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This page outlines Design and Content Standards of weCollaborate, which is particularly important for content creators who are responsible for creating and maintaining content on designated spaces and pages.
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Information architecture is the structural design. It is the art and science of organizing and labelling to support find-ability and usability. It is best represented by a content map of the major content categories and the sub-categories and how they all relate to each other. In addition the information architecture encompasses navigational elements including searches, site maps, help / feedback, etc. |
Beyond this, to implement these plans, you need governance. How your intranet will work must be thought through. There should be content standards that explain how content should be added and maintained. There needs to be a process to cover new starters and their onboarding to the intranet. There should also be ‘look and feel’ rules that cover which widgets, colours and images should be used. Will your intranet pages look the same? Do you have a corporate style for documents? Will there be a standard ‘work’ photo for everyone’s profile, or can people add their own? Will having a well-populated profile page be a requirement that people are appraised on?
Content authors training, style and content guidelines.
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Information Architecture The information architecture for the intranet captures the three main pillars of intranet content: Organizational Information, Functional Information, and Social Information. |
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Mega-Menus
These have been around for a while, but most organizations with whom I speak have not looked at these. The idea is this - rather than have so many top-level navigation items, try adding a few action-oriented menu items, with many options for drill-down.
Task-Oriented Grouping
Most of you reading this likely have an intranet that is organized by department and follows the org chart nearly verbatim. This is an "old way" of thinking, because if we're honest, how many of you come to work to "work with HR" or "work with Engineering?" We come to work to do tasks - to get work done - so ditch the org chart and start thinking about the task rather than the department. Another reason why this strategy works is because new employees almost never know what every department does. So organizing by department can be confusing for new employees as well. Oh yeah, and what about age-old problem of "Where does that live…HR, IT, Legal?" This often minimizes or eliminates these issues. But be careful, sometimes org structure is all that your users know, so there may be change management issues with the task-oriented approach.
Action-Oriented Labels
This tactic relates more to links that are on pages, rather than navigation items, but we have seen behavior change when the language used on links is changed to be more action-oriented.
Promote Top Areas
Every intranet platform today has the ability to promote popular links or areas, yet many never leverage this functionality. The truth is, it's popular for a reason, so surface that information for others to see.
Under the current structure, this information is organized as follows:
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Well populated profiles are important to enable personnel to allow a thriving network of thematic experts to identify one-another or to seek out individuals with specific skills or knowledge. The profile consists of a photo, back photo and key information.
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Design StandardsThe pages in the intranet should be clean and simple. Personnel should be able to visit any page on the intranet and know where to click within 2-3 seconds. Consistency Is Key – Avoid inconsistency in design, layout, navigation, terminology, etc. Familiarity breeds findability. (a) Home Page: The design of the home page is managed and determined by the Intranet policy. The Intranet policy outlines what does (and more importantly, doesn’t) get published to the home page. (b) Category Menus: The design of the category menus is managed and determined by the Intranet Lead in consultation with relevant stakeholders. (c) Division / Office / Regional Office Spaces: The design of the division is managed and determined by the Intranet Lead in consultation with content creators and their teams. |
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Content CreationContent accessibilityPreviously weCollaborate included Confluence accessibility checker (EAP) that allowed checking the content against the standards outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). However, this tools has been discontinued by Atlassian in 2021. Currently, the weCollaborate team is exploring alternative options to ensure accessibility of the content is enhanced. Content complianceIntranet content should be specifically for UNEP personnel, written for the screen, and edited from the view-point of the content consumer. The content should also be compliant with the UN Editorial Manual, UN Editorial Guidelines, The UN Terminology Database, and (if relevant) comply with the rules around maps and territorial boundaries. Content accuracy and updatesIn an intranet content is king. Therefore, if content is out-of-date, obsolete, or incorrect it diminishes trust and confidence in the entire site. It is for this reason strict 3 monthly content review checks are required. If this is done regularly it is a quick process of entering into the edit mode of the page, reading the content, and then clicking update. Most space editors only have between 5-15 pages so it shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes to do this quarterly review. If it’s not kept up to date, the content may be deleted without further notice. Personnel-focusedThe content should be personnel or content consumer focused. It is important to ensure it is digestible and understandable. Writing for screenA rule of thumb is that content written for the screen should be half as long as content written for print or other mediums. The flicker of pixels causes eye fatigue and content in large blocks can be overlooked. Therefore, it is important that information is presented in chunks, often referred to as the inverted pyramid format. This includes using headings, sub-headings, bullets, call-outs, expandables, sub-pages, and white space to create content that is both presentable and consumable. Duplicate contentThe information architecture sets out what content should go under which category and sub-category. It is important that this is adhered to as otherwise it creates duplicate content throughout the site. Duplicate content leads to confusion when it is updated in some areas, but not in others. Furthermore, it creates confusion in the information architecture as diminishes the familiarity breeds find-ability principle. SearchContent should undergo the search test. When new content is added search for it, and if it doesn't come up in the top 5 search items it is hidden. Blogs In submitting blog articles the following procedures should be followed:
Images These guidelines help in selecting images that align with the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) objectives while maximizing visual impact and user engagement within the platform's design framework.
