Got a tired company intranet but no budget to replace it yet? You probably don't even need to. Here are a few user experience design tips that anyone working in Internal Communications can try. Get in touch with me at andrew@coralfish.co.uk for more info. www.coralfish.co.uk

1. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
How to
Resuscitate
your Intranet

2. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
Andrew Hesselden
I’m a freelance internal
communications consultant.
I help companies improve
their intranets and
communication channels

3. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
1.The real reason staff hate
your intranet
2.What you can do about it
3.How even the smallest of
How even small changes can
make things much better

4. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
1.The real reason staff hate
your intranet
2.What you can do about it
3.How even small changes can
make things much better

5. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
1.The real reason staff hate
your intranet
2.What you can do about it
3.How even small changes
can make things much
better

6. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
…you’ll get 5
Takeaways

7. “Our intranet is rubbish”
“Search doesn’t work”
“I can’t ever find what I need”
“The homepage is cluttered”
“I just keep what I need in my favourites”
It’s so old fashioned
“The structure doesn’t make any sense”
“It’s really annoying”
“It’s slow”
“I never know if I’ve got the right page”
“Loads of broken links”
“It’s out of date” “Too much text to read”
What they say

8. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow

9. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
Your little
intranet vs

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Client Story

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What was wrong… in a nutshell
• Intranet lacked structure
• Not much governance
• Minimal/no author training
• Lots of corporate waffle and far too
much text
• Some accessibility issues

12. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
Visually…
• Text was all the same grey, with little contrast
• Body text was small
• Headings had no breathing space
• Almost invisible hyperlinks… and inconsistent
hover behaviour
• Buttons were inconsistent
• Lots of banners and very little white space

13. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow

14. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
Planned a new structure
User Journeys
& Card Sorting

15. Planned a new structure
Author
Training

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Planned a new structure
Intranet
Engagement
+10 to 20%

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5 Takeaways

18. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
If your intranet feels tired...
Consider:
• Current trends in user interface design
in the outside world

19. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
If it’s hard to navigate...
Consider:
• breadcrumbs
• page titles
• too many choices in menus?
• hyperlink text

20. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
If users are frustrated...
Consider:
• Are you are giving them what they
need?
• Is it up front, on the rocks; no mixer, no
umbrella?

21. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
If users ask for quick-links
or are creating favourites…
Consider:
• Is your intranet structured right?

22. @andrewhesselden #IntranetNow
If issues keep reoccurring…
train your authors…
Consider:
• Usability
• How to write for the web
• Correct archiving processes etc

23. Andrew Hesselden
@andrewhesselden
andrew@coralfish.co.uk
www.coralfish.co.uk
Thank you