objective digital intranet workshop

Engage your organisation

Involving management, staff and IT in your intranet (re)development project

James Breeze, Chief Experience Officer Joanna Lewis, Customer Experience Consultant

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Program

Why engage your organisation? 9.30 – 11.00

Morning tea11.00 – 11.20

Gathering requirements 11.20 – 12.30

Lunch12.30 – 1.30

Communicating your needs 1.30 – 3.00

Afternoon tea 3.00 – 3.20

Validating your design 3.20 – 4.00

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Activity: Introductions

• Where are you in the process?

• What are your key issues?

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Why engage your organisation?

• Executive: – Strategic direction, funding, ownership

• Management: – Content owners, provide resources, lead

cultural change• IT:

– Providers of platform, technical support, projects methodology, ‘gatekeepers’

• Staff : – User needs

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Intranet governance

Executive ownership

Strategic direction: engaging management,

IT, key divisions

Tactical engagement: web authors, publishers, staff representatives assist in user-research

Activity: Governance

• What governance structure best suits your organisation?

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Gathering Requirements

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Basis for requirements

• Context: your business, strategy, goals, ‘next big thing’, technical environment

• Content: content types, volume, functionality

• Users: user types, how and when they access content

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Activity: Requirements

• What are the requirements for your intranet project?

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Techniques for gathering requirements

• Current web usage and search data

• Stakeholder interviews

• Focus groups

• Ethnographic research

• Surveys

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Activity: Requirements

• Write a script for a stakeholder interview for your intranet project.

• Write a script for a user focus group for your intranet project.

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Communicating your needs

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Communicating your needs

• Requirements report

• Information architecture (IA)

• Wireframes

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What to consider for IA

• Primary navigation structure

• Secondary navigation

• Alternative access paths

• Home page content

• Utilities links

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Techniques for developing IA

• Brainstorm (within project team)

• Workshop (with key stakeholders)

• Card sorting– open– closed

Tip: Use remote card sorting with optimalsort.com

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Tools for documenting IA

• MS Word or Excel

• MS Visio

• Mindmap (demonstration)

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Wireframe design

• IA and navigation design skeleton

• Low tech, easily edited

• Demonstrates navigation and page layout

• Wireframe for key page types

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What to consider for wireframing

• Constraints – technical, CMS, accessibility

• Different page requirements

• Navigation depth and design

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Techniques for wireframing

• Brainstorm with key resources – technical, design, IA

• Document with MS PowerPoint, MS Visio, Axure or other diagramming software

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Activity: Developing the following intranet wireframe

• Navigation structure to four levels (9 at L1)• Home page content: DG’s Blog, 4 news

items, access to 5 key applications, 5 key forms, 1 large promotional pod

• Utilities for search, staff directory, sitemap, intranet help, site feedback

• Slow access in regional areas

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Validating your design

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Validating your design

• Prototyping– Paper prototyping– HTML prototyping

• Usability testing– Guerilla testing– Formal testing

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Typical usability test

• Brief explanation of project and process

• First impressions: user browses around the site and gives verbal impression

• Scenarios: user completes set tasks on the site

• Evaluation: user completes open and closed questions evaluating the site

Activity: Scenarios

• Write 5 key scenarios to test your intranet development.

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Summary of organisational involvement

• Intranet governance

• Requirements - organisational strategy, technical platform, content, users

• Information architecture – brainstorming, cardsorting

• Wireframing - brainstorming

• Development – usability testing

Contact

O: Level 3, 50 York St Sydney NSW 2000

P: 1300 858 015

E: jbreeze@objectivedigital.com

E: jlewis@objectivedigital.com

W: www.objectivedigital.com

B: www.usableworld.com.au

©2007 Objective Digital Pty Ltd 26www.objectivedigital.com