Don’t  Make  Us  Think:  Ge#ng  SharePoint  to  be  Useful,  Usable,  and  Used  

Kevin  Parker,  CIP  Sr.  Enterprise  Informa9on  Architect  at  NEOSTEK  

Introduc;on  Don’t  Make  Us  Think:    Ge#ng  SharePoint  to  be  Useful,  Usable,  and  Used  

In  this  session,  we’ll  explore  how  to:  •  Plan  useful  site  types  that  meet  your  business  needs  

•  Plan  usable  content,  naviga9on,  and  search  •  Promote  user  adop9on  with  communica9on,  learning,  and  support  

User  Adop;on  in  Context  Strategy  

What  are  we  trying  to  accomplish?  What  are  the  Cri9cal  Success  Factors?  

Archite

cture   How  do  we  

organize  and  structure  things?  

Governa

nce   How  do  we  

get  people  to  use  it  in  the  ways  we  intend?  

Implem

enta;o

n   How  do  we  build  it  out  and  get  users  started?   O

pera;o

n   How  do  we  support  users  and  drive  adop9on?  

Security,  Privacy,  Management,  Business  Con9nuity,  Reten9on,  Compliance,  Etc.  

User  Adop;on  

Success  =  Adop;on  

Make  it  Useful  

Meet  business  needs  with  

good  architecture  

Make  it  Usable  

Design  for  usability  and  accessibility  

Get  it  Used  

Promote  user  adop9on  with  communica9on,  learning,  and  

support  

Make  it  Useful:  Plan  site  and  list  types  that  meet  your  business  needs  Don’t  Make  Us  Think:    Ge#ng  SharePoint  to  be  Useful,  Usable,  and  Used  

What  Makes  a  Solu;on  Useful?  •  Meets  real  business  needs  •  Simplifies  work  processes  •  Improves  efficiency  •  Improves  quality  •  Improves  accountability  •  Lets  staff  and  leadership  do  their  jobs!  

First  Things  First:  Name  It  •  Don’t  call  it  “SharePoint”.  Come  up  with  a  non-­‐product-­‐specific  name.  

•  Make  it  simple  and  easy  for  people  to  remember.  •  Examples:  –  Inside  Acme  (inside.acme.tld)  – Acme  Connect  (connect.acme.tld)  – Acme  Hub  (hub.acme.tld)  – Acme  Central  (central.acme.tld)  

Iden;fy  Business  Needs  Business  Need   Descrip;on   Scope  

Intranet   Communica9on  and  knowledge  management  for  the  organiza9on  

Organiza9on  

Collabora;on   Collabora9on  spaces  for  units  and  teams   Units  &  Teams  

Content  &  Case  Management  

Document  and  content  management  for  specific  business  processes  

Business  Process  

Records  Management  

Records  repository  with  appropriate  controls  and  reten9on  management  

Organiza9on  

Plan  Site  Types  by  Business  Need  Business  Need   Site  Types  

Intranet   Enterprise  wiki  (or  other  publishing  site  type)  Blog  site  

Collabora;on   Team  sites  (preconfigured  for  your  teams)  Project  sites  (preconfigured  for  your  projects)  

Content  &  Case  Management  

Document  center  site  collec9ons  Case  sites  (special  preconfigured  subsites)  

Records  Management   Records  center  site  collec9ons  

When  You  Don’t  Plan:  Ad  Hoc  Sprawl  

When  You  Don’t  Plan:  Ad  Hoc  Sprawl  

Plan  Site  Collec;ons  SharePoint  

Farm  

Main  Web  App  

Web  Applica9on  

Intranet  Site  Collec9on  

Search  Center  Site  Collec9on  

/teams/  Managed  Path  

Execu9ve  Office  Site  Collec9on  

Line  of  Business  X  Site  Collec9on  

Line  of  Business  Y  Site  Collec9on  

Accoun9ng  Site  Collec9on  

Legal  Site  Collec9on  

Human  Resources  Site  Collec9on  

IM  &  IT  Site  Collec9on  

Cross-­‐Org  Teams  Site  Collec9on  

/sites/  Managed  Path  

Content  Type  Hub  Site  Collec9on  

Document  Center  X  Site  Collec9on  

Document  Center  Y  Site  Collec9on  

Records  Center  Web  Applica9on  

Records  Center  1  Site  Collec9on  

Records  Center  2  Site  Collec9on  

My  Sites  Web  Applica9on  

Collabora;on:  Each  top-­‐level  organiza9onal  unit  gets  a  team  site  collec9on  with  its  own  content  database:  •  Ensure  informa9on  isola9on  

by  group  •  Provide  for  growth  and  

maintenance  •  Allow  smaller  teams  to  have  

subsites  with  unique  permissions  

•  Create  subsites  in  a  special  site  collec9on  for  cross-­‐org  teams  

Some  Ways  to  Organize  Sites  •  Organize  by  Unit:  

–  Site  Collec9on  for  each  department  or  division  –  Subsites  for  teams  and  projects  

•  Organize  by  Site  Type:  –  Site  Collec9ons  for  specific  site  types  –  Subsites  for  specific  instances  of  site  types  

•  Organize  by  Program:  –  Site  Collec9on  for  each  program  –  Subsites  for  teams  and  projects  

Use  a  Content  Type  Hub  •  Centrally  manage  content  types  and  site  columns.  

•  Centrally  manage  informa9on  policies  9ed  to  content  types.  

•  Publish  changes  across  all  site  collec9ons  that  use  these  content  types.  

Create  Reusable  List  Types  •  Leverage  content  types  and  site  columns  in  the  content  type  hub  to  create  reusable  lists.  

