Social Networking Analysis: uncovering the secrets of information flow for our information architecture

Maria Horrigan Principal Consultant OZIA October 09

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Gro

wth

Time

Information and knowledge

Human absorptive capacity

Cohen & Levinthal 1989

A world of rapidly growing knowledge ….

....that is increasingly connected

new friends

familylocalcolleagues

old friends

Old colleagues

colleaguesat other offices

virtualcommunities

localnetworks

old classmates

..and just a click away

Case study

Context: (very political, high profile project)• Started with waterfall analysis (2 years)• No idea what the end solution would be like• Lots of information, but in people’s heads• Multiple stakeholders across multiple silos• Information flows between individuals and

groups not well known• External industry pressure for project to occur

How could we leverage the network for the benefit of the project?

SNA - the six degrees of separation

Social Networking Analysis (SNA)

Helped us explore questions such as:• How does information flow into the network?• Where does the information flow?• Who is involved and why?• What are they saying?• What do they know?• How do they interact?• Strength of relationships & interactions ?• Are there emergent sub-groups?

What we did

• Adopted an agile approach• Broke down huge project puzzle into smaller

business issues to solve• Partnered IA+BAs to lead three streams of

activities (IA had visualisation of all the different parts of the puzzle)

• Used SNA in each stream to uncover the information needs of the users

• Used “skinny” documentation to convey to stakeholders the key features of the system, its processes and the flow of information

Uncovered organisational networks

Turnedformal Organisation

Intoinformal organisation

Teigland et al. 2005

Centrality : revealing network structure • Very centralized network - one or a few

very central ‘nodes’. If removed, network quickly fragments and fails

• Less centralized network - resilient. Many nodes can fail yet allow remaining nodes to still reach each other

• Boundary Spanners - connect their group to others. Innovators as have access to ideas and information in other clusters

• Periphery of a network - may connect to networks not currently mapped. Important sources of fresh information

SNA – Revealing Network Centrality

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_analysis_software

What we found: Degree of Centrality

Hub has most connections – authority gained

It not the “more connections the better”, but where they lead to…

..and how they connect the otherwise unconnected

What we found: Betweeness Centrality

Great influence over what flows (and does not)

Broker role between Industry and Organisation

“location location location”

What we found: Closeness Centrality

Shortest path to all others – gives quick

access

Excellent position to monitor info flows

Best visibility of what is happening in the

network

Formal vs Informal Info Flow

General Mgr

Business Mgr

Pricing Mgr

Pricing SME

Project officer

Listing Mgr

Listing SME

Project Officer

Business Mgr

Research Mgr

Research SME

Executive Mgr

Listing SME

Mgr Director

Business Mgr

Sales & Marketing Finance

Research Mgr

Product

Development

Business Mgr

Industry

Formal vs Informal Info Flow

General Mgr

Business Mgr

Pricing Mgr

Pricing SME

Project officer

Listing Mgr

Listing SME

Project Officer

Business Mgr

Research Mgr

Research SME

Executive Mgr

Listing SME

Mgr Director

Business Mgr

Sales & Marketing Finance

Research Mgr

Product

Development

Business Mgr

Industry

User Profiles within the Organisation

Project Champion

Boundary Spanner

Periphery

Potential blocker

Gatekeeper

Key decision maker

Influencer

Key User

Trusted advisor

Key source

Key User

Key User

Access to more Knowledge and Info

Map shows 1st & 2nd degree relationships

… but of course these are just a subsection of the networked organisation

Someone on the periphery of your network may have access to many other networks within the organisation

Leveraged Centrality

• Understood who might be “blockers” or “gatekeepers” of information and content

• Found people to go to in order to elicit information

• Minimised re-work & unnecessary consultation – meeting fatigue

• Quickly identified who might know the answer, communicate with them, understand their lessons learned, improve likely success

• Knew who and how to communicate key messages through use of targeted IA tools

Captured SNA in personas

• Started off with ‘skinny’ view of users gained thru workshops

• Added to personas as info uncovered thru SNA – place in the network, information preferences, types, communication styles & channels

• Built up personas as we went in our agile project iterations, rather than all-at-once

From skinny to zen personas

As our project knowledge evolved, we added to our understanding of users:

• Their information preferences• Their expectations• Their capabilities• Their information needs• Their social network profiles (Forrester’s

Technographics)

Documented as ‘ZenAgile’ personas

DDrivers

SSupporters

TTalkers

CControllers

task

peop

le

• Goal oriented• Assertive• Task &

information focused

• People oriented

• Animated• Creative• Outgoing

• Logical • Information &

task focus• Detail orientated• Cautious & risk

averse

• People oriented

• Team players

• Dependable• Stable

Added style preferences to personas

People learn different ways

V= Visual (Something ‘seen’ or visual stimulation)• Need a graphic representation

