Resume Extension Series: City of Aspen/Pitkin County Redesign
What an opportunity – I won’t forget the day my manager approached me as soon as the Aspen project was signed and asked me to take it on. It was the biggest project Artemis had seen at that time. I knew exactly what that meant, that I would be doing anything and everything possible to “Make it work!” (thanks, Tim Gunn.) What I didn’t know was how much that project would influence me professionally, nor how much influence I would have over it.
Goal & Approach
The City of Aspen and Pitkin County share a web presence and were looking to create a fresh, new user-friendly website with easier access to online tools. The goal of every redesign project, you’re thinking, yes. But as this project blossomed, I quickly came to see that Aspen and Pitkin, on the whole, had their values in place. With this redesign, they really wanted to act progressively. The core value of government is to support it’s citizens, and the web is a way of communicating with the citizen body. They ‘got’ that.
And I was responsible to help them make it happen.
On my team, I had an amazing visual designer, Steve Jencks, and a great team of developers. I consulted with my manager on several milestones throughout the project, and had his 100% support along the way (Thank you). Internally, we were on the brink of implementing new processes and our paradigm as a company was changing for the positive. This project turned out to be innovative on all accounts – for the client, for our internal team, for myself. This project was my ‘baby’.
Sales, Kickoff, Research
Prior to signature, I did a complete overhaul of the proposal to structure and plan for the work involved. This helped tremendously when it came time for the project to ‘power on.’ As the project moved from sales to production, I was responsible for managing the scope, schedule, resources and budget from signature onward – I transitioned to the project manager.
We kicked off the project by diving deeper into the content, functionality and client’s design vision. I wrote the functional specs documents, translating the proposal scope into detailed business and functional requirements. This was my communication tool between the client, myself and my dev team. It was our guiding roadmap for where we were going and it kept us in scope.
Their old site = an advanced search engine. Lead-in content was nearly non-existent, so there was very little substance to guide the user. Contact information and department listings dominated the site. So to make use of the site, the user had to have prior knowledge of the internal governmental structure.
In reality, the user was ignored in the old site.
I worked onsite with the small group to combat this. I probably said one too many times that what we are doing is ‘turning your organization inside-out’. A paradigm shift was happening with the client from ‘government-centered’ thinking to ‘user-centered’ thinking. And the best part was that my clients wanted this change. I saw this desire of theirs and I took it and ran with it. As far as possible.
I played the role of the user advocate in the group. This was one of many roles required of me, so I continuously perceived when to perform this role over others.
Onsite, I worked with the client to develop user personas. With a small group, we described in detail, Business-owner Bob, Citizen Charles, Second-home-owner Vicki, while editing personas projected onto a wall. These personas became the centerpiece for content re-organization.
Information Architecture
After defining our users, we created ‘buckets’ of content with them in mind (diagram at right). We did this in small group workshops. These ‘buckets’ of content became the top-level navigation of the site. It was essential to gather buy-in from key people within the project, so this activity required getting the input of the large group (20-25 people). We tried different terminology and discussed the implications on the user and on the city’s branding.
The ‘Page Description Diagram’ is a technique that has worked effectively for my collaboration with Steve as a visual interaction designer. This light tool aided in communication among the client, myself and my team. It kept content priority decisions clearly documented for design guidance.
In addition to the main site structure, I worked together with the client to collect the services that would be of most use to citizens. We grouped them by ‘user action’ – such as ‘Apply For…’ or ‘Pay For…’. This developed into a subset of the navigation that came to be known as the ‘Directory of Services’.
User Experience
From the perspective of the overall functionality that the site would employ, it was necessary to think on a macro-level. I worked on the user-flows for how the different modules would work together: where they would ‘live’ within the site structure and how they would be cross-linked and widget-ized on sidebars throughout the rest of the site. I’d work with the client or internal team to determine what content components each module required (titles, icons, highlight text, pop-up content, buttons, etc).
There were over 15 modules and each one needed tender, loving care. We did whatever it took for each one – sketching, white board drawing in teams, wireframing, annotations, sitemap diagrams, design critiques, prototyping, development quality assurance – every module had different needs. The foundation for the module scope was in the functional specs, and further annotated in the extensive IA document. It was on me to ‘make it work.’
The emergency alert’s module is a small example. After discussing citizen use cases with the client, I’d determine the technical components of the module itself (a title, description, date, and the ability to sign up for alerts.) I worked with Steve on iterations of ways to utilize icons, headings, and visual treatments, then with the development team on how to access feeds of information. Once reviewed and approved internally, I’d present this to the client within the context of the homepage.
