News and Media
Five Steps to a Usable Intranet through User-Centred Design
February 2008
An intranet is one of the most precious assets for any medium to large organisation. It has the potential to help people do their jobs better and more efficiently. Typically an intranet delivers the following benefits to an organisation:
- A single point of entry to all enterprise systems and applications.
- A central repository of information and knowledge resources within the organisation
- An effective channel for instant communication within the organisation
- Online tools for ongoing training requirements.
However in the real world, so many intranets offer such poor usability, that it reflects on the organisation’s productivity - especially in a scenario when core day-to-day activities of employees either rely on, or are at least supported by the intranet.
The following techniques, employed individually or in tandem can help identify where the problems lie and how they can be addressed.
1. Stakeholder interviews
Stakeholder interviews involve one-on-one discussions with representatives from different business units in the organisation and they help identify key business and knowledge needs, gain an understanding of issues and uncover problems. Selection of stakeholders is an important issue; it should be noted that actual users of the intranet are better candidates than their managers or department heads. This technique is generally used in the early stages of projects when gathering requirements.
2. Task Analysis / Need Analysis
This technique involves analysis of the tasks performed by the the potential users of the intranet on a daily basis. Scenarios can be prepared based on user tasks and they are accomplished through the current system. The objective is to gain an understanding of the real user (generally the employee’s) experience using the intranet. This activity is also referred to as a cognitive walk through.
3. Review existing data
Valuable data about the usage patterns of the intranet, when analysed can in some cases validate usability assumptions and in others provide insight into usability issues previously overlooked. Some common sources for such data sources include web server logs, intranet search logs, help desk requests, past surveys, ad hoc user feedback, etc.
4. Expert Usability Evaluation
Expert evaluation is a widely used successful technique involving an assessment of the intranet against a set of heuristics to identify potential usability issues. Heuristics are guidelines or best practices which are based upon globally accepted usability standards. The expert should ideally have expertise in both human-computer interaction and intranets. As it is very difficult to perform an unbiased review of one’s own intranet, it is strongly recommended to utilise the services of an external consultant for this exercise.
5. Iterative Implementation
Once the problems have been identified, an effective roadmap should be devised to rectify them. Problems identified can range from information architecture related issues to process flow inconsistencies, content ambiguities, etc. The roadmap should take into consideration the severity of the issues and be based on their complexity and the availability of resources. However, it should also be noted that implementation of changes to an intranet is an iterative process which should be coupled with ongoing usability evaluation at various stages.
Conclusion:
All intranets have in varying degrees, usability related issues. The above mentioned techniques can provide a head start in identifying these issues.
For more information on a usability assessment for your intranet, please Contact Us.