Intranet structure

What is Intranet Design? In most cases, we dedicate separate workshops to brainstorm and refine IA with business users. In almost every case, there is a difference in opinion between participants whether to structure the site by Function or Department.

Your menu titles should be sensible and explicit – no jargon, no acronyms, no ‘cool names’. Lack of overall structure. Structure is one of the most important aspects of life, both business and personal.

When structure fails, so does everything that surrounds it. Intranets that lack structure are ticking time-bombs in every manner. Without proper intranet organization, it can easily turn into a muddled mess. Maintaining organizational structure is often the difference between an intranet that will take a company forward and one that will not stand the test of time. A network of private resources in an organization.

An intranet is a computer network for sharing information , collaboration tools , operational systems , and other computing services within an organization , usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in contrast to public networks, such as the Internet, but uses most of the same technology based on the Internet Protocol Suite. There are many decisions to be made around the type of intranet , hosting options, organization, structure , plus content, and design.

With so much to think about, it can be tough to get started. And if technology isn’t really your thing, it can be even harder to kick-start your intranet. Many intranets suffer from confusing menu labels. Such labels make it difficult for users to find what they’re looking for. The most common reasons for confusion are: 1. Terms are too broad and end up acting as catch-all (example: For Employees).

Sections such as How do I … or Tools grow too big. Language is polluted with jargon or branded terms. See full list on nngroup. Task-based structures often better withstood organizational change than intranets organized by department. In many cases, intranets are initially structured to mimic the organizational configuration of the company, because this type of IA makes maintenance easy: each department or area gets a section of the intranet.

The downside, however, is that whenever the institution reorganizes, the navigation must also change. We have also found in our user testing of intranets that task-based navigati. Across the intranet IAs in this report, there are an average number of 7. The median number of categories was 7. These numbers did not change much between the editions of this report, published years apart. Information about departments or divisions was a top-level category in of intranets, and support services (common needs across organization) appeared at the top in of intranets. There was a very long tail of additional categories found in a smaller proportion.

One noticeable improvement in design between the two editions of this report was in how intranets help users orient themselves within the site. Almost all the intranets in the 2nd edition provided a consistent navigation experience across site areas. The use of templates and design guidelines helped many organizations create a similar look and feel across different pages, even with many content contributors. Additional wayfinding cues, such as highlighting the users’ current location in the si. Of the organizations added for the 2nd edition of this report, implemented mega-menus from the main navigation.

Mega-menus are large drop-down menus usually divided into groups of navigation options. Mega-menus frequently present both secondary and tertiary pages, thereby making lower-level content more visible to users. This convention was common years ago when the first edition of the report was published and is still popular today. These shortcuts help employees discover new features, making the intranet more useful and interesting.

Our analysis encompassed a wide range of organizations in countries: 1. Of the organizations, were small (fewer than 500), were mid-sized (500–20employees), and were large (more than 20employees). Note that organizations participated in both editions: Cisco Systems, Inc. The full 349-page Intranet IA report includes two volumes: 1. Intranet IA Design Methods and Case Studies includes analysis and a summary of the design patterns that tackle navigational and content issues common to these organizations. Design Gallery: Screenshots and Examples from Intranet IAs profiles each organization and includes 1unique screenshots showing complete s and all the IA categories. A good governance model includes “why” the project exists, and brings clarity to the key goals of the project.

Easy navigation is crucial in intranet design because navigation and page layout make people aware that information exists and help them to find what they need. Content must be organized such that the categories, hierarchy, and terms make sense to people. For example, some organizations choose to structure content in the form of an employee lifecycle. Now that we’ve touched on the ‘knowledge’ use cases, let’s look at how users expect to stay informed and consume company news. First off, people can’t search for news if they don’t know the context.

Whether the organization comprises a few small teams or several large businesses, an intranet — more than any other digital tool — can bond teams and companies within the organization. A well-defined intranet governance structure can address three common roadblocks: identifying key people involved with the intranet , the information they need to make decisions, and who is responsible for making the decisions. Before starting your site design, you need to formulate the website a structure — the information architecture details the information categories and relationships, and the navigation structure. Whether it’s to share insights and updates or to discuss issues surrounding different projects, having the conversations stored within your intranet and being able to access them from anywhere, even remotely, is a great asset for an organization to utilize. Building a navigation structure for librarians is some of the most intimidating work I’ve ever done.

Our new intranet ’s logo, Louis Round Wilson. The new UNC Libraries staff Intranet will roll out this summer. Your current intranet may be composed of sites from different business groups, such as HR, IT, Facilities, Engineering, and others. As a first step to planning your new SharePoint intranet , we recommend taking an inventory of your existing sites and meeting with the owners of each to determine their business outcome goals for new sites.

Structure Tone is a global leader in construction management and general contracting. The Structure Organization proudly includes LF Driscoll, Pavarini McGovern, and Govan Brown, and has offices located across the US, UK, and Ireland. Army Command Structure , which includes all Army Commands (ACOM), Army Service Component Commands (ASCC) and Direct Reporting Units (DRU).