Project Management
This project demanded a lot of executive thought-leadership, and I found it necessary to embody many roles. After a short while, I learned to switch between the user advocate, web consultant, project manager or information architect, on a dime. This was no easy task, and required me to work at an optimum capacity. I was enthused to take on the challenge.
Project management needed constant attention. We had budget for me to be onsite for 4 days, so I decided it was best to do this in the beginning of the project. The rest of the project was managed via video conference or phone. I crafted meeting agendas, created workshop hand-outs and Powerpoint slides. Meeting minutes, upcoming milestones, deadline reminders and approval documents.
I managed to introduce the term ‘Basecamp‘ into the client’s everyday vocabulary.
All documentation had a purpose, and I used only what was necessary to keep the project on track. Despite how voluminous it might sound, I never felt we were drowning in paperwork. Only swimming in project details.
One metaphor that’s worked well for me when taking clients through the project is the idea that a website is a ’3-legged stool.’ The legs of the stool are content, design & functionality – and each of the three work to support one another. Onsite, I organized half-day sessions around all three legs of the ‘web design stool’, and continuing project updates centered around this idea as well.
Using a good process and good communication was key. It seemed there was always a deadline, signature approval, presentation reminder, content delivery date coming up to stay on top of. This meant I was pushing the client and pushing the team interchangeably. I became known as ‘the little bulldog’ by the client. Oh, were they great personalities! I really enjoyed working with them.
This project spun into many sub-projects, so there was a consistent stream of change orders, functional spec revisions signatures and an occasional new proposal presentation to lead.
Content Strategy
From kickoff to information architecture to post-launch, content strategy threaded through the entire project. The incessant need for content strategy was illuminated for me on this project, though the term hadn’t been coined within our company at that time. Content auditing was a living task throughout the whole project. I drafted content requirements documentation and content recommendations. I worked on the architecture for special content types, and permissions for different groups of content within the site. Content discussions with the client were continuous even after the face-to-face meetings via phone, video, and email.
I could have made a full time job out of content strategy with this project. There was a need for working one-on-one with each department, organizing content old and new, discussing workflow within the organization to determine who should be writing the content, reviewing, approving, publishing, etc.
To my absolute excitement, nearly a year later, I happened to pick up the book, ‘Content Strategy for the Web’, while in a book store in Cambridge, MA. A month after that, I found myself sitting in SxSW panels led by amazing industry giants, and was utterly enthused to discover Content Strategy was one of the hottest emerging fields of web design! The feeling of being on the edge of something new just can’t be beat.
In the end, content strategy is sort of present on this site. It’s much better than it was, but I think there’s lots of room for CS improvement. I’d say the IA gives the CS a protective coating.
Opportunity for phase 2? I’d say, surely.
The New Site
But in the meantime, The City of Aspen/Pitkin County Redesign was a great success and the amount of improvements made in this redesign were incredible. The quality of the content was improved by revamping the navigation layout, organization, tone and voice of the content. Visual aesthetics were taken to a whole new level. And the new features far and away blow the old site out of the water. The new site allows users to sign up for emergency alerts, sports a dynamic interactive map with local hotspots highlighted, presents video and photo galleries and filters different categories of events throughout the site. These are a few things that are brand new that didn’t exist on the old site.
My final words? – Great job and Congratulations to everyone involved!
/please consider the intention of the resume extension series
Resume Extension Series: What & Why
I’ve decided to do a series of resume extensions to describe the involvement that I’ve had in previous projects that I’ve worked on.
What it is
A deep dive into my work, one project at a time.
Why the Resume Extension Series?
The reason I’ve started this is twofold. 1. I’ve found it to be more useful and accurate to describe my involvement in a selected project than to hand over the deliverables and documents within that project. The reason for this is that single documents can’t reflect all of the ‘soft-skilled’ work that the process required of me in between those documents. And additionally, sample work doesn’t reflect my involvement in creating the process.
And the second reason for starting this is because, frankly, it’s difficult to describe what I ‘do’ in a nutshell. That’s it. Simple.
Let’s face it, people are BUSY. They don’t have the time to sit and listen to me jabber on about how fascinating it is to see the different disciplines of user experience, content strategy, project management, social media… twist and turn and weave into a somehow miraculous interactive masterpiece in the end! (Although if you’re at all interested in what goes on in my crazy head of mine, here’s a little glimpse:)
A website project is like making a quilt. It’s an art project. No single quilt is the same in the end. Just as no single website is the same in the end. Don’t get me wrong – the process matters. It matters a lot. More than the talent or the idea or anything. It separates the quality teams from the rest. A solid process – - – A Pattern. But within the pattern, every project is a unique output.
