SHS Web Design & Development Project Final Presentation 27 May 2010

The Client

 UniMelb’s School of Historical Studies (SHS)  Disciplines:  Australian Studies  Classics & Archaeology  Cultural Materials & Conservation  Jewish History & Culture  Key contacts:  Dr Catherine Kovesi Senior Lecturer & History Honours Coordinator – Project Champion  Prof Charles Zika Professorial Fellow of the School – Project Advisor  Dr Jenny Spinks ARC Postdoctoral Fellow – Project Advisor  Timothy Ould Research Officer, Centre of Cultural Materials Conservation – Project Advisor

The Problem

 No digital accessibility to information on:  Visual materials and key objects from rare collections  Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project  Conservation works  No vehicle for promoting newly won grant, new projects and potential exhibitions

The Solution

 What does our client want?  Dynamic, flexible online platform  User friendliness  Maintainability  Visually appealing

The Solution  2 x WordPress sites  Linked in to UniMelb SHS home page but standalone externally-hosted sites  ‘Melbourne Prints’  ‘Early Modern Disaster’  Staggered Usability Study  Filmed Walkthrough  Client Evaluation Session  2 x Focus Groups  Online Questionnaire  Supporting documentation  Training  Client Training Session  Online training materials

The Objectives

share visual material, research and informationengage students from Honours/Postgrad subject promote the projects and activities surrounding the ARC Discovery Grant seek opportunities to innovate

How did we get from Point A to B?

Incremental Development Less risk in developing smaller portions in increments with direct client feedback on these portions Ease trauma of introducing a new product all at once Psychological satisfaction of seeing something tangible early Development team capitalised on learning from earlier increments – performance improves Project’s processes improves with each increment Steady stream of results boosts morale!

The Result

Melbourne Prints ‘Italian Prints’ page

Melbourne Prints ‘Rare Books’ page

Melbourne Prints ‘Conservation’ page

Melbourne Prints ‘About Us’ page

Early Modern Disaster Home Page

Usability Study

The Challenges

Starting off with this….

…and getting it to look like this

The Risks  University of Melbourne Web Design  CMS limitations  Design limitations  Hosting limitations  Client-side  Technically inexperienced  Technical skill limitations  Project Team all with a similar technical skill set

Closing Statement  “…g2IT would like to thank the our client and all participants for their time and support, and we look forward to working with you in the future…”