Intranet usability ‐ tackling the management issues around implementing usable design on an Intranet
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| Pages | 17-19 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720010804104 |
| Author | Sarah Agarwal |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
VINE 124 — 17
Intranet usability –
tackling the
management issues
around implementing
usable design on an
Intranet
by Sarah Agarwal, Intranet Manager,
Environment Agency
The article disc usses the practical
management iss ues raised by making an
Intranet useable. Starting w ith a definition of
usability in relation to Intranets, the author
moves on to suggest that the difficulties in
creating Intranets lies not in learning theory or
with technical issues, but in the education of
users and contributors .
Many Intranet Managers are currently looking at
how to evolve their company Intranets. They’ve
won the initial battles on funding, they’ve shown
how an Intranet can disseminate information
effectively and many different areas of their
company are contributing content to a central
Intranet or are setting up their own mini-Intranets
to be acces sed through a central port al. However,
the sum of this work is often a rather confusing
collection of web pages that bear little resemblance
to each other, are diffi cult to navigat e, difficult to
manage and frustrating to use.
There are plenty of books and websites that cover
the principles of usability and how to make a
website easier to use. There is, however, much less
information on the management issues around
trying to turn the theory into practice, particularly
on an Intranet where issues of ownership and
control can be controversial. This article looks at
the issues an Intranet Manager is likely to face
when attempting to impose some standards of
usability on an Intranet. It does not cover a step by
step approach to improving usability – resources
that can provide this information can be found at
the end of the article.
What is usability?
My quickest definition of usability is ‘The experi-
ence your customers have when they come to your
site looking for something’. Basically, they can
have a good, bad or indifferent experience. Obvi-
ously your content is key to this, but so is how you
serve that content up.
Usability is not a new, faddist idea. It has been key
to the evolution of design over the years. Remem-
ber early operating systems? No icons, lots of tags,
no clicking around a friendly screen. Then Win-
dows came along with an easy-to-use graphical
interface that was all about improved usability –
the rest is history.
Designing your site so that you have satisfied
customers is not a matter of taste or aesthetics. It’s
much more rule-based than that. The usability of
your site is measurable and easy to get right. All
that’s needed is the right elements in the right
place and there are plenty of books that will tell
you how!
Why is it important on an
Intranet?
On the web, the chances are that you can find the
information you want on more that one website, so
if one website makes life difficult for you, you can
try another. However, within your working envi-
ronment, your Intranet is the source of online
information about the workings of your organisa-
tion. You can’t try another Intranet!
Intranets also seem to provoke quite strong opin-
ions, both positive and negative, within their
organisations. Most Intranet Managers are used to
handling criticism and cynicism. This is often
because an Intranet is a catalyst and reflection of
change and new ways of working. If your Intranet
is seen as bringing in the new and shipping out the
old, the least you can do is make it as painless as
possible for all the users in your organisation who
would really rather not.
What are the issues Intranet
managers face when trying to
improve usability?
Making an Intranet usable is a matter of applying
rules to your design and content. This is easier
To continue reading
Request your trial