And web design is new. Everyone’s learning all the types of disciplines that goes into it – even and especially the web professionals, themselves. Which brings me back to my original purpose: it’s difficult to describe what I ‘do’ in a nutshell.
Before I go further…
I do want to be sure to frame the purpose of this series to assure that the intention is clear. Web design is a team effort, and because of this, there were so many people involved in each project and I won’t have the opportunity to formally talk with each one of you to get your blessings. I have had the opportunity to work on teams with really smart people, in a variety of different dynamic environments. In fact, collaboration is the most beautiful part of the entire process of web design work. Thank you for the opportunity to work with you – to every single one of you whom I’ve had a 5 min or a 5 year working relationship with. Thank you.
So, in summary, this is intended to be an interpretation of my professional experience. That’s simply the only purpose. What this is not intended to do is act as
- An official case study of the project from the perspective of the company who contracted with the client. (Artemis, i.e., has already done a great job of presenting their portfolio to their audiences,) nor
- A press-release type of publication from the perspective of the client of who owns the site (Most of the clients take care of regularly communicating with their network through a series of different communication avenues, like the City of Aspen does here.)
And now, without further ado, onto the first resume extension!
A year ago today…
Black
A year ago today, I was flying off to Armenia. I had no idea what to expect. I arrived 2 calendar days after I left my home-base of Detroit, Michigan. My wide-eyed and eager-to-learn self, mentally ready for 7 months in a new country with a new language with new ways of being, but physically tired, was carrying 2 suitcases, with airplane grogginess coating my face and body. It was almost 5 in the morning when I was picked up and taken to my new host family’s house. They were awake and waiting for me. They cut me a few slices of apples, spoke to me in a language that I understood as much as I understood the teacher on Charlie Brown – “waaah wa wah wah waaahhhhh”.
White
Today, one year later, I’m back in the house I grew up in, with storage boxes still in the garage from when I resigned from my job, packed and moved out of the city I’d lived in for 9 years to turn my life in a new direction. The walls of my room are repainted, closet re-organized. I’ve set-up my home office where I work hours and hours on building my business, designing new websites and reading and learning from others who have done similar things. I look out the window. At the same backyard. In the same house. That I lived in for 17 years. Yet, now 10 years later, it feels like a new place.
My internal soul that is ticking is different. Somehow. There’s a sense of peace inside that funny enough, feels natural, yet I have never felt before.
The Grey
April 15 2009 and April 15 2010, were as different as black and white. Neither was good nor bad. But very different. And throughout the journey between April 15, 2009 and April 15, 2010, a lot happened. More than I ever could have imagined. I could write for hours on it, but I’ll spare you. It was a challenging and rewarding ride. I look forward to what lies ahead!
Evil and Hope
I stayed up until 4am last night finishing Greg Mortenson’s book, Stones Into Schools, and have read more than enough to understand why he’s received over 10 honorary doctorate degrees from universities nationwide and was nominated alongside Obama for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He is an inspiration to me and to many and I cannot get enough information about what he’s doing, and moreover, how it reflects and in several cases compliments, current efforts of the US Military in Afghanistan. Afghanistan and the US’ involvement is a very complex myriad of good and evil, of course revering controversy of opinion at home and abroad. After a few hours of research, there’s a lot to be learned on the issue, and I think educating ourselves is what can make us better understand and form opinions on the matter. There’s a lot of people participating in the situation from different angles. I’ve found some fascinating information online, and have collected it here.
- NPR’s interview with Greg Mortenson, author of “Stones Into Schools”, and Ahmed Rashid, author of “Descent Into Chaos”, offers insight into what’s going on on the ground in Afghanistan now. Dec. 8, 2009: Direct link to the audio segment
- The Economist’s review of Rashid’s most recent book, among other reviews.
- A very introspective and personal account of Greg Mortenson’s work, by Good Housekeeping magazine. Mentions of his relationship with his family, and his daughter’s interest and involvement in Greg’s work.
- General Stanley McChrystal’s 66-page report on what the best strategy is for the US to take in Afghanistan: (PDF link: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/Assessment_Redacted_092109.pdf)
- A blog post from a veteran of the Vietnam war who sees the solution has always been the same, in Vietnam and in Afghanistan now, that helping build a self-sustaining civil society abroad is the most powerful security force for the US at home.
- Quote from the report: “U.S. and NATO forces must change their mind set from killing the enemy alone, to protecting the entire civilian population from the Taliban, Al Qeada, violent ethic extremists and internal criminals. The change in mind set would require U.S. troops to blend in with the population, getting closer than ever before and risking immense danger by trusting local leaders who may double cross them.“
- MIT TV’s video segment on the election controversy in October, 2009, the McChrystal report and the Taliban
Reading “Stones Into Schools” is essentially a crash course on the complex dynamics occurring on the ground in Afghanistan, with staunching realism and a more powerful message of hope. I feel like a better human being after reading it. And that doesn’t even begin to reflect on the degree of impact that Greg Mortenson has made to lives of people from the end of the road to reading chairs in the US.
