Would you ever consider going to a formal event in your workout clothes? Whether this hypothetical faux pas is triggered by indifference to your surroundings or an experiment in stretching the fabric of social etiquette, there would be no mistaking the fact that you’d look completely out of place. And to drive the point home, you’d be met by the whispers of bewildered onlookers as you part the mass of black ties and evening gowns in your sprayed-on Spandex. There’s a lesson to be learned here: You need the right look for the right occasion.

Big “I” versus little “i”
The differences between Internet and intranet design aren’t quite as obvious as wearing sweats to the Oscars. In fact, you might not be able to tell one from the other just by looking at them. But for all their similarities, they have some very subtle, yet fundamental idiosyncrasies that don’t translate well from one to the other.

Unfortunately, many web designers—most of whom started their careers building Internet sites— have a tendency to apply Internet design principles to building intranet sites. These designers need to adjust their mindset and design approach when they apply their expertise to an organization’s internal website. Why? Because intranets serve a much different purpose than their external counterparts.

A firm distinction must be made between commercial Internet sites and content-laden intranet sites. Otherwise the resulting intranet will seem overdressed for the productivity-oriented environment around it.

Commercial Internet sites are used as vehicles to market, promote, and sell a product or service. They need to be dressed up with high entertainment value—rich, high-resolution graphics; Flash or Shockwave animations; and watercooler content—to keep users interested and maximize public exposure. An intranet isn’t used to market or sell a product— it is the product. Intranet sites aren’t based so much on entertainment value, but rather on a utilitarian need to manage and publish large volumes of content to an organization’s user community. If Internet design is formal wear for a high-class function, then intranet design is the aerodynamic skinsuit worn by cycling time trialists—built for no-nonsense speed and efficiency.

This doesn’t mean intranets have to be devoid of pizzazz—you still want users to have an enjoyable experience—but it’s important that design be used to complement a site’s content, not overshadow it.

Anatomy of intranet design
Intranets are used primarily as content management systems. They store and disseminate everything from human resources information to engineering schematics to large graphic libraries. Yet just as for the Internet, designers—though not primary content providers—play a vital role in the presentation of content.

Contrary to what some of the more processminded intranet managers may think, design isn’t a frivolous cosmetic tool used to dress up content. In addition to contributing to overall user satisfaction, proper intranet design accomplishes three very important things:

1. Design creates a recognizable brand.
An easily recognizable system brand can be used by intranet owners for internal marketing. It can be the basis for the creation of promotional material such as posters and banners, mouse pads, brochures, and letterheads. This increases system visibility and will help promote usage.

An effective brand also helps to distinguish the officially sanctioned intranet from other unofficial subsites that may be floating around the company. Because of the ease with which websites can be built, it’s possible for an organization’s network to become fl ooded with less-than-serious, non-work-related subsites. An intranet brand helps maintain the credibility of the official system.

2. Design creates navigational structure and user interface.
Navigational structure and user interface are perhaps the most crucial aspects of intranet design. They not only provide an effective means to get from point A to point B, they also create a logical relationship among the contents stored within an intranet (as opposed to the physical relationship of files and folders within a web or application server).

Intranet sites are goal-oriented: Users mostly want to quickly find what they’re looking for and leave. Navigation must cater to this need. The type of navigation and interface you choose will depend largely on the purpose of the intranet and its content categories. Most intranets have a combination of standard website navigation and interface types:

• Hierarchical—Traditional parent-child structure classifies content categories by top- and sublevels, resembling a family tree.

• Sequential—Sibling, or peer-to-peer, structure creates a sequential ordering of pages. Sequential navigation is often used for presentations or instructions where page order is important.

• Site maps—Site maps provide users with a bird’seye view of the entire site without having to manually navigate the structure.

• Query-based—Some intranets have no fixed menus and are built entirely around a database. Rather than using a series of static HTML pages, content is built dynamically by scripts based on user input instead of navigating a menu.

3. Design establishes standards for presentation and layout.
Intranet designers must know their audience, keeping in mind two key groups: those using the intranet, and those managing it.

The visual style of an intranet should depend, at least in part, on the organization’s culture. A more conservative environment accustomed to dealing with paper-based documents will probably prefer simpler, cleaner, no-frills content presentation. Endusers in a relaxed and creative environment will be more receptive to elaborate presentation—but again, it must never overshadow the content.

Design choices, however, play a major role in the lives of content providers who will be handling the content on a daily basis. Intranets must be manageable by nontechnical content providers, so don’t allow your design to become an impediment to them. If they have to jump through hoops simply to add a menu item, they’re likely to either make mistakes or ignore the rules … or both.