SLA's usability study, On-the-Job Research: How Usable are Corporate Research Intranets? (SLA 2002) by Alison J. Head with Shannon Staley, is available in the Marketplace.

This report includes:

• 32 major findings from sessions with employees at seven major corporations who tested their intranets with us.
• 24 recommendations for creating sites that are easier to use.
• Three case studies of sites are featured.

A sampling of major findings:

·More Participants Failed Tasks than Succeeded

The majority of research intranets are just plain hard to use, whether a worker is a manager, administrative assistant, or professional researcher.

On the average, less than half of the participants ? 44 percent ? could successfully complete the research tasks we asked them to perform.

·Most Sites Are Underutilized

Many sites tend to be what we call ? one-hit wonders ? . Employees use the site to check the latest company news, find out a current company stock quote, or find a form. Other than that they have little familiarity and experience with the tools and content research intranets provide.

·Finding Contact Information Is Surprisingly Time-Consuming

Even though three-quarters of the survey respondents reported frequently needing contact information for someone in their company, research intranets failed miserably at fulfilling what seemed a fairly straightforward task.

Less than half of the participants ? 43 percent ? were able to find contact information for the director of human resources when they didn't already know his or her name.

·News, More News, and Still More News

News is a staple on research intranets and it is offered in abundance. Research intranets typically feature all kinds of news ? news about the company, traditional news press, links to news sites out on the Web, and even archives of company news.

But, despite the availability of news on sites, workers generally were overwhelmed by all of the choices. Many participants could not distinguish one type of news content from another because of the sites - poor labeling, organization, and layout.

Participants also had trouble finding current news, since the date of a news article was often not included. As a result, less than two-thirds of the participants ? 63 percent ? could find a recent company news story on their intranet.

·Checking Out the Competition Was the Hardest Thing to Do

Using research intranets for carrying out competitive intelligence research ? finding out information about threats and opportunities in the marketplace ? proved especially difficult for participants in our study.

Less than half of the participants ? 44 percent ? were able to find information on their company's site about an industry competitor. Even fewer ? 35 percent ? could use the site to find background information on an unfamiliar company with which they had an interest.

This report is a must-read for anyone who designs, manages, develops or evaluates corporate intranets in their daily work.

The research was conducted in seven different companies, including Bechtel, ChevronTexaco, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, Gale Group, Gilead Sciences, Sun Microsystems, and Synopsys. 

Price

* Buy one licensed copy that is in digital format and share it with other employees at your organization 

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Ordering Information

You can purchase this book in the SLA Marketplace.