Some Thoughts on Partnerships
Partnerships are often human relationships scaffolding financial ones. The stakes can often be high, like a staff-position. And the level of discomfort can be equally high, because partnerships require organizations to relinquish control. What are some tips on navigating partnerships? Overall, transparency is a means of allowing both parties to understand and mitigate risk while …
#OMA2019 Recap : Boards, Front of House, and Conversation Burnout
The Ohio Museums Association had its 2019 conference in Akron this week. I was at the conference as a board member of OMA, eager to hear what we can do for our constituents. This week in Akron I was reminded of the phrase: All politics is local. Ohio is populous state, classically purple in elections, …
Continue reading “#OMA2019 Recap : Boards, Front of House, and Conversation Burnout”
#MW19 Reflections: Data and Diversity and Field Death
Before I go into my notes from Museums and the Web Boston, I want to thank the home committee who was seriously on their game. Everyone around the area was so welcoming and giving with their time and ideas. They created such a wonderful vibe. In looking through my notes and reflecting on my conversations …
Continue reading “#MW19 Reflections: Data and Diversity and Field Death”
Year-End Review: Thinking about Your Use of Time
The year is winding down. Many organizations are near the halfway point of their fiscal year. This is the right time to take stock on your work and processes. You have time to improve processes for the second half of the year. Where should you start when you take stock? You might start with the …
Continue reading “Year-End Review: Thinking about Your Use of Time”
Starting your DEAI path
Recently, I was asked how to start on the path to understanding the issues of Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion. These are complex issues that take years to grapple with, and even then, you may never truly understand them. Since I have been asked this question often, I wanted to put down some big-picture ideas. …
#MCN2018 Recap
Most years, on my plane back from MCN, I am furiously typing up notes from sessions. This year, I was volunteer co-chair and Human-Centered Design SIG co-chair. As a result, I was ever-present but not always there when it came to sessions. However, I had a better sense of what people felt about what they …
Simple Steps to Increase Equity: Considering Gender Pronouns
A human brain is basically a pattern-deciphering machine. People make millions of judgments daily, mostly unconsciously. Their brains match all new inputs against all the data that resides in their brains. When the first white flake falls from the sky, they don’t consciously match this information against all the memories in the brain. But, unconsciously, …
Continue reading “Simple Steps to Increase Equity: Considering Gender Pronouns”
5 Classic Journey Mapping Mistakes
Journey maps are great, there is no doubt, but there are certain pitfalls that should be avoided. 1. Maps are outputs, not processes: Imagine you and your friend go to a destination wedding. You use Apple maps. Your friend is brand loyal to Google. You both get to the wedding. You are early enough to …
What are Personas and How can Museums use them?
What are Personas? Personas are sketches of sample users that help designers plan products in user-centered ways. Research can be hard to understand. Numbers are not warm and fuzzy, for example. Turning research into an idealized person makes it digestible across the team. The final personal is like an anonymized, fictionalized version of your …
Continue reading “What are Personas and How can Museums use them?”
An Overview of Journey Maps
Why create a journey map? We want to make the path to our experiences better, because we know happy customers are repeat customers. And, are visitors customers? Yes, in this case, they are. They might or might not be paying to participate. But, they are choosing to consume the services we provide. Also, we know …