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Wednesday, March 09, 2005

What matters on intranets?

Writing in CMSWire, Gerry McGovern takes issue with the latest report from the Nielsen Norman Group, “Ten Best Intranets of 2005.” McGovern’s problem with the report is that it focuses on usability instead of strategy:

I found his intranet report a frustrating read because the usability tactics were leading, and the strategy seemed either not there or else following some distance behind.

McGovern cites six examples of characteristics Nielsen lauds in the winners, such things as screen resolution and making internationalization a core design elements. McGovern is right, of course. I’ve seen hundreds of intranets and in only a handful of cases can the people behind them articulate a strategy. Gerry sees the same issue. As he puts it…

Most intranets I come across still lack a clear strategy whose foundations should be:
a) Who in the organization really needs the intranet to become more effective?
b) What are their key tasks?
c) How can we measure task completion?

I believe it goes deeper than this. A strategic intranet is one in which its managers understand how the intranet contributes to the company’s bottom line. They understand how it transforms the way work gets done and how that transformation improves everything from productivity, collaboration, and knowledge sharing to sales.

My good friend Wilma Matthews talks often about a four-step strategic planning process that starts with the goal. Strategies are developed to achieve the goal. Each strategy gets a set of measurable objectives. Finally, specific tactics need to be implemented in order to realize the objectives. You may argue that usability is a strategy or an objective, but it certainly isn’t the goal. The goal is the improvement of the company’s bottom line.

So why the focus on usability in Nielsen Norman’s report? Well, that’s simple enough. Nielsen Norman is a usability outfit. Promoting the usability aspects of the 10 best intranets is in their own enlightened self interest. The firm isn’t brought in by organizations to develop a strategy. They’re brought in to conduct usability testing. And McGovern missed the first part of the report’s title: “Intranet Design Annual.” It’s not the 10 best intranets. It’s the 10 best designed intranets.

It’s also worth noting that the winners are not necessarily the 10 best intranets, only the 10 best from among those companies that submitted their intranets for consideration. Still, the report is always worth the measly $128 (compared to the thousands charged by other companies producing such reports) for its insights, and McGovern acknowledges this, too:

I am not out to get Jakob Nielsen, a fashionable pursuit among some within the industry. I believe he has contributed enormously to the development of better websites, and that he is a genuine visionary and pioneer.

One last note: The report identifies several best practices from among the winners. The first one listed: encouraging employees to self publish.