I was co-facilitating the Intranet Leadership Forum workshop in Melbourne today, and we started the day with a discussion around collaboration. We covered a variety of questions, but one key topic was: how do we make collaboration work well? In five minutes the group had brainstormed the following list: involve key ...
Monthly Archives: April 2008
April 30, 2008
16 days until the Intranet Innovation Awards closes
It's now only 16 days until entries for the 2008 Intranet Innovation Awards closes, on 16 May 2008. We're aware of a lot of organisations who are planning on submitting this year, so you don't want to miss out! Winners of the inaugural awards demonstrated a wide range of ideas, ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 29, 2008
5 ways to improve customer service in call centres
Iain Barker has written about 5 ways to improve customer service in call centres. To quote: Over the last few years I’ve conducted a number of contextual research studies in call centres. It is an interesting environment in which to conduct contextual research. Generally I’ve double-jacked in to calls, observing ...
Categorised under: Intranets, Knowledge management
Read more | Comments Off
April 28, 2008
Collaboration tools: STAGS
Matt Moore has published his STAGS model for collaboration tools. To quote: I've been thinking about different collaboration tools for various groups recently and I was pondering on some of the different factors you need to consider and I came up with this (click to enlarge).
Categorised under: Collaboration
Read more | Comments Off
April 28, 2008
Pilots and avoiding training
When in Melbourne this last week, we ended up in a crowded restaurant, sitting next to a pair of pilots. From one of the major international airlines, they were enjoying a 48-hour layover in Australia, between long-haul trips. Inevitably, the discussion touched upon intranets, whereopon they exclaimed: "Ours is awful! We ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 25, 2008
More reasons that a content management company will go out of business
George Dearing has listed more reasons that a CMS vendor will go out of business. To quote: The next five reasons on my list come from an ECM executive who asked to remain anonymous because he said it would be too obvious which company he's talking about, and he's already ...
Categorised under: Content management
Read more | Comments Off
April 24, 2008
What do innovative intranets look like? [+ audio]
| View For those who missed my talk at the recent IA Summit in Miami, ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations, Enterprise 2.0, Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 23, 2008
Actual benefits from enterprise 2.0
Andrew McAfee writes of an example of benefits from enterprise 2.0, as provided by one of his business students. To quote: The comment had come from a low-level marketing manager located in a satellite office. In his remarks submitted to the CEO’s blog, the marketing manager openly questioned Chemco’s ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0
Read more | Comments Off
April 23, 2008
Compliance is a dirty word
Alan Pelz-Sharpe has written about the issues with compliance. To quote: If there is one word I hate to hear used in this industry it's the word compliance. To me it's like fingernails down a blackboard, and frankly if I never hear it used again then I would be a happy ...
Categorised under: Document & records management, Information management, Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 21, 2008
Benefits of plain english URLs
Gadgetopia has written about the benefits of plain english URLs in a CMS. To quote: The plain-english URLs are more memorable to the customer, and they impart some meaning. When picking URLs, we envison someone at the client’s firm reading the URL to someone over the phone. How easy is ...
Categorised under: Content management
Read more | Comments Off
April 21, 2008
Managing taxonomies
James Kelway has written a post on the process for managing taxonomies. To quote: Taxonomy creep inevitably occurs to all sites and there is a need to be able to monitor and adjust the taxonomies without impacting on the user experience or the workflow of the content producers. Here I propose ...
Categorised under: Information architecture, Knowledge management
Read more | Comments Off
April 19, 2008
Photo: Crescent (II)
Stitch: Crescent (II) As you can see, I'm enjoying taking these stitched-together photos. It certainly provides a different view of the South Beach art deco architecture in Miami...
