my.umich.edu

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my.umich.edu

• Partial Integration of Dynamic Services with
  Visual Design

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Agenda

• Project orientation
• Demonstration
• Questions

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Project Orientation Topics

• Background
• Design
• Features
• Benefits
• Next Steps
• Summary

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Background

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U-M Gateway (www.umich.edu)

• Traditional static web site
• Text, images, links
• Passive information delivery
• Publish once model
• Recognized as successful web project
• 2nd among universities in July 2000
• Making improvements to searching and links
• my.umich builds on Gateway project success

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my.umich Phase 1

• Intent
• Provide powerful, extensible, low-cost framework
  for web-based services
• Audience selection by Provost and CIO
• Undergraduate students targeted
• Current students first
• Prospective students next
• Expanded audiences will follow

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Design

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Requirements

• Studies
• User roles and tasks identified
• Benchmark studies for portals, services
• Student Input
• Services selected in response to student surveys
• Student portal use research conducted
• Pre-release usability testing in progress
• Ongoing student input planned

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Web Technologies Selected

• Portal Web site
• Personalized, customized Web space
• Dynamic information delivery
• Suite of service packages
• WebObjects development tool selected
• Powerful, modular applications
• Useable with unmodified, secure browsers
• Built-in access to most database products

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Not Static Web Site

• Create framework to deliver many types of dynamic
  information
• Anticipate rapid expansion of services
• Enable easy, flexible organization of selected
  services
• Keep users and user tasks at the center of design

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Personalized

• Youll be remembered! Youll find things the way
  you left them.
• But your privacy will be protected.
• Depending on your role(s) within the university,
  some services will be available, other wont.
• Appropriate information can be directed to you.

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Customizable

• Easy defaults provided
• Create additional pages to meet your needs.
• Arrange, label your pages as you wish.
• Add or remove services to suit your interests.
• Choose services, information you want to use.
• List of Services always available for selections.
• Your settings will be saved.

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Non-Customizable Areas

• University bulletins and announcements
• Institutional message themes
• Making History
• Many targeted themes possible
• Departmental bulletins and announcements
• Targeted by role(s)
• Integrated into individual services

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Features

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Initial Service Offerings

• University bulletins announcements
• News headlines summaries
• Classifieds
• Portable personal bookmarks
• Web-based BCP IMAP e-mail
• Campus on-line directory lookup

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Initial Services

• Personal Information Manager
• Personal calendar
• Personal course schedule
• To do list
• Address book (may be by October)
• Help
• Feedback

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Limitations of Initial Release

• Audience
• Focused on students
• Access
• Open to everyone with uniqname, rights to U-M
  Basic Computing Package
• Services
• Some with limited features

• Personalization
• No targeted information delivery
• Customization
• No additional customized pages beyond front page
• Graphic design
• No options to change look

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Benefits

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U-M Participants

• Designed to supplement, not replace other Web
  environments
• Provide personal web-based services
• Personalized, appealing to users
• Appropriate to user needs by role(s)
• Customized starting point for institutional
  information, community building

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U-M Service Providers

• Provide targeted service environment
• Draws your users back to your services
• Enables communication to specific groups
• Lowers barriers to being service provider
• Allows greater focus on content and services
• No requirement to create in WebObjects but can
  use extensible framework
• Potential development of sharable resources
• Coordinated system of data access between units

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Next Steps

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my.umich Partnerships

• U-M Libraries
• Working to integrate library services with
  my.umich
• CIC, ResComp
• Events calendar(s) integration into my.umich PIM
• WebObjects data entry forms
• Many others have expressed interest
• Explore service provider partnerships
• Contact Linda Place (lmp_at_umich.edu)

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Timeline

• Now through late August
• Integration completion
• Code debugging
• Usability testing with students
• Help documentation support training
• August 28
• Target public release date
• January
• New services added

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Communications

• Project information on Web
• www.cio.umich.edu/office/ (link)
• www.umich.edu/myumich/
• Questions about project
• my.umich.questions_at_umich.edu
• Announcement email list (joinable)
• my.umich.announce_at_umich.edu

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Summary

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my.umich Integrated Service Environment

• Web-based access to valued tools and information
• Access rights defined by role(s)
• User-centered environment design
• Dynamic information delivery from diverse data
  sources
• Services delivered in common framework

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Project Overview Highlights

• Creating new, useful, innovative web environment
  for students
• Dynamic, not static web site
• Supplement to, not replacement for other campus
  web environments
• Opportunity for community building

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Demonstration