1

A Conceptual Framework for Intranet Design

• Intranet design should leverage knowledge aboutits internal audience

• Information behaviors, culture, politics are necessaryand important elements of the analysis/design process

• Intranet:Information Resources + Services + IP network

• Many stakeholders:management, IT department, library/information center, userdepartments, employees, content providers, …

3 Guiding Principles

• Analyze organizations as Information Ecologies

• Analyze information behaviors as being shaped byInformation Use Environments

• Design Intranets as Value-Added Processes

2

Analyze Organizations as Information Ecologies

Information Ecology• Information Strategy• Information Politics

• Information Behavior & Culture• Information Staff

• Information Processes• Information Architecture

Davenport 1997

Analyze Information Behaviors inInformation Use Environments

Those elements [of the work context] that

• affect the flow and use of information

• determine the criteria by which the value of information messages will be judged.

The elements of the IUE are:

1. sets of people who work on classes of problems

2. problem situations defined by problem dimensions

3. information behaviors: information traits and use.

(Taylor 1991)

3

Information Use Environment (1): Sets of People or Users

Information Ecology

Value-added Processes

Problem Situations

Information BehaviorsMajo

r Sets

of User

s

IUEs provide a framwork for analyzing and asking questions aboutinformation preferences, needs, and information use outcomes :Who are the users? What are their information seeking preferences?What are their information needs?What work-related problems do they typically face?What are the attributes of the information that they find useful?How do they use the information?

Taylor 1991

Information Use Environment (2): Problem Situations

Information Ecology

Value-added Processes

Problem Situations

Information BehaviorsMajo

r Sets

of U

sers

Problem DimensionsDesign / DiscoveryWell / Ill-StructuredSimple / Complex

Specific / AmorphousGoalsInitial state understood /NotAssumptions agreedupon / NotAssumptions explicit/NotFamiliar / New

Risky / Not riskySusceptible to analysis /NotInternal / Externalimposition

Taylor 1991, Macmullin & Taylor 1984

4

Information Use Environment (3): Information Behaviors

Information Ecology

Value-added Processes

Problem Situations

InformationBehaviorsMajo

r Sets

of U

sers

Information UseCategories:Develop contextComprehend specificproblemFind out what or how to doDetermine the factsVerify, confirmPredict futurePersonal developmentDevelop relationships

Information Traits:Quantitative / QualitativeHard / Soft dataHistorical / ForecastingSingle / Range of solutionsPrecise / Diffused focusPractical / TheoreticalOperational / DescriptiveClinical / AggregatedCausal / DiagnosticTimely / Time-insensitive Taylor 1991, Macmullin & Taylor 1984

Designing Intranets as Valued-Added Processes

Information Ecology

Intranet as Value-added Processes

Problem Situations

Information BehaviorsMajo

r Sets

of U

sers

Information Use Environment

5

Designing Intranets as Valued-Added Processes

“I nformation services and systems should be developedas sets of activities that add value to the informationbeing processed in order to assist users to makebetter decisions and better sense of situations, andultimately to take more effective action.”

(Taylor 1986)

Since most messages carry potential for value,value added processes are those activities of information systems andservices that

• can signal this potential, and/or

• can relate the potential to a specific problem in a specific environment.

Valued-added in Information Systems & Services

6. Cost Savings

5. Time Savings

Responsive to specific needs ofperson, problemFlexible, multiple ways of workingwith the information

Closeness toproblemRelevance

4. Adaptability

Reliability, accuracyCurrency, coverage

Evaluatequality

3. Quality

Indexing, abstracts, summaries

References to related informationRanking, recommendations

IntellectualaccessLinkagePrecision

2. Noise Reduction

Table of contentsGrouping information by subject,date, project, …

BrowsingSearchingOrdering

1. Ease of Use

Value-added Activities, FeaturesValuesAdded

User Criteria

6

Designing Intranets as Value-added Processes:Information Ecology

Information Strategy Define goals of the Intranet

Examine role of information in organizational mission

Information Politics Need to coordinate, standardize

Establish high-level Intranet Committee

InformationBehavior &Culture

Make it easier to share information

Find people, groups to act as liaison, coordinators

Establish procedures to create, approve content

Information Staff Define, clarify roles for IT and information staff:webmasters, editors, content coordinators, ...

InformationProcesses &Architecture

Create structure for information management

Systematic approach to organizing information:taxonomy, data administration, records management

Designing Intranets as Value-added Processes:Problem Dimensions

DesignDiscovery

Use taxonomy, categories to broaden browsing

Use controlled vocabulary to focus in-depth searching

Well-structured/ Familiar

Ill-structured/ New

Provide checklists, links to forms, policies

Q&A databases, links to examples, cases

Simple

Complex

Templates, bookings/scheduling, work-flow apps

Analytical models; team rooms: discuss, set priorities

Empirical analysis

Not given to EA

Current, authoritative sources; clean, formatted data

Ask experts; online discussion forums (moderated)

7

Analysis/Design Framework (1)

1. Analyze organizations as Information Ecologies

2. Analyze information behaviors of major sets of

users in their Information Use Environments

3. Design Intranets as Value-Added Processes

Analysis/Design Framework (2)

1. INFORMATION ECOLOGYAnalyze the organization’s• mission

• intranet's goals and how they help the organization achieve its goals

• information management policies and plans

• information culture: e.g. attitudes towards information, information sharing,information load, and information gathering norms

• information politics

• physical setting and its effects on information access and use

• information staff (e.g. librarians, records managers, information systems staff,communication staff)

• information handling rules & routines for the creation, organizing, storing,disseminating, and preserving of information.

8

Analysis/Design Framework (3)

2. INFORMATION BEHAVIORS in INFORMATION USE ENVIRONMENTS

Identify the sets of major users you studied for this project.

What are their information needs, information challenges, and informationseeking preferences?

What problem situations do they typically face that cause them to seek and useinformation? What are the problem dimensions of these situations?

Analyze the traits of the information they find useful.

Analyze how they use this information.

Analysis/Design Framework (4)

3. INTRANETS as VALUE-ADDED PROCESSES

Design value-added processes that:

• address issues or difficulties in the organization's information ecology

• support information use behaviors by increasing the usefulness ofinformation

• create an online work-space for content access, communication, andcollaboration

• facilitate the use of tacit, explicit, and cultural knowledge

• support sense-making, knowledge-creation, and decision-making

9

A Framework for Contextual Design

1. Information Ecology

3. Intranet as Value-added Processes

2. Information Use Environment

Problem Situations

Information BehaviorsMajo

r Sets

of U

sers

Student Project Example

10

Student Project Example

Student Project Example

11

Student Project Example

Designing Intranets as Value-added Processes

Problem Situations

Information BehaviorsMajo

r Sets

of U

sers

Value-added Processes• Fit or improve organization’s information ecology

• Support information behaviors for problem resolution

• Content + communication + collaboration

• Information Architecture for navigating, finding content

• Access to tacit, explicit, cultural knowledge

Examples: search, browse, ask, alerts, expertise directories, FAQs, best practices,meeting minutes, checklists, work-flow, blogs, wikis, polling, discussion groups,communities of practice, ...