Evolution, the web, and social computing in business

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Evolution, the web, and social computing in business

Matthew HodgsonACT regional-lead, Web and Information Management

15 October 2007

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Evolution

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Internet (alpha)

Email

TelnetInternet Relay Chat (IRC)

Kermit

Newsgroups

Multi-user Domains (MUDs)

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Web 1.0

Lynx

Browser Wars

Microsoft FrontPage Sausage Software

Mosaic

Netscape Altavista

ICQ

Email

Internet Explorer

Dreamweaver

HTML

Adobe PDF

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Web 2.0What is it?

AJAX

RSSAtom

XML

XHTML

TaggingFolksonomies

Podcasting

Vodcasting

WikisBlogs

REST

SOAP

API

CSS

Microformats

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

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Tim O’Reilley on Web 2.0

“…the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform…”

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Shocked about new social technology?

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Web 2.0“Social Computing”

AJAX RSSAtom

XML

XHTML

TaggingFolksonomies

Podcasting

Vodcasting

WikisBlogs

REST

SOAP

API

CSS

Microformats

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Sharing

Collaboration

User-centred

Accessibility

Joy of use

PersonlisationNetworking

Connecting

CommunicatingWisdom of Crowds

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YouTube – sharing videoFeatures Share video Tag video (folksonomic navigation)

Who? Labor demands election campaign debates posted on

YouTube Labor posted video on climate change, education, skills

and training, and representation. Australian Democrats posted a video that mocks the new

Australian citizenship test Anti-smoking academics are accusing tobacco

companies of advertising on YouTube

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Flickr – sharing photos

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/chewywong

Features•Upload photos•Share photos•Tag photos

Who•Photographers•Some naughty companies

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Del.icio.us – sharing bookmarks

Features Post bookmarks Synchronise bookmarks rather than store them on

one computer Share bookmarks Re-use bookmarks through the API on the

company intranet

Who SMS “mobile consultants” National Endowment for Science, Technology and

the Arts (NESTA) in London

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Facebook – building online communities

Features Powerful social networking hub Good way to create ‘community’ and brand loyalty Share profiles and interests with friends and

business associates

Who Everyone from average Joe to big business Accenture, Amazon, Apple, EA, Gap, Intel, Intuit,

Microsoft, Pepsi, PWC and Teach for America.

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SlideShare

Features Share (PowerPoint) presentations Share podcasts Folksonomic (tagging) navigation

Who Academics Conference presenters Clergy (online sermons!) Adult industry (PowerPoint porn)

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Wikis & Wikipedia

Features Information collaboration Instant access to edit, update, comment & discuss

Who AGIMO to share corporate policy and guidelines CIA to share intelligence (esp. on terrorism) Qld state govt to share information between

departments

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What do these have in common?Technology Each uses different technology Folksonomies (tagging) seems to be a key component

Support team work Support team interaction on tasks Share information Help classify information

Support team interaction Support team interaction, communication and

social cohesion Psych literature tells us that both task and social support

are critical to a team’s long term survival

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Key messages

When thinking about building systems: Understand and support team interaction on tasks Understand and support team interaction,

communication and social cohesion It’s not about a technology-driven solution

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A case study

The issues: Two different cultures Two different perspectives Interaction problems

Need to: Share information

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Goldilocks and Porridge

PorridgeLoves to eat

Eaten in

Built in

Visited

Contained

Contained

Goldilocks

Chairs

Just Right!

Too hard

Too soft

Forest

Kitchen

Contained

FeltFelt

Felt

Felt

Felt

Felt

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Three Bears and Porridge

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Porridge

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Information disconnect

PorridgeLoves to eat

Eaten in

Built in

Visited

Contained

Contained

Goldilocks

Chairs

Just Right!Too hard

Too soft

Forest

Kitchen

Contained

Felt

FeltFelt

Felt

Felt

Felt

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Porridge=?

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Govt. department and information disconnect

WRITE WRITE

CONTAINS

Free-text

PolicyCompliance Fees

=?Stakeholders

REPORTS ON

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The problem

“How can you determine what’s in these reports so that one world view can inform the other?”

“How do you create business processes and tools that connects these two world views of information?”

- Mark Allenby, SMS Consultant

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A typical approach

Parent term

Child term Child term Child term

Taxonomy

+EDMS or TRIM

Might meet the businesses needsWould it meet users’ needs?

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Using a taxonomy?

IssuesNeed to have a finite set of ‘things’ to build a good taxonomyContent of reports are not finite and change over timeDoesn’t fit people’s personal view of informationNo one will use it (except for the experts)

ExtensibilityTaxonomy needs to be redesigned to adapt to new information

Parent term

Child term Child term Child term

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Issues Good as a ‘filing cabinet’ for documents Good for records managers Not designed to match the way users’ think about their own

information (corporate way only) Not designed for other things like ‘sharing information’ Tower Software uses a wiki to share knowledge and

information

Using TRIM (recordkeeping system)?

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A tagging approach

“… instead [of using a system], you may want to capture and communicate… the essence of what is talked about by using free text tagging (like they do with blogs and wikis)…”

- Matt’s response

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Selling tagging

Currently tracking over 8 million tags

5 years and millions of tags and users

8 years worth of tagged, public, online diaryand information websites

All user/self-classified information

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Tagging = users’ view of information

Benefits for users: Chosen by the user Not part of a formal taxonomy

(my way, not the corporate way of thinking) Adapts easily to new information Flexible and easy to use

Benefits for the business: People want to use it - high level of participation Information still gets classified Tag clouds show frequency of terms for reporting

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Applying Garrett’s User-Centred Design Methodology

See also: http://www.jjg.net/ia/

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Scope phaseBig gaps in information and little communications between stakeholders and the Department due to different world-views

Some documented process, but without documented workflow or governance

No tools or supporting systems

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SolutionFacilitate information storage & communication Create a place to share information and knowledge Invite and encourage stakeholders to participate

Establish governance Document roles and responsibilities Document process

Provide tools and systems Support business process Support the way people think about their own information If tools are usable they will be used Focus on connecting people, information and knowledge

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Tagging and Topic Maps

Topic maps = connected information

Topic Map

WRITE WRITE

CONTAINS

Free-text

Stakeholders

Tagging CorporateTaxonomy

Laws ComplianceEquivalent to

BillsFees

Policy

Equivalent to

Has categoriesDecisions

Equivalent to

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Topic Map

WRITE WRITE

CONTAINS

Free-text

Stakeholders

Tagging CorporateTaxonomy

Laws ComplianceEquivalent to

BillsFees

Policy

Equivalent to

Has categoriesDecisions

Equivalent to

Wiki

Store and share knowledge

Contributeknowledge

Contributeknowledge

Wikis to store knowledge

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Department’s term in theirCorporate taxonomy

Related tags users haveCreated and related to the term ‘policy’

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Social computing tools in this case study

Tagging Good for user classification of information Good for representing information based on the user’s own

world-view

Wikis Good for communication Good for sharing information and knowledge to reinforcing

social cohesion between groups Easy to create and maintain content Easy and cheap to setup

Topic Maps The glue that connects disconnected information

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Key messages The more our computers are connected, the more

we realise how disconnected our information is Social computing tools can connect people,

information and knowledge Use social computing tools in “smart ways” to

serve growing user demand to interact directly with government

Remember to concentrate on the “social”-part, not the “computing” part

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… happily ever after

Blog: magia3e.wordpress.comEmail: mhodgson@smsmt.com

Web: www.smsmt.com