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Legend: NOT STARTED IN PROGRESS STALLED DECIDED

Status

IN PROGRESS

Description

Investigate the need for graphic design work on SILS Project communications, and recommend a path forward.

Decision

Owning group

End User Outreach Subgroup

Approver

Training and Outreach Coordinators / PM Operations Leads (WG if escalation needed)

Stakeholders

R = EUOS
A = EUOS
C = Discovery, Communication Leads, TOC
I = PM Leads / WG / Everybody

Decision-making process

EUOS will determine the graphic design needs for the project.

  • Develop a rationale of why graphic design (a unified visual identity) for the project is needed for communication purposes

    • Conduct an environmental scan of how visual identity has been used in other similar projects for end user communication

  • Determine the support for graphic design at each campus library

  • Consult with stakeholder groups (Discovery FG, Communications Leads, TOC) about project branding and/or visual identity, to determine if these groups have specific design needs in addition to the needs of end user audiences

EUOS will draft a recommendation to the TOC or the Project Manager Operations Leads.

  • If additional resources (adding personnel to the project) are recommended, a subsequent decision page will be created to determine the approval path of this next step

CONSULT:

  • EUOS will determine which campuses have graphic designers on staff within the library, and if any designers have time to devote to this project

  • EUOS will consult with other SILS cohort groups to determine if there are additional graphic design needs for the project not specific to end user outreach

REVIEW: EUOS will make a draft recommendation to the tOC. Because resources will likely have to be devoted to this in terms of money or staff time, SILS WG will also need to be in the review / approve path. SILS WG will offer feedback. EUOS will make a final recommendation.

APPROVE: TOC then SILS WG will approve. Do DOC members approve?

AFFIRM: Assuming that personnel will come from within UC: graphic designer(s)'s supervisors to approve the additional responsibilities. Graphic designer(s) agrees to the additional responsibilities.

Priority

Due date

Recommendation

The End User Outreach Subcommittee recommends that a graphic designer be added to the SILS Project. The graphic designer would be a Step-B member of the EUOS.

The End User Outreach Subcommittee recommends that, independent of whether a name for the Discovery Tool has a name or logo prominently visible within the search environment (i.e. in a search box or in the results pages), a consistent name be used for the purpose of communications to end users. Failing to do so would result in very local naming conventions, which will hinder end users in understanding that there is a unified system for all UC campuses.

Rationale

Why is professional graphic design necessary?

Graphic design is about visual communication. Given the work and thought behind the SILS project, it is critical for the project to be seen by our end users as the result of coordinated and careful planning, preparation, and consideration. To that end, a professional and unified look to our end user communications and outreach is imperative. To the end user, the SILS project is essentially a “replacement to Melvyl.” Therefore, EUOS views part of our charge as a re-branding campaign, to not only promote the value of SILS, but also to differentiate it from Melvyl.

Graphic designers are also fluent in the technical landscape of file types and formats that would be optimal for local (each campus) communications contacts to re-use for various outreach campaigns.

Precedents

Most UC Libraries initiatives with a public interface have a standard visual identity in the form of a logo or at least a consistent wordmark. Examples include Melvyl, Calisphere, OAC, eScholarship, Dryad, Merritt, DMPTool, and even UC e-Links.

The SILS Project has an existing logo to describe the project for an internal audience. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1OO7bJ_zVyxJRj3N6cZA5EMwwrWjYoX5G EUOS advocates for using a logo or visual identity that communicates this project better for an end user audience (end users may not know what “Systemwide” means and likely do not know what “ILS” means)

What are examples of things a graphic designer would do?

  • Create a logo for communications (Discovery FG may determine we do not need one for the search interface, but EUOS recommends a visual identity for the sake of the project)

  • Developing graphics in conjunction with End User Outreach Subcommittee that can be re-used and customized by local campuses

What would happen if the project does not have a graphic designer?

  • End User Outreach Subcommittee would be creating design documents despite the fact that none of the committee members have professional training in graphic design. The resulting deliverables may be less “polished” than what may be created with a professional designer.

  • Each local campus may need to create, or significantly alter, designs for outreach (e.g. signs, press releases, social media campaigns). This increases local workload and time-to-release on communications to end users.

  • If each local campus is creating or altering designs significantly, then end users may not recognize the end product as the same across all 10 campuses.

  • Training documents will need to be created for all 10 campuses separately if there is not a unified visual identity

Why should the graphic designer be part of EUOS?

After consulting with the Discovery FG and with the Communications Operation leads, the following determinations were made:

  • Communications Operations leads see their charge as largely dealing with organizing communications internal to the SILS project (i.e. all of the various library staff groups working with Alma and Primo VE)

  • Discovery FG is involved with branding from the standpoint of “what do we call this discovery tool,” and will make recommendations about naming the tool and/or whether a logo should appear on the discovery tool itself

EUOS views graphic design as a communications and outreach concern. The graphic designer would take the decisions from the Discovery FG and work within EUOS to come up with a way to communicate these decisions through multimodal formats.

If end users don’t know about it, or don’t understand it, then it will be a last mile failure. Having professional clear communications on the value of this product and how to use it will be crucial to the ongoing success of the product / system.

The End User Outreach Subcommittee will be creating communications and training items for end users. It is unclear how graphic design will be handled for this project. While many campuses may have graphic designers on their library staff, no members of any campus graphic design unit is represented in the EUOS.

Graphic designers for this project will be important for the following:

  • Developing a standardized logo or graphical identity for the project for future communications

  • Developing graphics that can be re-used by all campuses for websites, newsletters, and other media

  • Developing digital/print posters or infographics

Possible recommendations:

  • Identify and add one or more graphic designers to the SILS project to create a uniform brand identity as well as visual designs for marketing and educational purposes.

  • RECOMMEND: Based on availability of graphic designers, EUOS will make one of two recommendations:

    • EUOS will recommend one or more graphic designers be added to EUOS.

    • If no graphic designers are available from any campus, then EUOS will recommend a graphic designer be contracted for this project. A separate decision page will be created to determine the nature of the hiring process.

Dependencies

Discovery FG is also exploring branding for Primo VE → obviously the graphic designer will need instructions on what to design, but that’s not strictly necessary for THIS decision to go forward.

Questions to consider

  1. What are the minimum needs:

    1. Logo (multiple formats)

    2. Infographic that describes SILS itself

    3. Template

  2. What already exists?

    1. SILS Project existing branding stuff (GDrive): https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1OO7bJ_zVyxJRj3N6cZA5EMwwrWjYoX5G

      1. SILS Project will be very different from final whatever our product is.

  3. Think broadly in researching resources:

    1. All campus libraries + campuses themselves

    2. CDL → draft Sarah Houghton for homework assignment?

    3. UCOP itself?

Action Log

Action/Point Person

Expected Completion Date

Notes

Status

  • No labels

The SILS mission is to transform library services and operations through innovation and collaboration. The future is shared!

Question? Contact AskSILS-L@ucop.edu