It's a question we don't ask ourselves often enough. What makes someone fire up that browser and look at the intranet? I have been in a lot of meetings where people think of the mythical user appearing, as if by magic, gazing at their page. I suspect that this never happens in the real world.
They came from
a search result
a link referring them there
a returning user based on a previous good experience
I don't want to be pessimistic, but I would propose that real people only use the intranet when they have to. You know the situation, you turn to your colleague and say "Do you remember how often we are supposed to submit those performance reports to finance?" and they answer "No idea, have you tried calling John in the accounts team?". Having tried to call him and failed you reluctantly go to the homepage of your intranet. You type 'performance reports" into the search box...hmmm loads of answers...try "finance performance reports"...you call out to your colleague "do you know where on the intranet...?". Need I go on?
I would propose to you that hardly anyone is on your intranet 'browsing' - they are way too busy - and nobody ever read the HR policy on maternity leave for fun. The reason they are on your intranet is to find something out to help them do something.
I recommend asking yourself 'why would they use this?' every single time you put a page together.
Comment below if you agree - and if you disagree!
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