Six years ago I wrote an article for Virtual Business Magazine where I espoused the need and likely convergence of the intranet, extranet and Internet. Now, an Internet lifetime later, more and more companies are deploying a single platform to manage the corporate, intranet, extranet and Internet Websites.

Single platform deployment for multiple audiences is not just for large corporations. More and more medium-size and even small size companies are using a single platform to run multiple sites for multiple audiences.
The San Diego Blood Bank is a case in point. It just announced it is deploying a single web content management platform from OpenText to manage its various internal and external websites.

Nielsen Norman Group has launched another intranet report ranking what it says are the “10 best government intranet designs.”

Of course, the intranets featured are not the top 10 global government intranets. There are in fact hundreds-of-thousands of government intranet sites around the world and they all did not submit to this contest.The “best intranet designs” is in fact a voluntary contest that encourages government agencies to volunteer screenshots and some background information on their intranet. NNGroup then receives some several dozen submissions and then chooses which intranets become the “Ten Best Government and Public Sector Intranet Designs.”

However, the report provides some decent insight and solid case studies. If your organization is paying, then it’s worth the single report cost of US$179 (Purchase Ten Best Government and Public Sector Intranet Designs).

So while this report is worthwhile, it’s important to stress that this is about intranet “design” (i.e. mostly look-and-feel and layout). The authors and judges do not have access to use or view the intranet, they’ve had no experience with the intranet and limited means to measure the intranet’s value versus corporate goals and objectives they can only judge based on screenshots and voluntary information. And only from a very small segment of volunteer organizations. And they have to take the submitters application at face value which likely only paints a partial, ‘rosy’ picture.

The winners include:

• Defense Finance and Accounting Service (U.S.)
• Department for Transport (U.K.)
• Department of Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (U.S.)
• Department for Victorian Communities (Australia)
• Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (U.S.)
• Government Offices of Sweden
• London Underground
• National Research Council of Canada, Industrial Research Assistance Program
• Senate Republican Conference (U.S.)
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (Canada)

There’s no doubt that these winners have done a solid job with their respective intranets. And the report does go beyond simple look-and-feel and covers “some of the key areas for which best practices are presented in the report...:

• Workflow support
• Ensuring fresh content
• Driving unified design through the organization
• Consistent navigation
• Integration of intranet with real-time mobile notification
• Development process for intranet redesigns
• Coordinating agency-level and government-level design
• Ensuring accessibility for employees with disabilities, beyond simple compliance with Section 508 (U.S.) or the Disability Discrimination Act (U.K.)

Clearly a successful intranet requires more than just a good design (hinted at but not explicitly stated). My problem with contests such as this one is that once again, the emphasis is on design when in fact ‘design’ is the least important ingredient of a successful intranet.

Truth of the matter, based on my years of experience working with several dozen organizations, is that usability and design take a back seat to content and planning. In fact, Prescient Digital Media has a methodology for evaluating and scoring the value of an intranet, usability and design each account for about 13% of an intranet’s value while content and planning & resources (including governance, process, people, and funding) account for 50% of a site’s value.

Nonetheless, an intranet’s design should support and enhance the organization’s brand and culture while ensuring that employees are able to get the information they want, when they want, as quick as possible.

So while the Report features great case studies and features lots of screenshots it is not based on a true intranet evaluation, but rather a paper submission written by the intranet owners. Design is important, but an intranet's true value lies elsewhere (content, planning, process).

Other related items:

Intranet Design Wars

A Love For Intranet Screenshots