An effective intranet design is one that is perceived as being of value by both employees and stakeholders. There is a significant amount of planning involved when designing an intranet experience no matter if it is a new build, redesign or new feature. It typically requires cross-department collaboration, management of a multidisciplinary team and implementation, marketing/communication and training plan.

1. INTRANETS FOR CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS September 21 & 22, 2011 Intranet Design Strategies

3. 2000 2003 2006 Centennial College CNQ iPhoto Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario Prescient Media Xlibris Corporation Bayer Fido Organon Pfizer New Media Architects Infinite Communications Delvinia Interactive 2011 BIMM Brands I’ve worked on …

4. User Experience Design You name it, I’ve done it.

5. Technology Account Mgr It takes a team to raise a digital solution. Adapted from briankeer.wordpress.com Visual Designer But I didn’t do it alone. Information Architect Training Mgr HR Manager Corporate Communication Mgr

6. The team is comprised of cross-discipline experts who clearly understand their role, the project scope and strategic vision. STRATEGY

8. APPROACH TO DESIGN

9. What we try and avoid by listening to customers.

10. When the product design is informed by an understanding of customer needs, it has a much greater chance of meeting those needs. We listen to customers because … intranet

11. WHO ARE THE CUSTOMERS OF AN INTRANETS? BOARD DIRECTORS BUSINESS LINES SALES FORCE FRONT LINE STAFF LOCAL OFFICES CONTRACTORS … _________________ EMPLOYEES ALSO KNOWN AS USERS

12. Learn as much as you can about your customers. Seek out their pain points as these become your opportunities. Issues Tasks & Work Flows Environment Attitudes Behaviour Requirements

13. Listen

14. Observe

15. Ask

16. Analyze

17. Discover their desired state and needs. The public has access to the information, so why isn’t it made easily available to employees on the Intranet? I think it’s relevant to everyone to know what our organization is doing so if someone outside the company asks know what’s going on. We need to get the right information to the right people so that everyone understands what we’re trying to do. The biggest thing is finding information. Who do I go to or what can I reference quickly for the answer. “ ” “ I’d like to see more information sharing between departments as it can be more difficult sometimes than you think to find out what’s going on in other areas. ”

18. “ I want to know who everyone is and what everyone does. For example, different people in Procurement are responsible for different things so how do you know who to send the invoice to? ” Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus. Computer Access Intranet Use Digital Adoption low high low high low high Susan, Marketing Manager NEEDS Quick, direct access to brand assets such as logos, fonts, printing specs and templates Checklist for brand compliance Self-guided ”onboarding” educational tool Notification of changes to most assets Access to existing approved collateral

19. Connect the dots–encapsulate the essence of the intranet strategy as a vision statement and objectives. Intranet Strategy Digital Behaviour Employee Profile Goals & Needs Business Objectives Corporate Readiness Communication Priorities

20. VISION A one-stop shop for all things brand.

21. What you’ve learned from talking to customers and stakeholders will determine the makeup of your intranet.

23. Discovery & Planning Creative Development Technical Development QA, UAT & Launch Experience Design 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Understand the current state, employee requirements and desired state. Research Findings Strategic Plan Project Brief Work Back Schedule Measurement Plan Detailed Requirements Site Map Wireframes Functional Specification Technical Specification Creative Concepts Template Layouts Graphical Assets Content Development Support Services Setup Site Build Content Entry / Migration Architect the experience balancing employee goals with business objectives while delivering on the vision. Bring the experience to life with an engaging user interface design and copy that establishes the tone of the site. Develop front-end interface, back-end and database. Populate with content and integrate web analytics tracking tools. Review the built site to ensure if functions correctly and roll out to test group. QA User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Security Testing Site Monitoring NEEDS DELIVERABLES VALIDATE & OPTIMIZE Follow a user-centered design methodology.

24. “ Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works .” — Steve Jobs

25. INTRANET DESIGN STRATEGIES

26. Employee Profiles or Personas Intranet Strategy & Requirements Corporate + People + Technology Insights Now your ready to architect the Intranet experience - how employees will navigate and interact with the tool.

27. Design Strategies Information Communication Self-service Sharing ▼ Structure for people not the organization Provide multiple access points; including quick links Deliver relevant information based on role, location, interests “ Serve-up” related content within context Howard Hughes Medical Institute

28. Information Self-service Sharing Deliver timely and relevant news – industry, company, business unit, people Communication ▼ Design Strategies Deliver timely and relevant news – industry, company, business unit, people Consider aggregating news feeds from external sources Highlight new or time-critical information

29. Information Self-service Sharing Communication ▼ Design Strategies Provide notification options – alerts, notice board Solicit ideas; support 2-way conversations

30. Information Self-service Sharing Support everyday tasks beyond the obvious. In the case of contact listings, couple the information with their expertise and provide context of their position / role within organization. Communication ▼ ▼ Design Strategies

31. Information Self-service Sharing If viable, move offline processes online. For example, a repository of projects can help people with similar problems avoid start building their solution from scratch Communication ▼ ▼ Design Strategies

32. Information Self-service Sharing Recognize different work styles, preferences Communication ▼ ▼ Design Strategies

33. Information Self-service Sharing Integrate tools, online training and links to other sites. Communication ▼ ▼ Design Strategies

34. Information Self-service Sharing Build a sense of community Communication ▼ Design Strategies

35. Information Self-service Sharing Facilitate conversations, capture ideas and encourage participation through an activity reward-based system Communication ▼ Design Strategies

36. Information Self-service Sharing Demonstrate brand values and celebrate brand culture Communication ▼ Design Strategies

37. Communicate the design using any combination of these artifacts.    

38. COMMON DESIGN CHALLENGES

40. How do you de-clutter a busy site? Look to public sites and in design pattern libraries (e.g. Yahoo) for presentation ideas that elegantly control the display of information. BROWSE QUICK LINKS TABS ACCORDIAN CAROUSEL OVERLAYS

41. How do eliminate content fragmentation?

42. DESIGN BEST PRACTICES

43. Think holistically. Interface Design Aesthetic Design Information Design How information is presented and organized on the site. The overall visual look and feel of the site. How the user interacts with the site.

45. Establish relationships on the user’s behalf. Elements that are physically close together are seen as related. Reference: The Elements of Graphic Design: Space, Alex White Proximity Any idea (positioning, colour, rule, background, boxes) that is repeated creates unity. Repetition Elements that share the same similarity of size, colour, shape, position, texture are seen as alike. Similarity Alteration of a basic theme retains connectedness while providing interest. Theme Variation

46. The Desired Outcome Reference: The User Experience Honeycomb, Peter Morville Don’t make me think! Available to all regardless of disability. You can’t use what you can find. Quality design builds trust. Positive experiences build brand loyalty. If it’s not useful then it doesn’t matter if it’s usable.

47. Collaboration Work with other departments to archive and develop content. Adoption Promote and educate for organization-wide acceptance / use; integrate into culture. Measurement Define key performance metrics and track, optimize, pilot. Governance Strong executive support with a well-defined ownership model. Planning Clearly defined vision, objectives, strategy, project phases. Engagement Involve employees users early on; design the experience to meet their needs. Success Factors

49. Sara Durning Sr. Manager Strategy & Experience Design w: 416.673.1303 m: 416.828.2086 e: [email_address] Twitter: @SaraDurning Linked: saradurning Thank You