Why WorkSafeBC is winning intranet accolades
by The CommerceLab — Aug 27 '13
They are often the graveyards of online content, derided by employees who find nothing useful on them and who consider them the epitome of ugliness. At WorkSafeBC, on the other hand, the organization’s intranet is not only a hit with staff but has been recognized internationally in a major research report.
Earlier this year, the Neilson Norman Group, a consulting firm based in Fremont, Calif., released its 2013 Intranet Design Annual, an in-depth look at how innovative organizations are applying UX best practices to internal corporate portals. WorkSafeBC, also known as the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia, was praised for an employee-focused site that “boasts myriad opportunities for colleagues to compliment, encourage, and educate one another.”
WorkSafeBC’s accomplishment is even more impressive when you look at some of the overall findings in the Neilson Norman report:
Project duration: Neilson Norman Group has been tracking the length of time it takes to create an intranet for more than 12 years. On average, the process from inception to launch tends to last 3.5 years, those the organizations featured among its “winners” in 2013 were faster at 2.3 years. WorkSafeBC’s intranet team, on the other hand, was given a sharp deadline of three months to improve the site.
Project teams: Most of the report’s award-winning intranet was put together in collaboration with relatively large groups of people. In fact, the report notes that team sizes have been increasing for the last several years, to an average of 18-24 people. WorkSafeBC’s intranet team, in contrast, consists of eight people.
Project tools: WorkSafeBC shared one trait common to the majority of the Neilson Norman report winners: the use of Microsoft SharePoint as the foundation for its intranet. The report indicates that 70 percent of those chosen for the ranking are SharePoint users.
For more detailed findings about intranets, WorkSafeBC’s project and the future of UX design in this area, download the full 373-page Neilson Norman 2013 Intranet Design Annual.
