Project Management

User personas are good tools, but they have limits. They take a narrow look at what a specific "person" is going to do on a website. Personas don't give us a bigger picture of what drives our users and why they do the actions in the first place.

A value proposition canvas is a different way to look at users. It identifies all the things that are high value to the users. Once we understand this about the users, we can take a look at our products and services to align them with our user needs.

As a Project Manager, Strategist, Developer, Designer, or Stakeholder, we are all part of the puzzle—and it's crucial to keep sight of the big picture—even when we’re required to pivot from the original plan. Pivots come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be a minor change that’s quickly integrated into scope, or a major departure that alters the entire course of the project.

(ALL skill levels; ALL team sizes.)

That heart-attack-moment. Your client is freaking-out, right now; right in your face with a full-blown meltdown! At the end of it all they always ask that same question, "So what are you going to do about this!?..."

This yelling-in-your-face will nott stop until you have told this client something they want to hear, but what?... They are not going to believe a word you say. So how do you figure this out and survive the heart attack!?

A new project comes in, you’re excited to hit the ground running, the kickoff meeting is here, and then—you discover you’re facing two (or more!) stakeholders with diametrically opposed priorities.

You start supporting a new client, the development team gets their local environments set up, and progress is being made. Just when you think you’re in the clear, you find out there’s another vendor “behind the scenes” whose work sometimes conflicts with yours.

This session will cover key Drupal security concepts, from administering a website to developing modules, to how security matters in your hosting environment. Based on the OWASP Top 10 and other best-practices in security, we will look at the major risks and threats everyone should be aware of in order to stay secure and prevent disaster from striking your carefully crafted project(s).

We will dive into the processes and tools you have at your disposal to help harden your website against attackers, and how to build with security from the ground up.

Website development companies have long struggled with the challenge of getting website content from clients in a timely manner. This causes a variety of problems for web development and programming companies including mismatched expectations, extended project timelines, excessive client communication, delayed project payment timelines, and in some cases unhappy clients. In some cases this can also lead to websites that are ineffective because although the design is functional, the content fails to compel the site visitor to take.

For teams familiar with traditional project phases, a common question when considering using an agile methodology is: Where does the creative team and its phases fit into an agile process?

When "you never get a second chance to make a first impression," how do you design iteratively and "fail fast"?

Designers instinctively understand the importance of the initial encounter, uniquely rife with potential, between their work and the affected viewer.

This session is for beginners jumping into Agile Project Management or small businesses who are looking to make the switch towards Agile practices within their agencies.

Using real-life situations, I will demonstrate how Agile is currently a part of every day life that we witness as well as how I apply Agile methods and concepts to optimize my personal life.

I will be discussing and comparing Agile Project Management in regards to:

I will discuss agile project management as it pertains to small and medium size Drupal shops. Agile is a buzzword in the development world but has many tools that can add efficiency and transparency to many businesses increasing customer satisfaction and accuracy to estimation.

UNC Asheville recently completed a 2-year project to design, develop, and implement 2 new Drupal themes for our 100+ websites. One theme was externally facing, the other an administrative theme.

This talk will discuss the challenges of having hundreds of users (of various skill levels) editing your site. How do you ensure consistency? Good content? Proper formatting? Accessible content? How do you train everyone? Where do you find the balance between giving editors a flexible toolset, while preventing them from going off the rails?