Intranet Redesign, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH)
Goal: Redesign and launch A 3,000-Page Intranet in eight months
My Role: UX Lead (Consultant)
My Team: Information architect and visual designer
Customer Problem: The Intranet was outdated and static Web pages were difficult to update. There were many duplicate copies of pages. People in the organization did not know what content was accurate and had to bookmark content to find it again.
Successful Result: An easy-to-update Drupal platform with a content governance model and findable content. One blog author said, “This is like moving from a tricycle to a Ferrari.”
Detail from the new Intranet home page
The original NHLBI Intranet consisted of 5,000 html pages that had not been substantially updated in more than five years. My project team was engaged to redesign the site, identify all content owners, remove outdated content and migrate the remaining pages to a custom Drupal CMS in eight months, using an agile development process.
Challenges
Limited stakeholder access
No defined roles for content authorship or governance
Very few easily identifiable content owners
Aggressive timeframe, with no time to conduct usability testing prior to launch
Process
As the UX Team Lead, I managed an information architect, designer, and content strategists; coordinated with the larger project team; and managed the content migration and customer support.
Discovery
Interviewed more than 50 Intranet users to determine people’s pain points
Summarized the findings in task-based personas
Created a design concept that addressed users’ main complaints: make content easier to find and to publish
Design
Created a detailed content model and taxonomy
Designed a site map and wireframes for each content type in the system
Organized and facilitated stakeholder meetings to elicit requirements and design approvals
Migration and Launch
Migrated 3,000 flat html files into Drupal within two months, using both automatic scripts and hand-coding for cleanup
Released the intranet to the author/approver community and provided hands-on training and support
Gathered feedback on potential enhancements
Worked with project manager to launch the site to the full user community via brown bag sessions and emails
Continuous Improvement
Created prototypes for areas that generated the most requests for improvement and ran usability tests
Conducted individualized training sessions with key users who promised to pass on the information to their communities
Worked with the development team to address nearly all issues in the backlog using a phased, agile approach
“Lisa has done an outstanding job of facilitating the working group meetings to ensure that the group is able to make informed decisions on the technical direction required to deliver a quality product that meets our needs. Because the working group was established late in the process, Lisa’s guidance is all the more impressive in that she is able to ensure each member has the necessary understanding of the issues and feels comfortable making required design and governance decisions.”
Results
Using an agile process, the team addressed every high-priority need that people requested before and after launch. We made the interface more attractive and easier to use. And we made it incredibly easy for people to publish content.
On a personal level, I learned how to turn complainers into allies and how to work with developers to create user-friendly solutions that don't require weeks of code. I also learned that sometimes it's better to start designing and coding even if the product isn't perfect yet.
“This is like moving from a tricycle to a Ferrari.”