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Intranet Design
Top Ten Intranet Design Mistakes
By Vincent Flanders
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Mistake #10 Too much content.
Just as the important question in Web design is "Do I need to use this
design element?" the important question about content is "Do I need
to have this content on the page?" Everyone who writes is in love with the
sound of his own voice and when you contrast this with the fact most people don't
want to read (or don't have time to read), you have a problem. I debated about
how much to say about each topic and I suspect the article is too long -- that's
why it's good to have an editor to get rid of unnecessary content.
Outlaw outdated content -- especially on the home page. I was at one corporate
site in May and they had a prominent link to a 1997 report. When I asked, "Is
this a really important report?" the response was, "No, we've got a
1999 version which replaced it." Check to make sure the content and links
on your front screen are current.
Mistake #11 Corporate politics.
They say it's a good idea to deliver more than you promise so here's an extra
mistake.
Unfortunately, you can't fight against superior fire power -- and your superiors
generally can fire you. People are always asking, "My boss is color blind,
he loves shiny objects, he's a moron, he realizes the site sucks but he won't
make any improvements -- what can I do?" As I stated at the beginning, the
boss gets to make the final decision about the look and feel of your Intranet.
It's even more difficult to have an effective Intranet when a committee has to
approve every detail.
I've come up with a way for folks to slyly inform others that what appears
on the site isn't the fault of the design team. It's a "new" META tag
parameter I've created called "Authorized by" and takes the form
<meta name="Authorized by" content="The Name of the Boss
Goes Here">
When a knowlegeable designer sees this tag in the source code s/he will realize
that the mess being looked at was authorized by your boss and isn't the fault
of the design team. If you look at the source code for this page, you can see
this tag in use.
Coda.
You may or may not agree with my personal listing of the Top 10 and I'm sure
you have your own list. Hopefully, this article will inspire you to correct the
flaws I've mentioned plus those you feel are worse.
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Author
The creator of the award-winning site Web Pages That Suck and co-author of
the book of the same name, lists the top 10 mistakes he's found while
consulting for Fortune 1000 corporations. Hint: the image is one of them.
To contact Vincent with topics you'd like to see covered in the Intranet Design Guru Column or for any other
reason: vincent@flandersenterprises.com
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