Transcript Susan Costello

Corporate
intranets apps
Taking advantage of a
wasted opportunity
May 2013
Susan Costello
@howoco
years of the web (nearly)
In that time, an entire industry around ‘user experience’ has built up
An industry dedicated to making it easy and pleasant to use
websites. Especially functional websites, especially when there’s a
task to perform.
We take it for granted that we can check out of the shop (and we don’t
go back to those sites which fail to provide a foolproof way of completing
this simple process*)
*Unless we HAVE to (more later)
We take it for granted that we can book our flights, trains, hotels… that
we can hire our cars.
And now, increasingly, we do this on the move, at a time that
suits us and on devices that are to hand
But in contrast, let’s take
a brief look at a few
common intranet apps in
use at a large corporation
only last week…
Expense claims
Annual leave tracking
Room & desk booking
Car booking
Why does this
matter?
Staff disengagement
It damages your brand – it changes the way your staff feel about you.
The message: ‘you don’t care about me’ at best….‘you despise me’ at worst.
Your staff don’t have a choice
– they MUST use these sites.
To illustrate how this makes
them feel – let’s consider a
frequent flyer on a budget
just about to check out…
How does this make
her feel about the
company that have
put her through this
process?
Staff disengagement
Bad news for employers.
Give them good apps – show them you care.
It wastes time, lots of time,
Think about the opportunity cost.
Why are intranet apps so rubbish?
UX is sidelined by IS departments
and the ensuing problem becomes insurmountable
Management are not interested
“don’t bother me about facilities… I’ve got to sell more widgets”
Corporations are paranoid about security
What could
we do?
Barbara is on a train on her way to the office.. she needs a desk when
she gets there.
She uses her smartphone app to locate the building
She chooses a desk from those available
She gets to the office and checks in through security. Then she uses her phone
to get directions to the desk (note the sex change :D)
But of course you don’t have to go that far
Treat internal web apps in the same way as external web apps
Treat internal web apps in the same way as external web apps
What should
we do?
Lessen the focus on the next ‘big’ thing.
Innovation isn’t all about new tech, it’s also about new ways of
getting things done, of making things better.
Wasting money with ‘use once’ apps? Divert budgets into sorting out your intranet functions
To further illustrate this
point, here’s a synopsis
taken from an event at a
digital conference in
‘silicon roundabout’ taking
place very soon…
and play with your relativity to others in online virtual spaces. During
“ Investigate
this creative-thinking session we will collectively explore issues of identity,
communication and team work for the 21st century through immersive
telepresence and virtual environments.
Imagine a future unbound by the two dimensional head and shoulders of today's
video communication, into a world of full bodied haptic feedback, 3d immersive
spaces and interaction mediated communication.
Avatars are the representations we create of ourselves in virtual worlds. They are
central to our modern lifestyles: we work, play, explore and share with one
another using these digital bodies.
Telepresence can be utilised to enhance and extend future work and play
environments and allow the physical live body to be engaged simultaneously
with another body at a distance, creating intimacy and build trust as it
encourages an evolving expression of yourself and others.”
Yeah, right.
So how do we get
this done?
Five steps…
1
Choose a key
application
2
Do some
cost benefit
analysis
3
Engage UX
4
Run it like an
external web
app project
5
Fight the negativity
Inspire and excite
Stay focused
Thank you :D
Questions?
Corporate
intranets apps
Taking advantage of a
wasted opportunity
Susan Costello
@howoco