Publishing content: Use it, don’t abuse it!

• Mark Morrell
• 2 years ago
• Categories: benefit, best practice, digital workplace, governance, intranet, publishing, standards, usability
• Tags: benefit, best practice, content, digital workplace, governance, standards, usability, usability standards, value

Content that is easy to use does not appear like that by magic.  It is having standards on usability, supported by training and guidance, that helps to make this happen.

Many organisations find it difficult to see the benefits from publishing standards.  I remove the barriers to show the benefits from each publishing standard in this series of posts.  Publishing standards aim to:

• Reduce the risk of sensitive information leaks
• Improve the overall user experience
• Make people using your intranet more satisfied with it
• Improve people’s productivity
• Improve people’s quality of work

Information must be usable and valuable to people who need to use it.  Features and functionality need to make it easier for people not just implemented for the sake of it. They should help people to share views, discover other people and their skills, find the right information and use what they find with the minimum of effort and time taken.

Your publishing standard should encourage employees to engage and influence the look and feel of your intranet as well as sites, applications, and tools. Embracing this approach through research, feedback with clear and transparent methods will help embed this and help to improve the overall consistency of your intranet user experience.

Benefits

Knowing that you are helping people to use information easily on your intranet gives three main benefits:

1. People using your intranet will have an easier and better experience. This will encourage people to use it more frequently and extensively because the intranet is consistent and usable and meets their needs
2. You can encourage your publishers to use the publishing templates with the usable design, layout, features and functionality be showing that more will use view their information.
3. Your organisation can be reassured the investment made in your intranet is justified by the increased use made by people to help with their work.