Revamping the Intranet for Improved Employee Efficiency
Role: UX Designer & Visual Designer
Client: RiverStone Group
Timeframe: 2021 Jan - 2021 Apr
Background : Transitioning to a New Era of Remote Work
Riverstone Group, a traditional reinsurance company with a long-standing history of in-person operations, faced significant challenges when the pandemic necessitated a sudden shift to remote work. Accustomed to face-to-face interactions and on-site collaboration, this transition exposed the limitations of their existing intranet system.
The head of HR at Riverstone Group approached us to address the challenges of constantly shifting Covid-19 policies and to ensure that all employees were kept up to date with company announcements.
Problem
The Riverstone Group relied on SharePoint and Teams to store and share company information. They sought a more efficient way to streamline news, integrating with their existing tools while also serving as a platform to strengthen their company culture.
Goal
The goal was to create an integrated Microsoft 365 digital hub that could support efficient remote work, streamline communication, and maintain the company’s strong sense of community.
Research Process
I conducted 10 interviews with employees from multiple departments, delving into their pain points and needs. Additionally, I developed two concepts based on previous research for concept testing and feedback. Below is an example of a news-based concept.
Research Findings
Through these interviews, I learned that their current intranet, essentially just a collection of files and folders on SharePoint, doesn’t feel like a place they would use daily. It’s frustrating for them as they sometimes can’t locate the files they need due to access issues. We asked questions about their expectations for an ideal intranet, which helped us envision key features to address their poor experience.
One thing that stood out was that employees from different roles and departments have varying workflows and application needs. The key challenge was how to integrate the intranet seamlessly into their daily activities without requiring extra effort on their part. Thus I came up with the following design principles below.
Design Principles
Modular Design
To accommodate the diverse needs and workflows of different employees, I focused on creating modular designs that provide flexibility. By separating features into widgets, it becomes easy to scale and adapt. Departments can add new tools or promote new programs as needed, on the other hand employee will have the possibility to personalize their experience by their own needs.
Intuitive Navigation
Intuitive navigation means users can easily browse through the page, find the apps they need, and always know their location within the interface. The previous experience had a complicated information architecture, making it confusing for users to locate what they needed. This principle ensures that users can find or search for information and tools with minimal effort.
Initial Wireframes
When designing wireframes, I balanced company information with updates on work files, coworker status, and project overviews. Interviews revealed that news-heavy intranets didn’t encourage daily use. Therefore, I was playing around with content including more project-related information like project status, coworkers' status, and working files.
Setback from Client
To ensure employees’ wishes and needs were considered during the design phase, especially since our client is the Head of HR at RiverStone Group, it was important to keep announcements loud and clear. This was crucial during a period when return-to-office policies were constantly changing due to illness or policy updates. We received feedback from our concept testing that an intranet flooded with news made employees less interested in using it. With that in mind, I aimed to balance announcements with project-related information.
Styleguide Creation
The RiverStone Group lacked a digital design library, having only a brand guideline for collateral. For this project, I created a design style guide to ensure accessibility and consistency across all screens.
High Fidelity Explorations
I refined and optimized the design through various experiments and by continually presenting it to users for feedback.
Final Design
Company View v.s My View
The view switch design allows users to consume information based on their role and later customize it according to their preferences.
Easy access to applications
Users can now prioritize frequently used apps on the intranet for quick access.
Search Improvement
Utilizing the SharePoint Query API offers a comprehensive search experience, significantly improving research result accuracy and addressing a key pain point for employees.