Announcements The weCollaborate team may post announcements and events at the request of organizational units on an ad hoc basis. Event announcements are limited to those organized by UN entities. Events taking place in locations other than at UN premises must be sponsored by UN entities. All entities submitting announcements and/or events are encouraged to submit them in a timely manner in word with all applicable links, at least 24 hours before the requested posting date or time. Experience has shown that it is more effective to make an announcement closer to the date of the event than too far in advance. The weCollaborate team has the responsibility for removing or reformatting announcements or events to ensure a standardized approach. Comments
FeedbackRegular engagement with content creators within divisions/offices and periodic survey addressed to everyone in UNEP to seek inputs for further improvements. |
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Content Management
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Content Standards
Bite-Sized Delivery - Your content should be delivered in a bite > snack > meal fashion. In other words, first give the user a bite (a simple link), then a snack (maybe a mega menu or additional options), then the meal (the entire page or content). See the example here of the White House site, where "Issues" is the bite, the list of top issues is the snack, and any one of the issues is the meal (where the "meat" is).
ROT stands for Redundant, Outdated, Trivial, and is a great way to classify your content. ROT is just what it sounds like, digital noise that almost always prohibits effective knowledge discovery and often leads to massive user frustration. And at first glance, you may think that the largest "cost" of ROT is storing all of the content that is not adding value, but that's the least of your worries.
Tell me if this sounds familiar: You try to find something in a specific location on your intranet, but you can't find it, so you use the intranet's global search, but you still can't find it. So after spending nearly an hour, you ultimately have to ask a colleague, who then emails it to you. BUT, rather than store this in the intranet where it should be, you save it locally 9or keep it in your email), so you can quickly find it next time without the heartburn. Anyone? A lot of things have happened here. From user frustration, to low adoption, to circumventing the systems (storing artifacts locally so you no longer have to search for it), to restricting collaboration and knowledge sharing. And so it goes with ROT. It can cause a lot of grief. Start by identifying what the R, O, and T are in your organization. Our governance toolkit includes guidance, scripts and templates for helping you to identify ROT within your organization.
Put people and culture at the heart of your intranet. Put photo gallery at the bottom of the home page, people will scroll down to see people-centric content.
Leadership has to model the behaviour they want to see on the intranet.
Move or create leadership blogs on your intranet. It’ll encourage people to interact, and your employees are always interested in getting insight into leadership’s perspectives and personalities. One pro tip: keep the content human.
Build your intranet based on your organizations’ goals and needs, not on what you think other organizations are doing. Intranets may seem generic, but a good intranet takes into consideration your industry and its specific challenges.
Have your leadership team and executives commit to using the tool. Town halls and key initiatives are great ways for leadership to exercise the tool in visible ways.
