This keeps coming up: one of the benefits that is sold for portals is that users can “personalise” (or tailor) what content and functionality is displayed on their home page. The problem is that users don’t personalise, despite the hopes (and optimism) of the IT team.

Now, I “know” that the real-life statistic is that only 5-10% of users personalise. This means that 90-95% of staff will leave the portal as-is, leaving the portal owners with the same design, usability and IA challenges they had with the intranet.

The problem is that I don’t have an official source for this figure, although it matches the direct experiences I’ve had with organisations. Now I’m being asked by intranet managers to give them some “evidence” that they can use when dealing with their bosses (and IT).

So, can anyone point me towards a source for this figure? Please email me if you can help.