Overview
What’s in it for me?
Most people are not interested in how cars work, but they are interested in getting to their destination safely and comfortably. The same goes for information technology. People are not interested in how computers, software and networks work. Rather, in how they can use these tools to do new and interesting things or make their lives easier. It is up to the technology providers to help people understand, in terms that matter to them, the value of the technology they use.
Be Short and Avoid Jargon
Don’t write a novel! Readers will grow impatient if they have to wade through lengthy textual descriptions and have to interpret business process or technical jargon.
Example
- Avoid - long and full of jargon
- Increased Anthropogenic Seismicity Rates Are Associated with Operational Parameters of Hydraulic Fracturing
- Good - short and clean
- Fracking Causes Earthquakes
Define Acronyms
Spell out acronyms - they may make sense to your immediate team or division, but someone from another part of ITS or the university may have no idea what you’re talking about.
Example
- NSF
- National Science Foundation
- NSF - The National Public Health and Safety Organization
- National Sleep Foundation
- PPI
- Private Personal Information
- Psychophysiological Interactions
- Protein-Protein Interaction
Link to Service Outcomes
It is not about the technology, but rather what we do with the technology.
Example fabricated from an ITS service:
- Avoid - technology focused
- ITS CS and DC collaborated with ResComp to upgrade Northwood IV ethernet From 10BASE-T with Cat3 cabling to 1000BASE-T with Cat5e cabling.
- Good - customer outcome
- ITS collaborated with University Housing to upgrade the family housing network. As a result, a movie that took 1 hour to download, can now be viewed within 20 seconds.
Identify Benefit Metrics
Differentiate between soft benefits like service improvement or risk reduction, and hard benefits such as time savings, cost savings, cost avoidance, or increased revenue. When citing hard benefits, be sure to indicate how they were calculated. For more information on calculating benefit metrics, refer to Identifying IT Metrics.