2010′s Holiday card
It’s winter now in Michigan, and we’re in the middle of a big snow storm at the moment. Many don’t like snow, my friends in Cali don’t even know what the word “snow” means, but I personally love it. It’s beautiful to look outside and see the land covered in white, cozy to sit by the fire under a blanket inside reading, and fun to make snow-angels, sled, ski, ice skate, etc.
I’ve been a bit MIA lately, celebrating the holidays and reconnecting with family and friends of all shapes, sizes and sorts. I’ll post my holiday letter below, wishing you all a wonderful new year!
The holidays snuck up and now they’re gone! I meant to send out Christmas cards, but this year it will be post-holiday greetings instead,
Here’s sending a big, warm wish to you and your family and friends to have a fantastic new year blessed with love, health, joy, work, community, adventure, and laughter!!!
As for a quick update on my end, this last month since I returned to the US has been a whirlwind of settling in. It’s been a really graceful transition, surprisingly, since I was over-preparing myself for some hefty reverse culture shock. Not too much came – partially because life here is pretty comfortable compared to Armenia, but most of all because I feel closer to Armenia now and kind of feel like I brought it back with me. That said, I’ve definitely changed, I notice it in my responses to annoyances and American habits that used to drive me nuts. I notice I’m more tolerant now, of people and their habits, and any confrontation is much easier to handle now that I’ve lived in the loud and screaming nation that is Armenia. Emotions are flooding there through every social tie for better or worse – from expression of affection to anger. Armenia is a special place with a lot of charm and for me provides some of the inverse factors that the US is lacking, creating a balance. But that’s a whole topic in and of itself.
Other activities I’ve been up to – working out, reading, socializing, working from home, and most fun of all is the re-organizing and re-painting my living space at home (room, office, bathroom, kitchen…). I love living in a pretty organized space, and after living away from home for nearly 10 years, I was nervous about moving back in – that’s 10 years of stuff to sort through! But my mom and I have tag-teamed it and managed to revamp the entire upstairs (I call it my own little apartment). So, I am now looking peacefully out my window at the beautiful snow fall from my new bedroom and office spaces, ahhhh…
The holidays were fantastic, doing the whole family-time thing. It sure was some relaxing and refreshing family time. Additionally, I have reconnected with all sorts of good, close friends and so many old friends, it’s pretty unbelievable. It seems this year the stars brought everyone across my path, via bars, phone calls, network, and of course Facebook. I’ve seen friends who I haven’t seen in 5-7 years this past month. One after another after another… at first it was odd, now looking back it seems it was some type of serendipitous “welcome home”…
Cheers to you and yours for a fantastic 2010!
My impressions being back…
I am settling in surprisingly well, I’m completely surprising myself! I guess 7 months surrounded by people who were initially strangers to me, makes me appreciate my own family more. Now that I’m back, I can’t stop laughing and thinking that the dynamics between my mom and dad are hilarious… the same things that would have made me curl into a ball and shake my head a year ago, lol. I guess little girls do grow up,
On that note, my mom and I have sorted through the past 10 years of ‘stuff’ and re-painted my bedroom a burnt orange (this was an enormous undertaking!). I love it. I’ve also settled my “office”, formerly known as my brother’s room, with my 24′ iMac that was waiting for me here in Michigan!
Coming back, I think it’s amazing how others’ lives move forward in a short gap of time. It’s so beautiful. One friend, a couple, sold their house and bought a new one (they’re throwing me a welcome home party next Saturday, so I get to see their new house!), another friend met someone, job searched, and now just celebrated their engagement last weekend and they’re moving to DC together for her new job!, my aunt trained and ran in her first triathlon!, and of course there’s the weddings that I missed while abroad, or babies, or engagements… Then there are people who haven’t moved an inch, and are doing exactly the same thing as when I left (and hopefully happily)! This world has all sorts of characters, and life never stops turning…
I’ve talked to both my host families in Armenia over Skype and that was a lot of fun (so far I seem to have retained that of the language I learned – thank goodness!). I have been getting messages upon messages from friends there, they’re missing me and hanging out together - wouldn’t it be great to be able to be on both sides of the world at the same time sometimes?!
