Summary

In this chapter, we've looked at the user-centered approach to intranet design, and considered the different audiences of the intranet. We've discussed several techniques for assessing the usability of your intranet, including heuristic evaluation and user testing, and we've given a formula for estimating the money saved by increasing usability.

We've also looked at some specifics of intranet usability that will be applicable to every intranet. We've covered the design of site navigation, and the benefits of a site map and a site A–Z. We've offered ways of increasing the usability of the search. We've explained the importance of consistent navigation, and introduced the Electronic Corporate Identity (ECI) as a tool to encourage consistency - we've also talked about ways of making this palatable to existing content authors. Finally, we discussed ways to save time spent on the intranet waiting for pages to download, and the use of shortcuts to help experienced users carry out tasks quickly.

For more information on web usability, glasshaus publishes a range of books including "Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself", "Usable Web Menus" and "Usable Forms for the Web". There are also a number of good web sites focused on usable web site design including "A List Apart" (http://alistapart.com/), "Boxes and Arrows" (http://www.boxesandarrows.com/), and usability guru Jakob Nielsen's web site (http://www.useit.com/).

In the next chapter, we're going to take a look at managing intranet content. This will cover techniques for putting useful content on your intranet, encouraging authors to contribute, and how to avoid the problems of having multiple authors.