By improving the way the intranet supports key tasks, immediate business benefits can be delivered in a manageable and cost-effective manner.

Our KM Column article for this month is a case study written by Donna Maurer on the User-centred redesign of the FaCS intranet. To quote: Following a user-centred design process proved invaluable. Conducting extensive user research at the beginning of the project, and then involving staff in design and testing activities throughout the process ensured that by the final stages there were no major surprises. In many ways, this was a 'textbook' application of user-centred techniques to the redevelopment of a large Government intranet, and it serves as a useful model for other organisations looking to tackle the same issues.

Observing the User Experience Mike Kuniavsky This is a book I definitely enjoyed reading. More importantly, it provides a practical and pragmatic perspective on how to research user needs, in the context of a broader user-centred design process. I would certainly recommend it to anyone new to the field of usability techniques. The book focuses on a number of key user research techniques: user profiles focus groups usability testing surveys card sorting log file analysis For each of these techniques, details are provided on how to setup and conduct the activities, as then analyse the results. Tips and examples are

This article provides five techniques to identify likely usability problems in your intranet. Some techniques provide indications about where the main problems lie, others provide…

A redesigned site can be easy and quick to use, and perfectly structured, and still be useless. For a site to be useful, it must…

Escaping an organisational structure for your intranet is not easy, but will deliver many business benefits.

This briefing presents a simple checklist that will allow you to judge just how much work will be required to bring your intranet back to…

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days. I've been incredibly busy running usability tests (3 days of 5 per day) at the Area Health Service, while sick with the flu. Looking forward to the weekend. The usability testing went well, I think. We had a huge range of users, everyone from managers, community representatives to the apprentice gardener. Overall, it didn't reveal any startlingly new information. It did, however, confirm the views developed during the usability evaluation of the intranet and website. For example: Most people ignored the options in the header and sidebar. They considered

Workplace assessment uses a variety of techniques to determine the competence of a staffperson, looking at areas such as: skills, knowledge, interraction with the environment and other systems. Usability testing uses a variety of techniques to determine how the staffperson interracts with their environment and other systems, to identify deficiences in these systems. Knowledge management uses a variety of techniques to identify areas where more knowledge is required, or processes are lacking. (Amongst other goals, of course.) Interestingly, they all use very similar techniques. It's just the goal of the activity which is different. For example, the course I recently

KM has much to learn from usability, which can provide many useful starting points for structuring and managing KM projects.