Categorised under: Photos
Read more | Comments Off
April 17, 2008
Questions to ask before replacing corporate email
Dennis McDonald has written an article on replacing corporate email. To quote: Email is not necessarily a good collaboration tool. This document discusses some of the questions you can ask about your organization’s current use of email and how improvements can be made. Also discussed is email’s impact on the ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0, Information management, Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 17, 2008
Call for papers: Open Publish 2008 (Sydney)
Open Publish 2008 is an event focused on issues such as improving the quality of information, better productivity for users and reducing non-productive costs. It will be of particular interest to those who believe in the potential of technology but understand the importance of people. By combining the flexible collaboration ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
Read more | Comments Off
April 16, 2008
Language reality checkpoints - moving targets
Jane McConnell has written an article containing language reality checkpoints. To quote: Language strategies are moving targets, evolving along with your enterprise strategy and business and operational changes. You need to start by asking the right questions, then once you know what you’d like to achieve, see how technology can ...
Categorised under: Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 16, 2008
Enterprise RSS, what?
| View James Dellow has published to Slideshare a deck that could be used as part of the upcoming ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0
Read more | Comments Off
April 15, 2008
The importance of being first
Steve Arnold has written a post on the importance of the first page of search results. To quote: Alex Moskalyuk’s Web log contained a posting on April 10, 2008, that asserted “68 percent of search engine users click on the first page of results.” The story appeared in his Web ...
Categorised under: Search tools
Read more | Comments Off
April 15, 2008
Designing ethical experiences: some practical suggestions
Joe Lamantia has written an article on ethical approaches to design, as a way of resolving conflicts between stakeholders and users. To quote: In the future, designers will lead the creation of increasingly multilateral, multidimensional, and co-created experiences. Such integrated experiences could introduce substantial, new potential sources of conflict—thanks to ...
Categorised under: Information architecture, Usability & user-centered design
Read more | Comments Off
April 14, 2008
Top 5 reasons a content management company will go out of business
George Dearing has written a list of 5 reasons a CMS vendor will go bust. To quote: Several months ago a content management vendor told me that the oncoming recession was causing it problems with revenue generation. I said perhaps, but it's also possible its problems were related to the ...
Categorised under: Content management
Read more | Comments Off
April 14, 2008
Six phases of intranet evolution (including audio)
| View I've been talking about the evolution of intranets for some time now, at ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations, Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 13, 2008
Photo: The Carlyle
Stitch: The Carlyle (II) I'm currently in Miami, speaking at the IA Summit. It's been great to finally get some sun, after rain in Sydney for so long. This is a stitching of the art deco waterfront along South Beach. These photos are a ...
Categorised under: Photos
Read more | Comments Off
April 10, 2008
NSW Department of Primary Industries intranet demonstration (Canberra)
When Kate Needham demonstrated her award-winning intranet in Sydney a month or two ago, the sesions sold out in a matter of days. So if you'd like to see the same demonstration in Canberra, you'd better be quick! Details as follows: The NSW Department of Primary Industries intranet, InSite, was recently ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
Read more | Comments Off
April 10, 2008
London workers hampered by information graveyards, survey claims
Sara Yirrell reports on a results of a survey into search satisfaction, conducted by an enterprise search vendor. To quote: According to the results, 59 per cent of workers questioned said the search tools provided by their company were either poor or very poor. In addition, 46 per cent said ...
Categorised under: Search tools
Read more | Comments Off
April 10, 2008
Menuing in content management: implicit vs. explicit
Gadgetopia has written an article on implicit vs explicit menuing, when using a CMS. To quote: Navigation is often a pain when it comes to content management. Now, don’t confuse “navigation” with information architecture — that grand plan of what goes where in relation to what. By “navigation,” I mean “menuing.” ...
Categorised under: Content management
Read more | Comments Off
April 9, 2008
Australian Museum uses Open Calais to tag collection
Josh Catone has written about Australian Museum tagging their online collection. To quote: The automatically generated tags at right were created by the API for some swim wear designed by Speedo for the 1991 Australian swimming team that competed at the World Swimming Championships in Perth. Open Calais was correctly ...
