What are your Technology Wheelbarrow Requirements?

June 13, 2009

I’ve been thinking about requirements a lot lately.  For my upcoming birthday I asked for a wheelbarrow.  For my business, I’ve been thinking about my on-line presence.

One seems simple and the other seems complicated.  However, as I have since learned, nothing about wheelbarrows is simple.  I simply want a tool to carry heavy bags of organic potting soil to by 25 square foot garden in my backyard that can be stored in my garage.  Easy right?  No!

There are collapsible wheelbarrows and wheelbarrows that can be laid on the ground to scoop stuff into and there are big wheelbarrows that can handle 100 foot trees or something ridiculous like that.

Result of pre-shopping?  I had to define my requirements.  Result of requirements definition?  We’ll see next month but I can reasonably expect a manageable wheelbarrow that can stand alone so that items can be taken in and taken out.

In thinking about my on-line presence the requirements may appear to be extremely complicated but the wheelbarrow requirements exercise has caused great focus.  Here’s a list of reasonable requirements for Answer Maven.

  • Consistent identity across networks
  • Easy to find information
  • Consistent blog tags that demonstrate my taxonomy ability
  • Accurate, current Professional biography
  • Clean, simple presence
  • Can be found

Those requirements are broad but they will and do guide my inputs into the Internet and my future developments of such things as my website.  (I’m about two weeks behind on meeting this deadline–must get busy.)

Many times, we don’t get or have what we need because we were not careful enough to set expectations and define our requirements.  When working on a technology project you must know what you want to happen and let the people who can make it happen know.  If something you dream is technologically impossible–the tech folks will let you know.

Product people, and this is anyone who is responsible for gizmos and content, must know what they want and communicate.  Without definition it’s easy to say you didn’t get what you need.  Success doesn’t just mean saying I want a wheelbarrow.  It means saying I want a wheelbarrow that can stand up by itself and can handle up to 150 pounds of cargo and can be stored in my garage.

If you are having a problem with your wheelbarrow technology, have you really figured out what you really want?

Constance Ard June 13, 2009

Leave a Comment » | Information Management | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by answermaven

Collaboration in Law Firms

July 7, 2008

This Legal Technology article speaks to the success of collaboration between attorneys, IT staff and clients.

“It’s not enough to hear client requests filtered through lawyers — IT professionals need to be present at the substantive discussions of client needs and how they might be addressed.”

Filtering user needs through third parties who may not quite understand the technicalities usually leaves something to be desired in the final product.   As a librarian I would push the need for collaboration even further.  Often times IT staff understand the how to make it work part but lack a full understanding of how clients will use the products.

There is a proliferation of literature about the need for libraries and IT departments to work together.  This need to work together should overcome territorial concerns and take into consideration the client needs.  Finding the right information when it is needed and in the format that the client will use it is critical for business success.

IT knows how to make the technical parts work, librarians understand how the searches will occur and how the data will be recycled for new uses.  To really make your clients happy make sure you have IT, Library Staff and attorneys at the table.

Mass collaboration has been successful for multi-billion dollar corporations in today’s global economy.  If law firms want to grow and retain clients they must understand the changing world and embrace this shift in doing business.  Small steps such as cross-departmental collaboration is a good safe step for firms who want to test the water first.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by answermaven