Intranet/Portal Governance, Strategy and Usability

Technology is part of work life.

Technology alone doesn’t make internal communication work better. It’s a means to an end. Comprehension, engagement, action, collaboration, innovation. This is what we’re after.

Your strategy, how you manage or govern the technology and the extent to which you focus on user needs is what ensures you get the most from your investment in technology.

Our proven processes help you map your intranet/portal strategy to your business goals, determine primary roles and how to measure them, develop invaluable tools, processes and resources to properly manage the technology you use to communicate with internal stakeholders. Services fall into three categories:

 

Intranet/Portal Audit
 and Assessment
This is a comprehensive analysis of how well your intranet or portal meets user needs. It points out strengths and weaknesses and includes recommendations for improvement in:


We typically assess user attitudes and behavior gaps. We leverage usage data, return on investment analysis and user feedback/interviews/focus groups, as well as established research and best practices. This is the quickest way to jumpstart your path to improvement.

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Governance/Management Process and Tool Development

Two-thirds of a successful intranet or portal implementation is about the business processes that surround the tools. We help you develop the business processes necessary to support your intranet or internal portal, including:

We can also help you identify internal talent to fit the roles, using a simple tool and leaders in your organization.

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Strategy and Metric Development
A well thought out strategy helps you secure resources, get people engaged and keep pushy leaders from doing silly things. This facilitated process includes planning tools, exercises and resources, to develop an integrated internal technology strategy, or intranet/portal strategy that supports broader business and workforce goals. We work with your business to determine what business metrics are key to proving the value of your intranet/portal. Return on investment analysis can also be conducted, including tool development, data gathering and analysis, reporting and recommended action steps.



Metrics plans typically focus on metrics in three areas:

 

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Integration and Management of New Technologies
New technologies come at us at a rapid pace. But, don’t let the lingo turn you off – it’s just new technology. There are sound business reasons to use technologies such as instant messaging, wikis, blogs, RSS, podcasting, etc., inside the organization. Having the right decision tools, support structures, policies, standards, metrics and processes are crucial for success. Effective integration ensures you get the desired return on your technology investment. 



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Content Migration and Development
Knowing what to migrate and how to make old, print content work on the web can be a challenge. You need good decision tools to know what to migrate and when. We can help you make these decisions, and we can even do content migration and development for you. We also do training (see below) to help your content developers turn out the best content possible for online consumption. We can even develop content standards to support your developers long after we’re gone.

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Site Review and Improvement Planning
Our Certified Usability Analyst can conduct a quick review of your intranet/portal and offer quick recommendations for changes that will make a lasting difference. Grounded in best practices and usability research, a site review is the quickest way to uncover strategies for improving your intranet/portal usability. We look at structure, navigation labeling, look and feel, etc. While this doesn’t take actual user feedback into consideration the way testing does (see below), it’s a great first step toward creating a more usable intranet/portal.

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Usability Testing

Testing is the very best way to improve your intranet/portal usability based upon the needs of your users. We develop the testing protocol and implement in both live settings and using remote tools. Exercises may include card sorting, reverse card sorting, path testing, etc. Results demonstrate an information architecture and user-centered interface that will work for your users. Result reports typically include specific recommendations that can be acted upon immediately. We can also provide wireframes and templates based upon the testing results, or even actual site design (see below).

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User Interface Development and Standards
Using best practices and the results of any usability testing, we review and analyze your existing interface, offering recommendations for improvements. Then, we work with your design team, or with our own, to develop an intuitive, user-centered interface. Designs properly integrate your brand while supporting usability. We also can help you develop appropriate standards and templates to guide the ongoing evolution of your intranet/portal.



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Site Admin Workshop
Site administrators or owners require specific training to understand what is expected of them. We provide customized training that ensures they know what to do and what resources are available to them. Exercises and scenarios are customized, and presentation materials and the workbook may be branded. The workshop typically include such topics as:


We can deliver this workshop in three different ways:



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Writing for the Web Workshop
Users use online content differently than print content. This workshop is geared toward the everyday content developer in your organization – administrative assistants, engineers, technicians, specialists. These people haven’t typically had formal writing training, but in today’s distributed publishing environment, many more are contributing content. We focus on how people use online content to help writers create more effective content. Research and best practices engages them while specific exercises and examples get them started. All exercises and scenarios can be fully customized, and the presentation materials and workbook can be branded.

We can deliver this workshop in three different ways:

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