Chapter 2 9_underlined_v8:Layout 1 03/09/2009 10:31 Page 40
Navigating Social by Social > Designing the project > Set goals, but expect your users to change things
sEt goals, but ExpEct youR usERs to chaNgE thiNgs Susan Cramm, writing in Harvardbusiness.org, is forthright about the importance of having clear goals: “In most cases, the benefits outlined in business (cases) are a work of creative fiction, and, once the initiative is approved, they are filed and forgotten. Smart leaders don’t waste their time with this. ey play the game, but they know how to make the game worth playing. ey understand that only 30% of IT-enabled business initiatives deliver as expected and that the other 70% are plagued with unclear business objectives, missing-inaction executive support and inadequate user involvement. To create a successful business case, smart leaders focus on two goals: 1. Build support. 2. Define clear objectives.”
“Running social and community projects isn’t controlled or mechanical like industrial farming; it’s organic, like gardening. You can’t make plants grow faster by shouting at them.” Andy
However, the internet fundamentally changes the nature of organising, and organisations. Because we are used to working within hierarchical organisations that create controlled, centralised environments, we may be tempted to design projects using these new tools in that way. We think shop, office, factory, brochure – and then web “platform”. But the web is decentralised; it is a network where individuals and groups can create their own spaces. As a consequence, the success and sustainability of an initiative may not depend upon maintaining the centre: it may depend upon the motivation of the participants to drop by and contribute. This presents a lot of problems for project managers: having a clear set of tactics and milestones is much harder when you are responding to the demands of a community. For a start, if you engage with users in the design of your project, they may have different ideas from the ones that you started with. SavvyChavvy began with the aim of creating a public network of citizen journalists, but it turned out that a closed social network was a more effective way of empowering young gypsy travellers to tell their stories, even if it meant telling them in private to begin with. Sometimes the community doesn’t want what you’re offering; they want something better. Be prepared to be flexible – the alternative is most likely frustrations and failure later on.
Follow the links online at www.socialbysocial.com/book/set-goals-but-expect-users-to-change-things 40