Icon Menu model discussion
have at it folks. I will make youze Icon users for the “ICON preview” where we’ll build the model, and incorporate what is discussed here into the live model. The reason for doing this is that I fear that left to it’s own devices, the porting will be less likely to please. So let’s get it right the first time ?
Put Icon content / menu suggestions here.
I have made a mock-up of a revised/extended/shrunk DINING container for consideration which is attached.but may not be readable on this page. So, check your email.
It assumes that we can tweak the basic Icon elements, as you’ll see. The advantage of this is that we have more screen real estate to use below the Dining container.
Michael, I feel your pain. The only control we have over how the page looks is the pages that appear as click-icons. We can’t change buttons or the like. Just the order of appearance.
Since Menus is A BIG DEAL, I would like to suggest a different approach.
My assumptions are:
What IF we looked at the Menu situation differently and not just implement what we have? I believe in the model of “Keep it Simple”. In the future I think T&Ts is going away, they may have new venues in Duckworth. I’m sure that there will be other changes along the way.
We have 4 types of Menus:
Today’s Specials (changes daily)
Weekly Entree Selections (changes weekly, that’s what Dining calls it)
Always Available (changes quarterly)
Event Menus (Labor Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc)
We have 3 locations: (I would like to see a mock up of how this might look that includes IL, AL, SN)
IL (Today’s Specials, Weekly Entree Selections, Always Available)
AL (AL -Weekly Chef’s Specials, AL Always Available)
SN (Not sure here, but I think there are two)
By minimizing the menus into 3-4 types we can save real estate and have more flexibility.
For the Always Available it will be static. In the Always Available dining could include pages for:
When residents go to the Grille Room, what they order is not necessarily only from the Grille Menu.
One more thing to think about is the ability to print these menus. Many print them out to hang on their refrigerator or to discuss with their guests.
I may be the odd man out, but I’m here because I think differently and have a different point of view. I’m OK with whatever you decide, I just want to see a One Oak Hammock view.
Re “THE ML IS IN”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but —
So, at the very least, we need to make sure to include this as a Management staff to do reliably.
Separately, I’d like to know if it is easy to edit the words in the headers for each of the containers/boxes on the public-facing page. If so, then perhaps whoever on the Management team tasked with turning the mail-is-in signal on and off could change the header of whatever container is located in the top left corner of the screen from, say, “Weather” to “Mail is in”, without touching the actual contents of that container. This would free up some screen real estate (apparently) customarily used for “The Mail is In”message for some other purpose.
Yes, action needed to signal mail is in. Somebody will have to do that.
But, apparently, it automatically switches back to “not”, maybe at midnight…
So far the box headers in the “Icon Webview” page are not editable. We saw, on one of our zoom demos, examples where the pages had the boxes in different places, but they all looked the same, with the same content and so on. The only thing that changes is the page icons appearing top left. As far as I can tell, they are listed LIFO, newest update at the top. So, you could actually put a dummy page at the top left by changing its name every day (twice). But, what people prefer to see is the menu????
Early on I was going to try and see if something else could be in place of the “mail is in” box, but was dissuaded by Chris who said that is a valuable function. But he recently recanted, so this will need more discussion….;-)
But your verbal suggestion of having that screen space returned, AND having the “mail is in” a one liner elsewhere is the best idea so far….
There are two Mail Is In icons once you log into the portal. My thought was that the real estate is much more critical at the initial landing page prior to logging in then it is after you log in. You want to know if the mail is in, you must be a resident and therefore can authenticate. Then you can see if the mail is in at the Dashboard.
OK, that space is back in play when we get an implementer. Ideally, in a perfect world, we could use Michael’s suggestion and have it be a simple, smaller widget appearing somewhere else on the page.
here are the notes from today’s (8-22-2024) meet up of the RISC(y-business) crew, attended by Dave, Bonnie Chris, Phil, Michael, and Bob’s remote contribution
Agenda:
“How can this group best contribute to the success of Icon?”
BOB: “…Identify what needs to be moved over to ICON, and what needs to be archived.”
DAVE: Outreach to the community, training, championing, so on. Sell !
See below comment, with listing of suggestions along these lines
PHIL: reduce risks of the migration to icon. Comment box below
BONNIE has compiled a huge document with “club/organization” information. and also outreach suggestions.
CHRIS: Design the most agreeable, simple, and organized, landing page possible.
BILL: Provided a list of suggested outreach activities, listed below
Chris’s Comments: Chris echos Phil’s first priority suggestion for success, suggesting that we work hard to get the best possible landing page experience for our residents. Since that was one of the two project initial goals (along with consolidation) then of course this makes perfect sense that we continue that process.
