Day 23: What can we learn from Disney about reuse?

Full steam ahead at CAST, we’re getting ready for a new programme starting later this month! The Community Explore programme supports community businesses to undertake user research to explore a challenge they have identified, and what opportunity community technology presents to tackle that challenge.

We’re iterating a tried and tested approach, reusing the content from a programme called Explore, and adapting in the context of community technology. As news of who will be joining us on the programme lands in our inbox today, the excitement kicks in. But there is lots of preparation to do! How can we get there faster?

Thankfully a bit of inspiration came at the perfect moment form my brilliant colleague Tori who shared a link to this video. It shows how Disney reused sections for their animation across different films, to save time and money. Here are my 4 reflections on the how Disney approached reuse, I am hoping they will help me keep on track.

Familiarise yourself with the existing service, solution or content, so you know what is possible to reuse

Reuse the elements you know get the job done and meet your user needs (in the case of Disney, lots of laughter thanks to a much loved dance routine!)

That leaves you more time to spend creating new content that doesn’t exist yet, and your users need. Without creating new animation content to bring 101 dalmatians to the screen, the plot becomes pretty hard to follow!

And adapt so it works for a new environment

Hello! I am running a 30 day experiment in open working to help me understand the benefits and challenges, so I can get better at supporting social impact organisations to work in the open. I would love to hear your comments, ideas and feedback! Thank you, Ellen