and what is

required for compliance.

● You can’t do it alone. Requires commitment and

involvement from leadership across the

enterprise.

● Make an Interpretive Accessibility Policy.

Accessibility succeeds when it comes from the

top down and sets clear guidelines.

● Budget for Accessibility. Accessibility doesn’t

happen by accident. It takes effort, time, and

money.

● Build Accessibility into Your Workflow.

Accessibility should never be an afterthought.

Challenges - Awareness for Technology and Accessibility

Staying Visitor Centered

Pressure from funders drive project decisions.

Rapid prototyping and visitor research should be the center of all decisions.

What works for one institution doesn’t work for all institutions.

Tactics ≠ Strategy

Roadmaps need to be living documents.

The best laid plans are hard to pivot.

Ultimately, someone needs to be the decision-maker.

Digital

Productivity

High

Low

Executive Leadership Involvement

None - Ignoring

Demanding without

understanding

Learning

Prioritizing and Empowering

Controlling

Micro-managing

Hovering

Digital Literacy for LeadershipAnd leadership literacy for digital - it’s a two-way street

Digital: Train your

current leadership with

helpful digital knowledge

Leadership: Train your

digitally-savvy staff about

strategy, management, and

decision-making

Digital Literacy is about Learning

Image source: https://cdn2.rossieronline.usc.edu/content/0c95b693b9f74385a42b89b5321ca782/blooms-diagram.jpg

Questions

&

Discussion

Image source: https://www.fonality.com/hs-fs/hub/65551/file-18588386-jpg/images/digital_strategy.jpg

Thank you