What is intuitive to one person is not necessarily intuitive to another. Better put, where I might look for information amongst navigation menu headings on a site is not necessarily where another would look.

For example, there’s a lot of companies that use catchy phrases to describe their human resources intranet or section such as:

• My Work
• @Work
• You and (insert company name)

Quite frankly, I think these labels are crap. It’s akin to shaker sweaters, stirrup pants, Atkins diets and other passing fads and pop influences. My preference? Just call it “Human Resources” or “HR”. But that’s just my opinion...

Are those other labels wrong? Not necessarily. “@Work” may resonate as more intuitive at one company that has a completely different culture and type of employee then another organization. In other words, I would prefer to see “HR” but another employee may prefer “@Work.” Based upon my exposure and work with dozens of corporate intranet clients the number one employee complaint of the intranet remains the same: “I can’t find anything!”

Australian-based Iain Barker, a user experience specialist with Step Two Designs, says that users follow preferred paths guided by intuitive information scents. “Most research into the way users navigate a site reveals that people follow one path and then, when that doesn't provide the information they require, they retrace their steps using the back button, until they find another suitable path to follow,” says Barker. “Users can find this process frustrating and after following a couple of unsuccessful attempts, give up on a site.”

Information scent

Information scent describes how users choose categories or options when they seek information on a site.

Information scent therefore is the intuitive linkage and relation of related content. Strong information scents offers content with context – meaning and definition (literally or by association). Weak information scents confuse and lose users with little or no context.

“When presented with a list of options users will choose the option that gives them the clearest indication (or strongest scent) that it will step them closer to the information they require,” says Barker. “Navigation headings offer surprisingly weak information scent. Navigation headings are typically limited to one or two words, which often isn't enough to clearly distinguish one heading from another and give a clear indication of the content offered in that section of the site.”

While many people will opt to navigate the sites architecture and various categories, others will use search or the site map. A strong site map is recommended. Some sites however will use the site map approach to the home page. A good consumer site example is Walmart’s corporate site which groups like information by links right on in the main content window:

Robertson offers three tips to making a stronger information scent:

• Identify the pages where users require more information to aid their decision.
• Typically this is the homepage and section pages.
• Devote part of the content area on each of these pages to giving more context to the navigation options the user has.

I just finished heather Burns cover story in this month's Corporate Writer & Editor called "Design Wars". Ahhhh, there's nothing like designing an enterprise intranet by committee to get those combative juices flowing!

As you probably know by now, we're all design experts. Everyone has an opinion and everyone wants to influence the end design.

DESIGNING BY COMMITTEE DOES NOT WORK. But of course you already knew this... :)

Here are a couple of pointers when undertaking design:

1- Limit the committee - your steering committee or intranet council (visit our Articles section for more on Politics of Intranet Ownership and Collaborative Governance Models) should be involved in business requirements, policies and standards (including creative standards and guidelines), resources, strategy and planning. Limit design approval to a core group of 2 or 3 people if possible.

2- Planning drives design - Build your business case and requirements based on best practices, business needs and employee needs and then build a blueprint that includes creative design standards and guidelines. Once approved, then undertake your information architecture and wireframes before you pick up your crayons and Photoshop. Don't touch the design until you have completed the creative guidelines and the hollow conceptual wireframes.

3- Outsource the creative - Unless you have a crack designer on staff, outsource the design to a professional or at least a design student. You do not have to pay a lot but putting the design in the hands of a pro will dampen the political pressure and ensure quality.

4- Build in time for revisions - Two or three rounds of changes and revisions is standard. Four to six rounds of revisions is not unheard of so schedule the necessary time.

5- Consensus, compromise and cooperation - As Nixon said, "You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time." Be prepared to be flexible during the approval process because even a core group of 2 or 3 will have disagreements over the smallest things such as a font size, the color of a button, the size of a photo, etc. Emphasize compromise as the key to success and happiness.

My favourite intranet designs? Cisco, Xerox, Sodexho (not a good .com design though), Fidelity Investments Canada, Electrolux, and the Integer Group. Give us a ring if you'd like to see some of these intranets.

Intranet Design Wars