Phil’s comments: Limit risk by
Bonnie’s Outreach suggestions:
That would be an ICON Listening Post. Perhaps start with showing Demo a Core RC Meeting (just the chairs) See their reaction and solicit their suggestions. Ask them for a point person at that time.
Bill Zegel is our RC point person.
Bill’s outreach suggestions:
ICON introduction
Written materials posted online (where ?) with hardcopy available upon request. “Read me” document for Icon on desktop of all computers in Business Center. Maybe a volunteer “resident expert” on each floor.
Overview:
How to access the site
Do I need a password? Can I see anything without a password?
General setup – what does clicking on ___ reveal? How do I see ___?
FAQ
Introductory demo sessions
Building 1
Building 2
Street and any who missed the above
I would suggest Demo sessions in smaller groups, perhaps one for each floor of each building. Bob S also has a team giving monthly Tech stuff, Demo stuff could be done there.
Bill and Dave also discussed involving “HEAT” members in new resident “welcome” process, along with the sponsor and the pile of papers….
Just dipping my toe into this activity (and starting late!) I have a lot of questions, and some overriding thoughts on where we should be headed. THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT for me… It is a first attempt at a core dump of what I think Oak Hammock needs to build an truly integrated community for its members…..
I have always asked the question: “Why do you want to be when you grow up?”. From there you can start from where you are to come up with a list of “features” that can be implemented over time. But if you do not go all the way forward first, you may never make it. This is probably most true for Security and platform flexibility (do I dare say databases?).
Being the rookie, I really do not know who does what, and who has what responsibilities for delivering information to the community. I do know, as a new resident, that information is poorly delivered and scattered. Email is a terrible method for delivery of important information, and for building a community. Oak Hammock will at some point have to step up to make these things happen.
The more I look at infoh the more I like, but like all applications over time it has some rough edges that could be improved. I don’t know a single software developer who has ever said “wow, my application is perfect”. All of the ones I worked with acknowledged that a second shot at developing a feature would provide a bounty of better features……. That being said, its not a small job!
My first thoughts:
Ease of use is critical.
Most important is a simple, consistent user interface to whatever information is presented.
Information duplication must be avoided as over time misinformation will creep into the views that the users access.
For the end user (Residents)
An example is that when an event is posted, it should be a click to add it to my personal calendar of choice (google, apple, Microsoft, …..).
For the content providers (Staff and Volunteers who contribute to and/or maintain the site.).
The underlying architecture of the site is critical. It may be more costly to get this right the first time, but getting it wrong will will limit the project’s utility over time, or lead to excessive costs or failure.
Security is part of the underlying architecture and should implement the latest standards (passkeys). This is probably an IT staff function.
Many types of secure access are required to facility the smooth flow of information from the contributors and maintainers of the various areas of the site.
Privacy: No information shall be shared by the ICON company with any outside sources.
Data Integrity: Data must be protected from unauthorized changes and / or deletions.
Multiple display formats: Desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and phones are all commonly in use today. The nice feature of touch town is that it is on my phones an application, and, almost always with me. Being with me has serious benefits for security and convenience. However for many other activities I first use the Desktop PC, or the laptop before going to the tablet only for certain things (OK, I’m and old guy with fixed habits!), Tablets are very useful because of screen size (for visually impaired) and more portable than the desktop or even the laptop. So there is significant advantage to supporting all these systems.
Extended family access: The kids and others have a need to know what is going on with Mom and Dad. Some access to the system, especially for those residents in assisted living or skilled care is important.
Some thoughts on possible Functionality / Presentation
A TODAY at the HAMMOCK page with everything going on in Oak Hammock ordered by time of day. This page would have links to more information about the activity as needed, and links to add to my personal calendar for a reminder to me. Maybe this is the default page brought up when we access the Oak Hammock ICON site?
Residents Council should have easy access, and each functional area should have a landing page. Each member of the council (who owns a page) or their delegate should have read / write access to the page via a secondary login (not their resident login).
It would be nice if there were a specific email address (or other mechanism) that allowed residents to communicate with the whole residents council (mailing list?) at once.
The Officers Club; Thoughts and musings of the management team to keep everyone abreast of the thoughts and actions of the team. (CEO,CFO, Marketing, …)… Of course, contact information should be a click away… phone and email.
Residents Page:
The Mailroom: Everyone at Oak Hammock should have a private mailbox for internal oak hammock messaging. I know I get way too much mail on my external account, and often miss things from OAK Hammock. There should also be mailboxes for Security, Maintenance and other Oak Hammock functions to facilitate secure communication within the community.
