Archives for Usability

Creating effective intranet "shop windows"

By: James Robertson Posted: October 26, 2010

Intranets filled with ‘blah blah’ landing pages can make it impossible for staff to find what they need.

Identifying staff tasks

By: James Robertson Posted: May 28, 2010

Understanding common and important staff tasks underpins every aspect of intranet design and management.

How long should the intranet homepage be?

By: James Robertson Posted: May 28, 2010

It is widely assumed that intranet homepages need to be squeezed into a single screenful, but can longer pages be made to work?

Eight intranet design mistakes

By: James Robertson Posted: February 17, 2010

Intranet projects are challenging, and it’s easy for teams to fall into common traps that can undo the good work being done.

The three clicks myth

By: James Robertson Posted: December 17, 2009

The ‘three clicks rule’ is perhaps the most widely known web design principle, but it’s a myth.

Seven roles of the intranet homepage

By: James Robertson Posted: October 29, 2009

There are many different uses for the intranet homepage, and a balance must be gained to meet business and staff needs.

Use good interview techniques

By: James Robertson Posted: April 28, 2009

Following a core set of guidelines will greatly improve the effectiveness of staff interviews.

Principles for designing global-local intranets

By: James Robertson Posted: April 22, 2009

A little while back I wrote a post about the global-local challenge for many intranets. To quote: In any large organisations, there will be many different business units, with different …

25 reasons why saving time on your intranet is a bad metric

By: James Robertson Posted: October 21, 2008

We’ve all heard the argument: if we can save staff 2 minutes a day looking for information on the intranet, we can multiply this out by the number of staff …

Metadata fundamentals for intranets and websites

By: James Robertson Posted: October 19, 2008

While basic metadata is routinely captured by most publishing tools, there is still widespread confusion about its uses and limits.