Designing an intranet requires skills in UX design and research, service design, content strategy, IA, or working with stakeholders. This article compiles our resources to help anyone designing a new intranet or sprucing up an old one.
User Research
All intranet redesigns require good user research to inform the design. This section covers doing research with you target users: employees.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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1 |
User-Centered Intranet Redesign: Set Up for Success in 11 Steps |
Article |
A recommended process for intranet redesigned, as surfaced from many years of intranet research |
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2 |
Article |
A case study of early research from Intranet Design Annual winner, Commonwealth Care Alliance |
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3 |
Article |
Why intranet redesigns should be based on field studies that involve observing employees in their natural work environment |
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4 |
Article |
A case study describing the user-centered design, product vision, in-house development capabilities, and Agile process needed for a successful intranet (and a 2020 Intranet Design Annual award) |
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5 |
Article |
Three benefits of involving employees early and often in intranet-design projects: increased interest, change management, and easy content creation |
Content Strategy
Common struggles in intranet design surround content strategy. Advice and case studies in the articles in this section help content owners stay engaged and create helpful and fresh content.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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6 |
Content Management on Intranets: Centralized, Distributed, and Hybrid Models |
Article |
Different content-management models and their relative pros and cons |
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7 |
Content Migration Alone Is Not an Effective Content Strategy |
Article |
Two award-winning designers discussing why “lift and shift” is a folly fueled by fear, limited resources, inexperience, and politics |
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8 |
9 Ways to Encourage Employee Sharing and Engagement on an Intranet |
Article |
A case study of how to engage content owners from Intranet Design Annual winner, Keysight Technologies |
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9 |
ConocoPhillips’s Improved Intranet Content-Management Process |
Article |
A case study of improving the publishing process from Intranet Design Annual winner, ConocoPhillips |
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10 |
Intranet Design Annual Winner Preview: The UN Intranet-iSeek |
Article |
A case study that illustrates how to create relevant content and localize it for the UN intranet users |
Leadership & Business
Since intranets are usually meant to serve the entire organization, it’s important that leadership is involved in supporting and planning it.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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11 |
Video |
Why leaders can benefit from knowing how much a good intranet can increase productivity and motivate people |
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12 |
Video |
How creating a clear vision for an intranet design can set teams up for success |
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13 |
Article |
Strategies for how to restructure the intranet of a newly expanded organization and the challenges that this process may encounter |
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14 |
Article |
When a small company should consider creating an intranet |
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15 |
Video |
Jakob Nielsen’s take on how technology and ecommerce industries have reaped the rewards of good UX |
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16 |
Article |
An 8-step general (not intranet-specific) process for collaborating with stakeholders | |
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17 |
Video |
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18 |
Article |
A general overview of recent Intranet Design Winners and the processes used for the development of their intranets |
Trends
We have been studying intranets deeply for 20+ years. In that time, trends have come and gone. This section covers themes in intranet design, features, teams, and tools.Trends
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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19 |
Article |
Trends seen across recent Intranet Design Annual Winners | |
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20 |
Article |
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21 |
Video |
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22 |
Article |
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23 |
Video |
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24 |
Video |
How software and other factors impact enterprise design |
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25 |
Article |
Examples of user-targeted search, core-task support, launch fanfare, and integrated access to key tools |
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26 |
Article |
Some common problems in Intranet redesign and their impact on the organization |
Design and Design Patterns
While intranets should usually follow general web-design conventions, some areas are particularly important or even different on intranets.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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27 |
Article |
Why the name of the intranet helps establish its brand and identity |
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28 |
What Every Intranet Needs: Reflections After 20 Years of the Intranet Design Annual |
Article |
Reflections about intranet needs based on years of research |
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29 |
Article |
Guidelines for creating a successful experience that is personalized to the various roles often encountered in an intranet |
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30 |
Article |
Why intranet designers should not resort to hastily designed B icons |
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31 |
Article |
When it is okay to spawn a new window (a common practice on intranets) |
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32 |
Tool Abundance in the Digital Workplace: Trendy or Troublesome? |
Article |
How to approach tool curation to preserve employee productivity and their workplace experience |
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33 |
Video |
Tips for engagement on B2B and intranet sites |
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34 |
Responsive Design and Intranets and Importance of Content Prioritization |
Article |
Case studies of Intranet Design Annual winners who have used responsive design to prioritize their content |
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35 |
Article |
Advice from teams working with SharePoint for their intranet projects |
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36 |
Article |
How to promote employee contributions by setting examples, creating enticing topics of conversation, keeping a light tone of voice, and providing positive feedback |
Information Architecture
Organizing intranet content can make discovering and finding information and tools easy.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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37 |
Article |
Adding context to make menu choices more transparent when you can't change poor labels |
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38 |
Article |
Why a Quicklinks option on your intranet is often a poor fix for addressing findability and discoverability issues |
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39 |
Article |
How an Intranet employee-search redesign made this common intranet feature outrageously fast and easy |
COVID-19 Effects
The pandemic shined a light on intranets and challenged teams to communicate differently.
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Number |
Link |
Format |
Description |
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40 |
Article |
Special considerations for integrating Coronavirus-specific information into the Intranet’s information architecture |
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41 |
Article |
How the content on intranets has been driven by the pandemic |
Related Study Guides
- Design-Pattern Guidelines: Study Guide. How to design and implement user-interface patterns.
- Service Design: Study Guide. Understanding the business and how it supports the customer journey informs enterprise-app design.
Reports
> For more information, see our most recent Intranet Design Annual report, or some of our other intranet reports.
Best SharePoint Intranets 2017-2020
Best Small Organization Intranets 2011-2020
Best Nonprofits Intranets 2010-2020
Best Government Agency and Public Sector Intranets 2001-2020