That leads me to my other observation is that Armenia feels closer than it did before. I guess because it’s closer to me, personally. I understand it a bit better and I now have the opportunity to build it into my life more. Life there is pretty simple. Of course, bad things happen (someone tried to mug me for instance) but crime is pretty petty, with little access to drugs or guns for the most part. It’s very family oriented, which is good for social purposes and not so much for business and economics. Overall, Armenia has its own charming character and is one of the places in the world that commercialism hasn’t taken over – be it a good or a bad thing. It offered a one-of-a-kind environment where those same “strangers” grew beautifully into becoming some of my closest friends and family, a phenomenal thing to experience.
Needless to say, I realized quickly that the answer to “So, how was it?!” humorously offers an enormously inadequate explanation of what really happened throughout the 7 months that I was there. Similarly, it’s frankly impossible to share this whole experience with even my family, and that’s ok I’ve come to understand. I can tie in a story here and a funny comment there, and eventually they’ll start to add up. But to have them understand and experience it the way I did is impossible, everyone has their own unique experience in Armenia (and in every life experience, for that matter.) And so this experience is mine to own. In the hustle & bustle of the social exchange, what people are really wanting is a short live report, funny story, but then to return to the present and move forward – hence the two most common questions I get asked: 1. “So, have you found a job?” / “What are you going to do next?”, or 2. “So, did you find someone to marry there?” / “Did you go there to find someone to marry?” Oiy oiy oiy…
What I’m Thankful For
It’s really special to be home just in time for Thanksgiving. I woke up this morning thinking more this year than others, how appreciative I am of so many aspects of my life. These aspects are illuminated more clearly for me this year.
I am thankful for the amenities at home that feel like luxuries – flush carpet, fluffy towels, queen sized beds, and lots and lots of space! This house gives me so much privacy compared to in Armenia. The culture is different, and both cultures function well. Ask me that 1 year ago, and I’d say I had NO privacy at home. It’s amazing how your perspective changes.
I’m thankful for the liberation of driving! For the ease with which you get trained and receive your driver’s license in the States. But most importantly, for being able to blast good music and sing at the top of my lungs, while driving on the highway!
And most importantly, I’m thankful for waking up to my mom, dad, brother and sister this morning and for having them in my life for 26 years. I’m thankful for the people who became my family in Armenia. For how they took me in like their own sister, daughter, best friend, niece, cousin, neighbor. I’m thankful for the beautiful relationships that can be cultivated in this world, which takes personal effort, and requires a relatively healthy environment to do so within. I’m thankful for the freedom to build these relationships and to build a life for ourselves. Because I know that other people have not had this freedom, others currently do not have this freedom and others have been oppressed from this freedom in countless different ways. Other people who lived on this same land that we sit on today. There are a lot of horrible things that happen in this world and are happening now. Within this, we are all entitled to joy, peace and happiness as a basic human right.
I wish you joy, peace and happiness this Thanksgiving!
Things I missed
Smiling, friendly Mid-Westerners
Talked with the lady sitting next to me the whole ride back from Chicago to Detroit – Londoners look shocked when I say hello to them, Armenian’s stare when someone new enters their eco-system. The joking going on between the airport attendants when I first landed in the US was refreshing. They joked with me and with themselves – “next time I see you, I expect you to be a little less heavy, ok??” teasing about my luggage weight.
People who speak like me!
I don’t have to repeat myself 2 or 3 times (as Londoners don’t understand American English on first attempt). Nor do I have to speak slowly and with basic sentences, as I had lots of fascinating conversations with people who’s native language was not English. Ahhh, familiarity feels good.
Cinnabon & Christmas music
The smells of sweet sweet cinamon and frosting with Silent Night playing in the background…
Fluffy towels, queen beds & a fridge full of leftovers
Towels aren’t crunchy! And my bed is big, and my mom has our fridge stuffed!
My computer + reliable internet
Listening to NPR News. 24 inch iMac that is bigger than my TV.
Why Vatche and Levon are good men
So here are Levon and Vatche, my most amazing hosts in London. Mandy comes hopping into their ever-busy lives, and they are so kind to take the time to lay out a tube map for me, set up the cot, leave out a fresh towel, and give me the tour of the kitchen being sure to insist that nothing is off-limits – eat whatever, make yourself at home, feel free and comfortable here -
But. What I’m not sure they realized is that I have stuff from living in another country. A lot of stuff. So much stuff that even when I hide it behind the couch, look what happens to the stuff…
And I can’t help but think that wearing the same stuff for 7 months straight, and then finding yourself on Oxford Street in London, is a temptation that nearly any human would not be able to resist… Yes, I will be going home with all my stuff + a bit of new London stuff.
My only saving grace is that Levon and Vatche are too busy to notice… cross your fingers.
