5 Ways to Make Sure Your Intranet Doesn't Suck

alive! 5 WAYS TO MAKE SURE YOUR INTRANET DOESN'T SUCK Stuffed full of Useless, dated info, hard to navigate, appaling IT'S ACKNOWLEDGED WORLDWIDE search engines and no clear reason to exist in the the first place. THAT INTRANETS BLOW. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY! b1. FOCUS ON USER NEEDS Why do you have an intranet? No, really... Why? YOUR INTRANET MUST DO ALL THE THINGS USERS WANT easily quickly really well 2 What are the most popular pages? P What are people searching for? P What switches them off? Research and make tough decisions. 2. WHAT YOU LEAVE OUT IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT STAYS IN YOUR INTRANET ALMOST certainly has 10X A cluttered intranet makes it harder to find stuff and harder to get things done. MORE CONTENT THAN IT NEEDS. BE BRUTAL. If nobody wants to read it. Lose it. Do they really want to read the Chief Exec's weekly musings, when they're booking a day’s leave? 3. ΜΑΚΕ Π MOBILE Let's not put barriers in their way An intranet that can only be accessed in the office is nobody's idea of fun. 4 TEST. 4. TEST AGAIN TEST, TEST AND Test and tweak over time. Give those involved a sense of ownership. I"A thoroughly tested IT'S YOUR INTRANET NOT JUST intranet develops familiarity before launch day." "Support issues and teething trouble A MANAGEMENT TOOL. minimised." MONITOR 5. YOUR STATS After launch, it's sadly not time to rest upon your laurels. Keep measuring behaviours now it's in use across the organisation. Spot the bottlenecks bogging people down. Keep measuring, improving and adapting to the requirements of your users. PRIORITISE HOMEPAGE CONTENT AND KEEP IT PUNCHY. CONCLUSION By keeping up with measuring and continous improvement, you might never need a new intranet again. Dave Briggs is a digital strategist, and Head of Digital and Design at Adur District and Worthing Borough Councils. He helps organisations make the most of their intranet in terms of people, process and technology. He blogs at davebriggs.io. valive! email: [email protected] | twitter: @AliveWithIdeas | web: www.AliveWithIdeas.com