1. Understand the needs of UW students, faculty, researchers, and staff
1.1 Collaborate with UW units/groups to learn about unmet needs in the University community
UW units such as Learning Technologies, departmental IT staff, the eScience Institute, Center for Teaching and Learning, Undergraduate Academic Affairs, ACTT, UW Libraries, and equivalent units at UWT and UWB are likely to hear about unmet needs from the people they work with regularly. By meeting regularly with members of these units, we can become more aware of unmet needs as they arise and able to track and prioritize investigation into these needs.
1.2 Conduct targeted inquiry into the needs of UW community members
Investigate identified needs through systematic data collection methods (e.g. surveys, interviews) to gain a more complete understanding of pain points and the context(s) in which they occur. The goal is a thorough understanding of needs before trying to find solutions to meet those needs.
2. Understand the field of potential technology solutions
2.1 Engage in discovery
Investigate new tools that hold potential for supporting teaching, learning, and research at UW (might be mentioned by peer institutions, etc.). Schedule demos with vendors if appropriate.
2.2 Uncover new use cases
In some cases, departments or individuals at UW may be using an application that UW-IT does not support centrally (e.g., Gradescope). In this event, the goal is to understand what needs the selected tool is meeting that are not met by existing enterprise tools, and to better understand its features and use cases.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of technology solutions
3.1 Pilot test promising campus technology solutions
Partner with UW departments or individuals who are already using or interested in using new technologies to meet identified needs. Pilot test promising technology solutions and gather data on users’ experience; share findings with community.
3.2 Evaluate appropriateness of technology solutions for campus adoption
Evaluate new technologies in light of users’ experience and additional criteria for adoption by central IT (e.g., accessibility, support burden, vendor maturity, cost). Summarize evaluation and provide recommendations on adoption.