Don’t build an intranet — build an information neighborhood

I’ve lived in New York City for more than 30 years. What most visitors do not understand is how much our city is a collection of small neighborhoods with different personalities. I live in one neighborhood and work in another. I probably spend 80% of my life in these two little areas totaling no more than ¼ mile square. Almost everything I need for my life is here and accessible without needing to consider how to get to it. It is incredibly convenient.

Neighborhoods are dynamic, businesses open and close. Buildings are torn down and new ones go up. You walk by them as you go about your day. You know where the toy store is because you walk by it on the way to the dry cleaner. You may never have a need to go in there because you do not have kids, but you know where it is.

When designing a corporate intranet use the idea of a neighborhood as a guide.

People understand the tools and information flow at the work in the same way they know their neighborhood. They know where everything is and how things work together. Different roles have different neighborhoods. The marketing department’s neighborhood is very different from that of finance.

In your intranet neighborhood, you want people to have a pleasant experience. Things should look attractive. It should be easy to find your way around. Everything you need should be as conveniently located as possible. Some hints:

• Design matters. Make the effort to have UX professionals guide the look and feel.
• Make the most useful features prominent.
• Don’t be too clever naming things. ‘Toy store’ is a better name than ‘Serendipity Too’. Simplicity pays off.
• Keep it simple. The goal is to create Pleasantville. Neat and tidy. There will be occasions when a trip to a different city will be necessary. But day to day, everything should be nearby.
• Help people know what is changing — if you are removing a feature, give people advance notice. If you are adding something, tell them what is coming. Think about the signs in the window of a local storefront as a business leaves and another one is ‘Coming Soon!’
• Be transparent about government. Be clear about why things are arranged the way they are and who made the decisions. Provide a way to for citizens to voice concern or ask for change.

Finally, the neighborhood should change according to the needs of the residents. Anticipate that change will happen. Adding improvements and removing under used features signals that the needs of the residents are important.