5 Tips to Improve UI/UX and Adoption

So you have a corporate intranet that’s supposed to be unifying your workforce and helping them collaborate, but there’s one problem, nobody is using it! It’s no longer a secret – If you’re not giving your employees an engaging and modern user experience, your portal is as good as your old Walkman.

Using these 5 tips, you can revamp your outdated user interface and create a digital experience that your employees will actually use!

1. Enable employees to find what they’re looking for

Your employees are dying for easy and effective delivery of information. Revamp that old search “site” that doesn’t allow anybody to find what they’re looking for. Reconsider your navigation structure, considering the needs of the consumers and the content administrators. Show relevant information not just information based on storage location.

2. Don’t just design, design for Office 365

When you’re designing your digital experience for your employees, keep it simple and tailor it to O365. Taking this approach will allow your portal to scale with your business and the ongoing improvements in technology. Creating your portal without this strong foundation can make it obsolete overnight.

3. Ask don’t tell

You can’t just assume what your users want and need anymore. It is imperative that you interview the users who are going to be using the portal BEFORE you begin designing. At each stage of the design process there should be a correlating wireframe to share and test with end users. If there is a point where it doesn’t work for the user, use the feedback and try again. Digital workplaces centered around the user’s wants and needs will help you get the most out of your investment and increase adoption.

4. Make it a one-stop-shop

Integration with back-end applications is crucial. For example, users need information from configurators, pricing, shipping, product catalogs, marketing and more. If all this info can’t be found in the same place, why would your employees even bother checking the portal? Include connecting existing apps and information in your long-term roadmap. Adding additional functionality and enhancements in future phases keeps your portal fresh and your users involved.

5. Anytime, anywhere availability

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re constantly on-the-go. Give your employees the ability to access important corporate information and interact with co-workers from their mobile devices. Keep in mind that a user’s needs on a mobile device are not always the same as a desktop user. Shop around the app stores before going custom; there are many mobile applications available for install already.

Incorporating these 5 tips into your portal’s makeover or inception is a sure-fire way to ensure adoption. If not all of these features are currently feasible, the main takeaway should be – tailor your digital experience with your user’s best interests in mind. If they don’t have a say in its creation, it’s highly likely it’ll just be an unused tab on their browser.

You're on a roll! Try these next:

The DX Mindset: Digital Transformation is a Program Not a Project UX and Design: Working at an Agency Vs. Consultancy Vs. In-House