•  Keep  metadata  columns  consistent  across  all  sites.  

•  Keep  informa9on  management  policies  consistent.  

Determine  What  Goes  Where  Informa;on  for  

everyone  

Goes  on  the  intranet  or  unit-­‐owned  intranet  subsite  

Informa;on  just  for  our  team  

Goes  in  the  team’s  site  collec9on  or  

subsite  

Informa;on  related  to  a  process  

Goes  in  the  case  or  

document  management  

site  

Informa;on  to  be  kept  as  records  

Goes  in  the  appropriate  

records  center  

Make  it  Usable:  Plan  usable  content,  naviga9on,  and  search  Don’t  Make  Us  Think:    Ge#ng  SharePoint  to  be  Useful,  Usable,  and  Used  

Some  Basic  Rules  of  Usability  Krug’s  first  law  of  usability:  •  “Don’t  make  me  think.”  More  principles:  • Make  and  keep  only  the  informa9on  you  need,  and  eliminate  ROT  (Redundant,  Obsolete,  Trivial).  • Make  it  easy  to  put  informa9on  in  the  right  SPOT  (Single  Point  Of  Truth).  • Make  informa9on  findable.  • Make  it  all  accessible.   Check  out  Don’t  Make  Me  

Think  by  Steve  Krug  

Make  Usable  Content  and  Pages  •  Use  clear  page  9tles  and  headings  (h1,  h2,  h3).  •  Omit  unnecessary  words.  •  Use  clear  links  and  labels  (including  naviga9on).  •  Make  text  readable  (high  contrast,  not  too  small,  columns  not  too  wide).  

•  Learn  to  love  white  space  (you  don’t  pay  by  the  pixel).  

Make  it  Clear  What  Goes  Where  Informa;on  for  

everyone?  

Put  it  on  the  intranet  or  unit-­‐owned  intranet  subsite  

Informa;on  just  for  our  team?  

Put  it  in  the  team’s  site  collec9on  or  

subsite  

Informa;on  related  to  a  process?  

Put  it  in  the  case  or  

document  management  

site  

Informa;on  to  be  kept  as  records?  

Put  it  in  the  appropriate  

records  center  (Beger  yet,  

automate  this!)  

Plan  Usable  Naviga;on  •  Make  the  logo  link  back  to  the  intranet  home  page  across  

all  site  types  and  site  collec9ons  (in  the  master  page).  •  Make  top-­‐level  (global)  naviga9on  consistent  across  

intranet  pages  and  subsites.  •  Context  (quick  launch)  naviga9on  can  vary  based  on  

loca9on.  •  Make  it  easy  to  get  from  a  team’s  collabora;on  site  to  

their  intranet  site.  •  Create  a  clear  site  map  and/or  index  for  site  collec9ons  

and  subsites.  

Improve  Search  •  Use  search  analy9cs  to  determine  what  people  are  searching  for  and  finding  (or  not).  

•  Leverage  SharePoint  search  features:  –  Results  Types  – Display  Templates  –  Results  Refiners  – Query  Sugges9ons  

•  Plan  on  con9nuous  improvement  for  search.  

Get  it  Used:  Promote  adop9on  by  suppor9ng  your  user  community  Don’t  Make  Us  Think:    Ge#ng  SharePoint  to  be  Useful,  Usable,  and  Used  

Promote  User  Adop;on  •  Communica9on  •  Learning  Resources  •  Support  •  Change  Management  

Communicate  •  Leverage  exis9ng  corporate  communica9ons  channels  to  market  the  solu9on,  both  before  and  aier  implementa9on.  

•  Use  the  intranet  to  communicate  to  users  about  how  to  use  the  solu9on,  where  things  go,  how  to  get  help,  etc.  

Provide  Learning  Resources  •  Create  simple  wiki  tutorial  pages  in  each  site  to  explain  how  to  do  things  on  that  site—and  keep  these  current.  

•  Provide  live  and/or  video  tutorials  specific  to  how  to  do  things  on  your  sites.  

•  Host  user  group  mee9ngs.  •  Create  a  “center  of  excellence”  site  for  knowledge  management.  

•  DO  NOT  provide  generic  SharePoint  training  to  users.  

Provide  Support  •  The  help  desk  must  be  capable  of  suppor9ng  the  solu9on  (or  rou9ng  to  those  who  can).  

•  Provide  types  of  support:  – Site  planning  and  setup  (ini9al  and  improvements)  – Records  and  informa9on  management  guidance  – Access  and  permission  levels  (on/off  boarding)  –  Incident  response  

Manage  Change  •  When  first  implemen9ng,  plan  migra9on  for  informa9on,  processes,  AND  people.  

•  Monitor  analy9cs  and  reports  to  improve  capacity,  performance,  service  applica9ons,  search,  naviga9on,  etc.  

•  Communicate  and  coordinate  maintenance  windows  and  any  service  changes.  

Leverage  a  Center  of  Excellence  Site  

Connect  Central  Blog  §  News  §  Updates  §  Announcements  

Wiki  §  How-­‐to  guides  §  Learning  resources  §  Standards  §  Policies  

Forum  §  Support  §  Ask  the  experts  

Final  Thought:  “Build  it,  and  they  will  come?”  That  only  works  in  movies.  Instead,  make  your  solu9on  the  “path  of  least  resistance.”  Make  it  so  simple  that  they  don’t  have  to  think  about  how  things  work.  They  just  work.  Make  it  useful,  usable,  and  used.  

Kevin  Parker,  CIP  Kevin.Parker@neostek.com    twiger.com/JKevinParker  www.linkedin.com/in/JKevinParker  www.JKevinParker.com