Information Architecture for Intranets

In our work building intranets for companies, one of the most important parts of the work happens before a line of code is written.

Information architecture involves designing and optimising site navigation and structure, taking into account the content and the users to deliver a highly usable system where people can find what they're looking for easily and quickly.

The return on investment for an intranet (or website, for that matter) is closely correlated to how well the system enables its users to achieve their goals as quickly as possible, and a well-designed information architecture based on research, metrics and usability principles will out-perform the gut-feel approach.

An expert in the field, Jacob Neilson, recently conducted a survey of 56 intranets across different sizes from small business to enterprise, and discusses his findings in this article.

His research matches our experience, and found that intranets commonly have top level navigation elements such as "company information", "human resources", "news" and "departments".  Also, making good use of related links and cross-linking pages, plus avoiding departmentally-structured navigation in favour of user-centred navigation, is recommended. 

He also recommends against changing the navigation labels by request of top-level management to incorporate buzz-words or the CEO's latest initiative.  These things are best left to the narrative.

Jacob's study does not mention the impact of web 2.0 technologies on intranets, however Datalink's recent experience with our Central Intranet shows a vast increase in use of an intranet when employees can easily contribute content, make workspaces and use blogs and wikis to share content and information.

Datalink's latest web 2.0 intranets allow users to add content in a flexible way using wikis, blogs, forums and workspaces, so a modern information architecture design must take into account both fixed and user-contributed elements.

In summary, Jacob Neilson's report highlights that a one-size-fits-all approach to intranets will never result in an intranet suited to an individual business, and getting the navigation right is a critical first step to achieving a return on investment. 

The full report can be purchased online.

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