Go to page: 1 2  Printer Friendly Version

There are several ways that people use the Nielsen Norman Group's annual report on the year's best intranets. Some look to it for ideas, says Kara Pernice Coyne, one of the report's three co-authors, while others look to it for affirmation that what they're doing is a good idea. Some use it to spur change by seeing how much better other intranets are, while some crafty developers use it to convince managers that they do, in fact, know what they're doing.

The release of the annual report, which is available from the Nielsen Norman Group site is a major event for intranet developers. This years ten best include Microsoft, DaimlerChrysler, Comcast, and the National Geographic Society. To find out what set this years' winners apart and what the current trends are in successful intranet design, we spoke to Coyne.

A Sense of Community

The best intranets do a good job of including people, Coyne says, which is a trend that she's seeing more and more. While intranets were once simply a way to distribute information, they're now evolving into communities. It's taken a while for managers to get over the idea that personal discussions didn't belong on the intranet, and that it would distract from business. Now, managers are realizing that if workers can get help with personal requests by exchanging information on the company intranet, they'll not only feel more cared for at work, but they'll also spend more time on the job.

Other ways that workers are more included involve being able to comment on or even rate stories posted on the intranet, as they might rate a book on Amazon, or even write or contribute to stories by using wikis.

The trend in wikis actually started three years ago, says Coyne, and it continues to build. She's all for the trend, since it puts control over the intranet's content into the hands of the average workers, and it helps get rid of stale content that can drag down a site.

More From Intranet Journal

Building the Perfect Beast Large Companies Win Top Intranet Designs If you want to comment on these or any other articles you see on Intranet Journal, we'd like to hear from you in our IT Management Forum. Thanks for reading. - Tom Dunlap, Managing Editor. FREE IT Management Newsletters bITa Planet CIO Update Intranet Journal Update Datamation IT Management Careers Datamation IT Management Update Grid Computing Planet HTML E-Security Planet Text E-Security Planet HTML DRM Watch HTML

Wikis aren't completely taking over the intranet, though, as many managers still have reservations about making everything on the site editable. There's the danger that misinformation will find its way into the content, or worse, that no one would bother to write up new content.

The answer, Coyne thinks, is to use wikis only in specific areas of the site, and to give people proper instruction on how to edit and post new content, After all, even a simple wiki interface can be frustrating for someone who isn't tech-minded. People behind the best intranets train users on how to use the wiki's controls and assign certain people to certain areas to keep the content fresh. Training also helps users understand which parts of the page template can be edited and which parts should be left alone.

Strong Templates

Site templates are improved this year, Coyne notes, as the best intranets offer pages with a clean and specific look and keep a consistent organization on every page. While early intranets tended to look like bad art projects, with every section organized differently, today's best intranets offer good designs and regular use of templates.

Go to page: 1 2  Printer Friendly Version