Original Source: Intranet Review Toolkit
The fact that this resource was created in 2006, but has so much relevance for today’s intranet manager, speaks to the thoroughness of its author, Step Two Designs. This intranet review toolkit provides intranet managers and designers with an easy-to-use method of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their intranet. It contains a substantial set of heuristics (guidelines or criteria), allowing a detailed intranet review to be conducted that focuses on a wide range of functionality, design and strategy.
While there are a number of published heuristics for reviewing public websites, up to now there has been no equivalent set for corporate intranets. Initially supported by an IA Institute Progress Grant, Step Two Designs have developed and published this comprehensive set of publicly-released intranet heuristics.
Two overriding goals drove the creation of this Toolkit:
- To help intranet managers assess the state of their own intranets, to identify potential improvements, and to build a stronger business case for further intranet improvement.
- To help the intranet community as a whole define and refine the concept of the “best practice” intranet, and to provide a basis for constructive discussion and consideration.
The Intranet Review Toolkit covers eight aspects:
- intranet home page
- site structure and navigation
- search
- page layout and visual design
- intranet content
- news
- staff directory
- intranet-based applications
- intranet strategy and management
The Toolkit can be freely downloaded, and has been provided in both Word and Excel formats. The Word document contains the full heuristics plus supporting descriptions, while the Excel file is designed to be used as a quick summary. In both documents, space is provided for comments against each of the heuristics, and a total score is calculated for each of the sections.
The Intranet Review Toolkit is maintained by Step Two Designs, a vendor-neutral intranet and content management consultancy based in Australia. Step Two Designs is recognised as a global thought-leader in intranet strategy, and have published an extensive library of intranet and content management articles.
