“Oregon Trail” Taught Me Everything I Need to Know about Planning Digital Projects

Abstract:

This presentation looks at my work on three different digital projects about rock and roll—and my struggles and victories with each—which reveal a lot about how the planning of even outwardly similar digital projects on American music can be quite different.

I believe that most digital humanities projects succeed or fail at the planning stage, and that much of a digital humanist’s theoretical underpinning manifests through project management. Using the video game “Oregon Trail” as a metaphor, I get practical with tips for starting off strong and making sustainable project plans.