User Focused Intranet Design

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User Focused Intranet Design

• Kim Nguyen
• Pariveda Solutions

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• Agenda

• Why do Intranets fail?
• User-Focused Design Framework
• High-Touch Implementation Methodology
• Measuring Maintaining Success

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Why do Intranets fail?
Goal Help employees be more effective!
Cant find what Im looking for
Its too slow
I just use email or my shared folder b/c its
not working how Id like it to
Cant get access
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Focusing on Technology over Users

• SharePoint (and other not to be mentioned
  platforms) provides many great tools to enhance
  an intranet
• But without considering how the user will
  interact with the system and how to engage users
  to keep make the Intranet come alive, the system
  will struggle to succeed

Users are the key to making an Intranet successful

• SP Model Year 2013 Feature List
• Document Management!
• Search!
• Collaboration!
• Publishing!
• Social!

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A User-focused design framework implementation
methodology

• A user focused design framework centers on how
  users work on a daily basis
• Once the design has been completed, continued
  involvement from key user stakeholders is
  paramount to ensure a successful delivery

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• Agenda

• Why do Intranets fail?
• User-Focused Design Framework
• High-Touch Implementation Methodology
• Measuring Maintaining Success

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First, Set User-Centric Goals

• Finding the right people
• Ability to more easily collaborate

• Freedom from IT dependency
• Ability to self-start

• Can I find useful information to do my job?
• Fresh content to bring users to the portal

• Ability to search find valid information
• Is there consistency and patterns across sites
  and teams?

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Map platform features to goals

• User Profile search
• Wikis, discussion boards
• Favorites, ranking

• Self-service tools
• Controlled permissions

• Defined information taxonomy
• Configured search
• Site Templates

• Driving relevant content to users
• Facilitating easier publishing ofnew content

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Consider usage patterns for intranet content

• Generally, Intranet sites support three main
  behaviors
• The longevity of sites is also an important
  factor to consider short term project work or
  long-standing collaboration in departments?

1. A small group of people publishing content to
a large group of people
2. Teams sharing and collaborating on content
within their team
3. Access to application functionality for
executing work
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These usage patterns drive site architecture
SharePoint Applications
Intranet Publishing Sites
Collaboration Sites

• Insert slide here

• Directory-based navigation
• Almost all users are consumers and publishers
• Serves ad-hoc needs and organizations
• Site based retention and disposition
• Distributed content and security management

• Hierarchical navigation
• Many consumers fewer publishers
• Usually mirrors how users view the company
• Tighter content controls

• Isolated site collections
• Dedicated content databases
• Can consume specified external connections w/out
  affecting the rest of the intranet

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User experience design is critical in branding
the site for the user

• The look and feel of the site should reflect the
  company culture
• Branding options range from OOTB themes to a
  fully customized effort
• A personalized brand provides connection to and
  excitement about the site

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Home Page Design

• The home page of the site should be designed in
  detail as the main entry into the Intranet
• Who owns the content?
• What is the process for getting content from
  across the company onto the home page?
• What type of content is most important for users
  when entering the Intranet?
• What is the global navigation that will provide
  access of the Intranet?

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The result A design built with user-centric
goals in mind
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• Agenda

• Why do Intranets fail?
• User-Focused Design Framework
• High-Touch Implementation Methodology
• Measuring Maintaining Success

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Identifying Champions

• A team of key user stakeholders will become the
  champions of the system to help spread
  enthusiastic system adoption
• Champions should be end users of the system
  representing a diverse set of usage scenarios
• Should include power users/content creators for
  key areas of the site

• Because champions are involved throughout the
  design and implementation of the Intranet, it
  becomes THEIR system instead of something handed
  down to be used by management

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Champions are involved throughout the Intranet
implementation
Phase

• Set Business Goals
• User Interviews

• UX Design reviews
• Proof of Concept reviews

• Communicate schedule
• Initial training

• Identify/ cleanup content
• Iteration Demos

• User Acceptance Testing
• Training

Champion Involvement

• Requires up-front time commitment from champions
• Heavy user involvement during Define Design
  stages
• Iterative demos provide opportunities to view
  progress validate design
• Continued user involvement provides smoother
  rollout as users are building ownership and
  getting initial system training during
  implementation

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• Agenda

• Why do Intranets fail?
• User-Focused Design Framework
• High-Touch Implementation Methodology
• Measuring Maintaining Success

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How do we know if weve been successful?

• Have our user-centric goals been addressed?
• Some are easier to measure than others

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Governance

• Governance is critical in maintaining the system
  and ensuring future success to support a growing
  organization
• The Governance Committee in charge of making key
  decisions should include IT business
  stakeholders, with involvement from the team of
  champions
• Clear processes for change management set
  expectations for IT responsiveness and allow IT
  to systematically resolve issues and plan for
  future functionality releases

Increasing Control
Larger Audience
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Key Takeaways

• They key to Intranet success is focus on the end
• Consider user behavior in designing the Intranet
• Identify Intranet Champions and involve them
  throughout the design and implementation process
• Implement a governance plan to maintain a
  successfully growing system

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Questions?
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Contact

• Kim Nguyen - Pariveda Solutions
• kim.nguyen_at_parivedasolutions.com