With most website projects, there are two main stakeholders: the organization and the users.

With archipelago projects, there are three groups of stakeholders: an umbrella organization, its subsidiaries, and the end-users they both serve. This triangle adds a lot of tension. In many cases, the subsidiaries hold sway over the umbrella organization (a Department of Transportation or DMV, for example, brings in more revenue and therefore commands more influence).

As a result, the umbrella organization spends more time responding to subsidiary needs than to the needs of end-users, and it loses focus on the real audience. Universities never send out RFPs with the primary goal stated as “We need to primarily design this site for tenured staff and the departments that bring in the most money from alumni.”

But this ends up being the goal for many university website projects.

Success in this environment means meeting the needs of these internal users before you can serve any other audience.