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Bringing web best practices to share point intranets sps be
Virgil Carroll presented on bringing web best practices to SharePoint intranets. He discussed why intranets should be designed like websites with a focus on usability rather than just finding information. Key practices included talking to employees to understand challenges, prioritizing their needs, making navigation and search easy to use, focusing on scannable content over documents, and using the modular capabilities of SharePoint to separate content from design. The goal is to create intranets that help employees accomplish tasks without needing to be taught how to use the system.
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Bringing web best practices to share point intranets sps be
- 1. bringing web bestpractices to SharePoint intranets #SPSBE21 Virgil Carroll April 18th, 2015
- 2. PlatinumGoldSilver Thanks to oursponsors!
- 3. about me • Fromthe great State of Alaska • Certified Athletic Trainer • Masters in Instructional Design (from UAB) • User Experience Aficionado • Been building websites since 1998 • Been building SharePoint since 2001 • Blog: http://monkeyblog.highmonkey.com • Twitter: @vcmonkey
- 4. about high monkey •Been around since 1998 (HMC name since 2004) • Offices in Minnesota and Michigan • Clients throughout the US and Canada • Core Competencies • Web and interface design • SharePoint / CMS consulting • User Experience
- 5. why use webbest practices? • People think intranets are websites, not SharePoint • Most intranets focus on finding information not collaboration • Like a website, if you have to teach someone how to use an intranet, you have failed
- 6. why use sharepointfor intranets? • Unlike web sites, intranets are not about the page, but about the content. • SharePoint does not excel at building pages, but excels at sharing information across multiple avenues
- 7. web best practicesfor intranets
- 8. talk to peoplenot on your team • Good intranets will include feedback from other people • Requirements interviews • Discovery workshops • Surveys • You must balance opinions with the questions you ask • ‘What would you like to see’ vs. ‘What challenges do you encounter with our current intranet’ • A ‘wish list’ build will fail REMEMBER Just because someone has an opinion, doesn’t mean they are right
- 9. example good info • “HRforms are important, but getting to my team site is more” • “Why do I have to go to 3 different systems to figure out all my employee stuff” • “I don’t understand different department acronyms” wishful thinking • “People really want to know about project updates” • “The page should know who I am and only show me what I want to see” • “We should have a chat window where I can ask questions”
- 10. your people shouldalways be first • We believe our people know us better than they do • If ever in doubt, ask any person to recite your org chart • Often treat employees like its their first day • Unlike Facebook, intranets are not suppose to help people waste time • Focus on functional-based results • Latest news is only important to the communications group • Understanding their stories • For large, multi-discipline organizations consider creating personas / customer journeys • Accessibility
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- 12. getting around shouldbe easy • Organize information according to how your people think • Card sorting • Tree tests • Navigation should be simple and act like a multiple choice question • Mega-menus can be useful when used well
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- 14. good design supportsfunction • We don’t call it ‘branding’ its design • Design should never be used for the sake of pretty colors • Balance must be established between the design and getting people to what they need to do • Color contrast can help people be successful • Making it mobile • Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should • Popular frameworks: Bootstrap, skeleton, responsive grid system • Use media queries vs. 2013 device channels
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- 19. make sure search… works • People are really poor searchers • You have to handle all the variabilities • They don’t know what they are looking for • They don’t know how to spell • Refiners that are relevant • Remove SharePoint objects from the results • Great use of 2013
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- 21. documents are NOTcontent • Documents are for reading ‘stuff’ longer than people will read on a screen • Develop content standards, consistent tone and plans to govern • Find a good balance between too much and too little • Just because content resides somewhere else doesn’t mean people want to go there too
- 22. tips: what peoplewant to read • Content that’s scannable • Bullet points • High level information up front, can dig further if desired • Easy to read and understand • Up to date information 23
- 23. example: how dopeople read on the web? 24
- 24. example: how peoplespend their time Above the fold 80% Below the fold 20% Reading Above and Below the Fold Right Half 30% Left Half 70% Left vs. Right • People at most read 20% of the words on a webpage • People are much more likely to scroll past the fold if the first content they see matches their need 25
- 25. learn from yourlogs • Search logs • Great source for understanding • Spelling challenges • Search patterns • Many searches for obvious things mean they are not • Web analytics • Great source for understanding • What people really do on your intranet • How non-search people look for information • Creating ‘push paths’ or placing of content in multiple locations • SharePoint web analytics is still crap, use Google analytics
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- 27. separate storage frompresentation • Content may need to be re-used • Allows authors to store and work on content ‘where they want’ • Good use of 2013 • Roll up content summaries via CQWP or CSWP • Use audience targeting to further refine
- 28. example: content fromdifferent sources
- 29. example: content onmultiple pages Home My Employment Forms Expense Sheet Documents and Forms Expense Sheet Company News Departments HR Expense Sheet
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- 31. use the ‘modularness’of sharepoint • Centralize CSS and media assets • Use proper page structure for flexibility and future updates • In 2013, display templates add another layer of flexibility • Create structure that content contributors can expand easily
- 32. master page • Canbe applied to entire site or sub-sections • Link global CSS & Script files • Establish overall look-n-feel
- 33. page layout • Theinsides of an overall page • Designers can create multiple, content creators can pick-n-choose
- 34. display template (2013) •Represents the ‘container’ of a search web part rendering
- 35. item template (2013) •Controls the rendering of each item in a Display Template
- 36. pay attention afterlaunch
- 37. summary: why useweb best practices • People already think your intranet is a website, so make it like one • Web usability teaches us we shouldn’t have to teach • Good websites grow by learning what your people do and helping them do it better • One path to success usually breeds failure
- 39. questions?? Virgil Carroll, President HighMonkey Consulting [email protected] 763-201-6040 Blog: http://monkeyblog.highmonkey.com Twitter: @vcmonkey