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Record Retention Policy This policy regulates the retention and disposal practices of content currently posted on weCollaborate. The purpose of the weCollaborate retention schedule is to help content owners:
The disposal of outdated content on the other hand will take place every two years. This process will be pursued in agreement between the weCollaborate Team and the content owner. The benefits related to implementation of this policy are: preservation of institutional memory, access to up-to-date information, and, ultimately, maximization of the system’s performance in terms of fast retrieval of info. Retention criteria The retention schedule assigned to weCollaborate content is based on the importance of information as a historical record for the Organization. Permanent retention is recommended for some categories as they are a reflection of the work and the spirit of UN staff, for example, “News/Blogs.” This information will be stored in the system indefinitely or until a different digital website repository system becomes available. Other categories (1 year, 30 days, etc.) are listed below. Records identified for deletion will be subjected to content owner‘s review before their removal of the system. The selection criterion is inactivity, which means that the page has not been updated in two years or more. The content owner will receive electronic correspondence with links to the respective pages for review and will have up to 45 days either to update it or request deletion. Otherwise, after 45 days, the pages will be removed from the UNEP Intranet -weCollaborate platform. Controlled documents - such as quality manuals, procedures, SGBs, and AIs - should be saved in local drives outside of weCollaborate. This information applies to all Duty Stations. Retention schedule for UNEP Intranet – weCollaborate content
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Find the Interactive self-paced course for content creators here, for further questions reach out to Viktoria Smirnova |
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Ongoing content validation: Ensuring accuracy every 90 daysAt regular intervals of 90 days, you will receive an email to ensure the continued validity of your content. This straightforward process entails confirming the accuracy andthat the information presented on your pages is up-to-date. This taskwon't demand more than 5 minutes of your time. Screenshot of the email that you will receive and the action links highlighted in red: Streamlining Directory Management
Embedding linksIn order to avoid clusters of information with links, especially if they are long, we recommend that they are embedded.
Attaching FilesWhen uploading attachments please take into consideration the labels and naming conventions as best practices. This will facilitate the user navigation, traceability of documents and the use of macros like the “content by label” or “attachment list” macros. LabelsLabels are used for:
Good practice on using labels is to substitute spaces for the underscore bar:
Naming conventionsName the uploaded files as per standard naming convention so that it is easily searchable.In order to avoid lists of documents that we don’t know what they are for Example: 20230620_Project-Report_v1.2_Final.docx
Writing BlogsAnyone on your team can submit the blog for publishing it without the need for editing rights. Everyone is encouraged to write blogs to share with the rest of the organization what is happening and to drive traffic to your respective division/office pages. Everything from the launch of a major report/policy to a team retreat is great news stories to submit for publishing.
Macro libraryUtilize this valuable resource, featuring visual representations of the top 10 most commonly used macros on the page.
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Design Standards
Attention Span - Keep pages clean and simple, not busy. A new employee should be able to visit any page on your intranet and know exactly where to click or go next within 2-3 seconds.
Consistency Is Key – Nothing drives users crazy like inconsistency, and this includes inconsistency in design, layout, navigation, terminology, etc. Familiarity breeds findability.
(a) Home Page: The design of the home page is managed and determined by the governing body of the intranet. Every intranet that wants to have high adoption rates needs to create homepages where the content changes frequently (ideally, daily or even more frequently if it can be managed.) It should show information that is not only relevant to topics being discussed across the company, but it also tailored to the individual. The intranet homepage is the most hotly-contested real estate on the site, with every business area hoping to have a direct link to their information. Every intranet team should have a simple policy outlining what does (and more importantly, doesn’t) get published to the home page.
(b) Category Menus: The design of the category menus is managed and determined by the governing body of the intranet.
(c) Division / Office / Regional Office Spaces: The design of the division
(d) Embedding Electronic Processes: Processes should be embedded in the intranet. This will transform it into a place of productivity.
Homepage components and purpose
Content page layout and components
Logo and toolbar
Search and how it works
Main menu structure and purpose
Sub menu structure, purpose and editing
Footer
Use of colours and fonts
Site security including levels that have been applied to various sections
Applications
Best Practices
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Effective intranet search functionality, therefore, calls for:
- Integration with any existing cloud-based storage platforms, to provide a single point of search
- Clear governance on content management – for example, content titles, summaries, keywords/tags, ownership and accountability, and due process for reviewing expired pages
- Regular review of search analytics to determine any searches that have failed to generate results or perhaps pages without keywords
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https://www.interact-intranet.com
/blog/10-things-every-intranet-should-have/
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- Install an enterprise search feature
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https://www.interact-intranet.com
/blog/10-things-every-intranet-should-have/
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