A= Auditory (A ‘sound’ memory or related to a sound• Need to hear the explanation of how

things work

K= Kinaesthetic (Has a ‘doing’ memory, feeling the emotion or activity of the memory• Need to use the system to understand

Added communication channel preferences

Write 5 words or phrases that relate to the words: Beach and Ocean

Place a V, an A, or a K against each:• V=visual (Something ‘seen’ or had visual

stimulation) e.g. See the blue sky, see children playing in the water• A=Auditory (A ‘sound’ memory or related to a

sound e.g. Hear the waves against the shore• K=Kinaesthetic (Has a ‘doing’ memory & you

thought of yourself feeling the emotion) e.g. Feel the sun and the sand, the taste of salt

Activity

How we supported user learning

Visual Auditory KinaestheticLearn by seeing

• Have strong spelling & writing skills

• Find spelling mistakes distracting

• Not talk much & dislike listening for too long

• Will be distracted by untidiness and movement

Learn by listening

• Love to talk• Appear to daydream

whilst ‘talking’ inside their heads

• Read in a talking style• Love the telephone and

music

Learn by doing

Move around a lot, tap pens and shift in their seat

Want lots of breaks

Enjoy games Don’t like

reading, but doodle and take notes

Best IA Tools:• Personas• Presentations

(animation & diagrams)

• Prototypes• Storyboards

Best IA Tools:• Discuss User

scenarios (their story)

• Presentations• Podcasts

Best IA Tools:• Prototypes• Workshops• UAT (User

Acceptance Testing)

Added social network behavioural preferences

The result: ZenAgile Personas![NAME][TITLE]

“I don’t have time to chat, can we start now”Age 47

Commitment to motivation⋆Creator: Publish a blog/web page, upload music and video ⋆⋆⋆⋆Critic: Post ratings or a product, comment on a blog, contribute to a forum, edit a wiki⋆⋆Collector: Use RSS, vote for websites, add tags⋆Joiner: Maintain a profile on a social media website, visit networking sites⋆⋆Spectator: Read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch video, read forums and ratings, research-based information seeking⋆⋆Inactive: None of the above

Occupation Listing SMEAbout [NAME] Ryan is a director in the listing area and has worked at the

organisation for over 20 years. He is single but loves his nieces and nephews. He enjoys cooking, eating, and socialising with friends.He is a details man, but only about information that directly benefits him, and his work family.Family is important to Ryan; his Irish background is a big reason for this, but he also lost his father when he was young, which always reminds him of the value of family.

Information discovery

Ryan doesn’t like using the web, and is used to finding out most information from either watching television, or asking his network of friends for information and advice. Prefers face-to-face contact where possible. He is reasonably comfortable with gaining information from government websites through work-related browsing although he finds much of it useless and unreadable. Ryan has been around the organisation for a long time and knows “how it works”.

Motivations Ryan is sceptical about bib business’s motives to do good for the community. Believes the government that really need to do something.

SNA profile High Degree Centrality Moderate Closeness and Betweeness Hub of Info flow and Gatekeeper

Pain Points Government bureaucracy Red tape Lack of responsive communication

Communications Preferences

Auditory: ⋆Kinesthetic: ⋆⋆⋆⋆Visual: ⋆⋆⋆Driver / Controller

Centrality

Social Technographics

Communication preferences

Listing SME

What did I learn?

• Found out who knows what and how the info flowed through the organisation

• Personas good way to help convey and shape understanding of user’s info needs

• Agile approach - build on “skinny” profile & flesh out personas as the project proceeds

• Involving the right people with the right info can mean the difference between success & failure

Conclusions

IA & Six Degrees of Separation

You may only be one or two degrees away from some who know the info you need

Information networks can be connected and lessons learnt and reuse made possible

Project Elements

Storyboarding

Prototype

Business

Users

Personas

Iterative Design

Applying SNA and Communications

Makes sure you understand the user dynamics with the organisation

Choose the right channel based on users style and preferences

Makes sure your IA artefacts match these preferences

Build personas as you uncover more about the users

”No one knows everything,

everyone knows something,

all knowledge resides in humanity ”Networks

Lévy 1997

Fin.

Maria Horrigan Principal Consultant

Email:Maria.horrigan@oakton.com.auBlog: www.barocks.com zenagile.worpress.comSlideshare:www.slideshare.com/murphTwitter: @miahorri