The document provides guidance for project managers on maintaining a strong project vision and incorporating feedback. It discusses how the goals and context of mobile projects are unique, requiring the project manager to focus on the process enough for success while not neglecting substantive goals. It also offers tips for managing conflicts, such as using different conflict resolution modes depending on the seriousness of the issue. Throughout the document are examples of effective phrases for project managers to use and samples of requirements documentation, use cases, and guidance for testing to help projects run smoothly.

1. Maintaining a Strong Project Vision,
Incorporating Feedback

2. “The critical job for the project manager is to focus on the
process enough for it to succeed, but not so much that the
substantive goals of the project are neglected.” – Stephen Toney

3. Why is it so hard (for mobile)?
• The goals and context are unique.
• The team is unique (and probably from several
departments).
• The process is unique, the technology being new. “You
may not know you are failing until it is too late.”
Stephen Toney, http://www.systemsplanning.com/mnc2.asp

4. Jasper Johns, Target, 1974

5. Borrowed from Jason Yip,
jchyip.blogspot.com

6. Finite: driven by a desire for closure/persistent.
Articulate: Ability to describe the “why” – in person.
Tolerant of conflict: willing to not be liked all the time.
Assertive: able to stand up for what you need w. respect.
Project Manager Personality Traits
Insightful: a keen sense of individual stakeholder motivations.
Congruent: agreement between stated and unstated motivations.
Intuitive: possessing an innate sense of what must happen next.

7. Techniques for Managing Project Conflicts
Collaborate
Avoid
Compromise
AccommodateCompete
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument
Palo Alto, CA:

8. Stakeholder
behavior:
…avoids
…compromises
…accommodates
…competes
…collaborates
Seriousness of conflict…
Inconsequential Inconvenient Threatens budget/schedule
collaborate/
avoid
avoid/
accommodate
accommodate
accommodate
accommodate compete/collaborate
accommodate
compete/
collaborate
compromise/
collaborate
collaboratecollaborate
accommodate
compete/
compromise
Compromise/acc
ommodate
compromise/acco
mmodate

9. “We can accommodate
that change, but we’ll
need to simplify the
scope to do so…”
“I really need it by
Friday. What can I do
to clear some space
for you so that can
happen?”
“We want to plant something
small and water it, rather than
plant something large and prune
it.” (-Loic)
Refrains of the Effective Project Manager
“THANK YOU for…
Your contribution
means…”
Congratulations!

10. Project Scenario 1:
Your museum has a chief creative director who oversees all
aspects of print, digital, and environmental design. His team is
providing graphic interface design for your mobile project. They
come to you with a Photoshop document showing exactly what
the app should look like and do. What is wrong with this scenario
and how can you avoid or resolve it?

11. Project Scenario 2:
You are showing the museum director a new app. “It’s great,”
she says. “But I’d like you to add a new section showing all the
works of art on an interactive timeline so users can get a sense
of art history.” What is wrong with this scenario and how can you
address it? What would you say?

12. Project Scenario 3:
You are introducing a new contextual awareness feature that will
tell the visitor what’s nearby. Education staff are providing
content. The app permits a 160 character “alert” and a 250 word
main message with one image or video per message. The
content you receive is 3 levels looooong and each layer includes
multiple images and suggestions for video or audio. How would
you handle this?

13. REQUIREMENTS
DOCUMENTATION

15. RFP

17. Sample use case scenario
Miriam is a guard stationed in the Art of the Pacific galleries. She
has an iPad and uses the app to answer visitor questions. A
visitor approaches and asks her where the Matisse works are.
Miriam searches “Matisse”. And brings up a list of objects. The
visitor points out a few that are particularly interesting. Miriam
opens the full record and finds out the location of those objects
in the galleries.

18. Sam is a 36 year-old museum member. As he pulls into the
parking garage, he receives an alert welcoming him to LACMA
and reminding him to launch the app. He launches the app and
as he exits the garage, he receives an alert letting him know
that there is a special tour with winetasting starting in 20
minutes. He indicates that he plans to join the event and shares
the event to the social media channel of his choice to let his
friends know what he’s doing.
Sample Use Case Scenario

19. Samples Requirements Document
Functional specifications:
1. Visitors with the app installed on their phone can receive an
alert on their homescreen when they arrive on campus
welcoming them, reminding them to launch the app.
2. At key locations around campus, the user of the app can
receive short alerts letting them know what is nearby. These
alerts may stay on screen for a short period of time (if they are
location-specific) or remain on screen throughout their visit (if
they are not location-specific).
3. The user can select an alert and be taken to extended content
about an artwork, architectural highlight, event, or special offer.

20. Requirements Documentation
• Consider an “open spec” – one that doesn’t specify HOW the requirements
are to be met. Describe each feature at the level of interaction design and
use cases – what each feature is and what the user experience should be.
• Be very specific and plain-spoken. Avoid saying “it”. Keep value-laden and
mission-driven language out of it.
• Include expectations about longevity and maintenance.
• Include front-end AND back-end expectations – ie, don’t just say what
content you want to include; also specify your needs for managing that
content.
• Map requirements to objectives so that if something has to be cut you can
be clear about what is being lost.

22. QA AND BUG TRACKING

28. Anatomy of a Bad Bug

30. What’s wrong with email?

31. Good luck with your own mobile projects
and happy project-managing!
Questions? aheibel@lacma.org or Twitter @aheibel