Oak Hammock Transportation: Bus scheduling and sign up (or cancellation, by the person who signed up).
The Club House: Each club at Oak Hammock should have a landing page for the club. The landing page should include detailed descriptions of the. Club activities and schedules and contact information so people can
Critical Contacts: A short list of how to contact the right people for a specific issue or activity. All phone numbers shall be a full 10 digit number ()I’ve noticed several area codes in use in the current staff list (and we all came from somewhere else and brought different area codes with us.).
Dining at Oak Hammock: In addition to the items listed in Infoh today, links could be added for reservations, appropriate contacts for dining services and the Dining Survey should be included.
WHO DOES WHAT? The $64000 question.
Security: This is clearly an OAK Hammock IT and ICON function with continual dialog occurring with our design team.
Databases: Again, OAK Hammock IT and ICON function with continual dialog occurring with our design team.
The Club House: Each club at Oak Hammock should have a landing page for the club. The landing page should include detailed descriptions of the. Club activities and schedules and contact information so people can.
Per Phils above comment, this is why I compiled the List of Clubs/Organizations. A consistent Description format, etc.
I have volunteered to drive this activity.
While I don’t have any history, I do think we need to be careful/thoughtful of what gets moved over. Definitely those “Most Used” items, but let’s not lock ourselves in for future improvements by just replicating EVERYTHING on INFOH & TT. Ask some basic questions:
1. Is it frequently used?
2. Does it make sense?
3. Is there a a different approach that should be considered?
4. Residents don’t like change, so putting something out but a plan to change it down stream may not be the best solution.
Bonnie, points 1-4 above, are they concerning clubs/orgs ?
To clarify points 1-4 above, they are for ALL items, not just Clubs/Orgs.
Look at your Menu Doc, this should be reviewed with OH Project Mgr and get input from the OH Teams. Some items are missing, some may not be needed. One Menu item that should be discussed (for example) ILR. This is on the OH Marketing Website. Should we be duplicating what is already available? Or should we just point to it?
On the other hand, the rest of youze guys, click a happy face if you think that we should simply send folks to the ILR web site page ???? Happy face means only a link on our menu….
Makes sense to me….
Bonnie, we are setting up a menu structure that benefits the Residents. That is our emphasis. I’m not getting bogged down with getting Bob interested in what’s on the menu, I don’t think that he has time to worry about that. He’s got TVs and integrations and so on, along with the Proj Mgr role to keep him busy.
Phil Parsons has suggested (among many other ideas) that we incorporate an “Officers Club” area on Icon that serves as a sort-of blog space for Kevin, Katherine, Andrew, Bill, and the RC President to present ideas for communication to residents, that doesn’t go out to email. Any comments ? I like it a lot !
I really like the idea of a “blog” space, where there can be a Q&A and residents/staff can post comments. The question, I think, is the organization. Is there ONE space (probably too cluttered)? Is there separate areas for each department (rather cumbersome)? Who is the Moderator?
Another thought is a Q&A space run by Residents(Moderators). A Resident asks a question and the Moderator(s) find an answer. I Don’t Know is a totally appropriate answer. As is, No One Knows but we will investigate further. Could get very messy but might (repeat: might) reduce some of the rumors that float around.
The Bulletin Board now on the sandbox site looks interesting but seems to be an electronic version of thumb tacking an index card to a bulletin board, not really a blog space where questions can be asked and answers given.
I think it would only really work if it would reduce the number of email messages. The email message are good but are more “corporate”, in that the phrasing must be precise and therefore must be reviewed by multiple people and therefore is slow in being sent out.
Go carefully into the darkness. I’m not saying this is not a good idea, my suggestion is to focus on the “Must Haves” and get those up and running. We will gain experience over time and perhaps gleam the best solution for Officers to Communicate.
perhaps a place to put their respective “Constant Contact” green email blasts,, then opening up to comments in the future ?
Bonnie provided a long list of club/organization names that appear on TT
Do you think that we should maybe list those that someone steps up to claim and advocate for ? I recall that JAA had lots of trouble trying to get updates, and most of them are out of date ?
David to clarify, I don’t believe they are out of date. The Lifestyle Committee & Julie Ann were keeping these organized and held an annual event in Jan. The Event has been canceled due to lack of interest and participation. I would be glad to own getting contacts for many of the groups that have time slots on the IL Calendar. Some of the Support Groups are facilitated by OH Staff, they are on the calendar and mentioned in In the Hammock. I think additional info would be useful to residents. Same with the Church Groups.
Got it…