The other day I was thinking about the principles that make a great intranet. Here are my suggested golden rules for your intranet. What do you think? Comment below with your agreement or changes.
1. Never go below the fold - 1024 x 768 is big enough
2. Always know what the homepage is for and use it for that
3. Decorative graphics take up less than 10% of the pixels on the page
4. Never make changes that have not been tested on real users
5. No attachments
6. Vanity publishing is not allowed
7. Your users prefer standard design and consistency over 'something different' in each section
8. Set success measures for every new site or section you implement
9. Use your metrics to drive decision making at every governance meeting
10. Get every one on your governance group to sign up to the golden rules
Posts
Hi Allen, good to see your blog.
ReplyDeleteAn important rule I'd include, which I see companies break time and again:
Base intranet navigation around the things people need to do, rather than the organisational structure.
Thanks Nic,
ReplyDeletecouldn't agree more. How many times does the 'Manager of Fire Extinguishers' come to you and say "What we really need is a site all about fire extinguishers"
Hi Allen, couldn't agree more about the below the fold comment, but where is the fold? You need to design for the lowest common denominator, as what I see on my 19 inch screen at home is very different to my laptop screen at work. I guess the screen resolution gives a good basis
ReplyDeleteRe the fold... worth bearing in mind that with more and more mobile phone net access and the influx of netbooks, many of which have a 1024 by 600 screen resolution, it's harder and harder to know where the fold is these days.
ReplyDelete