Categorised under: Enterprise 2.0, Information architecture
Read more | Comments Off
April 9, 2008
Search behavior & design
Peter Morville has added more images to his Flickr set, relating to search behaviour and design. To quote: What do we know about user behavior as it relates to search? How can we best illustrate common or interesting patterns of search behavior? And, how do we use what we learn ...
Categorised under: Search tools
Read more | Comments Off
April 8, 2008
In-context vs back-end authoring
Most modern content management systems provide two different ways of editing site content: in-context editing and back-end editing. While in-context editing is often seen as 'sexier', each method has its strengths and weaknesses. This briefing will explore these two editing options, providing advice on when to use them in practice. In-context editing In-context ...
Categorised under: Content management, James' articles
Read more | Comments Off
April 8, 2008
Clean up your LDAP or Active Directory
A lot of intranet and portal projects aim to deliver functionality related to personalisation or customisation. This may involve tailoring information based on staff role, delivering news relevant for specific offices, or limiting access to information based on seniority. Any of these capabilities requires the system to know who staff are, the ...
Categorised under: Content management, Information management, Intranets, James' articles
Read more | Comments Off
April 8, 2008
Using cultural probes for intranet user research
Often it's difficult to tell exactly who is using an intranet, and how they are using it. Obviously, some research is required to help answer these questions, but what technique can capture the tacit knowledge without shadowing users in an uncomfortable and expensive way? A relatively recent research technique that can ...
Categorised under: Intranets, Usability & user-centered design
Read more | Comments Off
April 7, 2008
Call for speakers: JBoye08 (Denmark)
Last year I had the great pleasure of speaking at the JBoye conference in Denmark. All in all, a very worthwhile event, with good talks and many friendly conversations. While I won't be making it back this year (only so much travelling I can do!), I'll nonetheless highlight the ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
Read more | Comments Off
April 7, 2008
The fine art of wireframes
T. Scott Stromberg has written a beautiful post on the art of wireframes in information architecture. To quote: One of the greatest advantages of sketching is that it can become a foundational tool which can easily be used to more fully explore your design treatments and architectural studies. The ability ...
Categorised under: Information architecture
Read more | Comments Off
April 5, 2008
Photo: Space invader in Paris
Space invader (I) I was very pleased to find a space invader when I was recently in Paris. Just walking around the street, and there it was, perched on a wall in a nondescript location. Very exciting! What is all this about? There is ...
Categorised under: Photos
Read more | Comments Off
April 4, 2008
Getting to know collective and collaborative
Thomas Vander Wal has written an article that differentiates between collective and collaborative. To quote: One of the things that has been a little bothersome in the last year or two and has been the lack of understanding between the difference between two terms, collaborative and collective. The two terms ...
Categorised under: Collaboration
Read more | Comments Off
April 3, 2008
A case for Movable Type as your Intranet
Gadgetopia have written an article on using Movable Type as your intranet. To quote: Here’s a fact: intranets don’t have to be crazy-complicated. Intranets are fundamentally about sharing simple information, which is not as hard as some people make it out to be. As simple as this is, most organizations ...
Categorised under: Content management, Intranets
Read more | Comments Off
April 2, 2008
Managing and Growing Your Intranet (Auckland & Wellington)
I'll be running a pair of two-day Managing and Growing Your Intranet masterclasses in New Zealand in May. These have a huge amount of information packed in, and they'll be further tuned with the latest thinking between now and May. The key details: Managing and Growing Your Intranet 5 & 6 ...
Categorised under: Conferences & presentations
Read more | Comments Off
April 2, 2008
Think like a user
Ann Rockley has written an article on thinking like a user when designing documentation. To quote: When assembling a document (or creating the required information the first time), it’s important to ask not ‘what do I need to see here?’, but ‘what does the user need to see here?’. The ...
Categorised under: Content management, Usability & user-centered design
Read more | Comments Off
