Behind the Firewall

The discovery process at the beginning of a Web development project should be expansive, like a balloon. This is the time to brainstorm and get as much information as possible onto the table. The goal is to capture all requirements up front in order to plan an efficient implementation. The users of your intranet site, both contributors and consumers, are your best source of information about content requirements.

Ask questions
Since your intranet will be a business tool, base your questions on your users’ business objectives and functional roles. Think in terms of the communication between users and the relationships between work processes. The following three sets of questions will help you build a model of your intranet content.

First: Process questions
It is helpful to begin with guided brainstorming about the functional roles of your users. Resist the temptation to brainstorm about “what should be posted on our intranet.” Instead, take a few minutes to focus on the day-to-day objectives of the people who will be using your intranet and their current processes for accomplishing those objectives.

ASK:

• What is your team or group membership within your larger business unit?
  
• What is the mission or function of your team?
  
• What is your individual business role?
  
• What are your business objectives?
  
• What questions do you ask in the course of doing your job?
  
• Who provides the information you need to meet your business objectives?
  
• To whom do you provide information in order to accomplish your objectives?
  
• What questions do colleagues and customers ask you?
  

Map the answers
Capture this high-level view of your business processes using a concept map. Draw a bubble for each person or role identified as part of the business process. Draw lines connecting the bubbles to show communication patterns. Next to these lines, list the questions and answers identified as common to these business processes. You may want to flag each item with a label indicating associated business objective(s).

Ask more questions
After developing the concept map of your business objectives, processes and communications, you can begin identifying the resource materials that support these interactions.

Second: Resource questions
In a new brainstorming session, invite your users to name every document and service they access in the course of their work. Remember that the goal is to capture all of the requirements now to limit surprises mid-production.

ASK:

• Name every document you touch during the course of your work.
  
• What type of document is it (spreadsheet, Word document, PDF, input form, etc.)?
  
• Briefly describe its function (report, newsletter, glossary).
  
• Name every online application or service you access to do your job.
  
• What type of resource is it (public Internet, internal application, etc.)?
  
• What purpose does it serve?
  

Remind the users to name every file, library and online application they can think of, regardless of how relevant it may seem at the moment. Write each item down in a list.

Look for patterns
Now that you’ve collected the data from your two brainstorming sessions, your next step is to arrange the data in a meaningful way. This will give form to your intranet.

Third: Analysis questions
Take a look at all the data you’ve collected and see if any patterns stand out. The key is going to be revealing the way your users interact with each other and how they use available resources.

ASK:

• How often do you access each resource (document, service, etc.)?
  
• List who uses each resource (consumers)?
  
• Who owns/produces/manages each resource (contributors)?
  

Document your findings
Combine the information you’ve gathered from these three activities into a content model for your intranet. For example, you might use a spreadsheet with columns for contributors, business objectives, content, content type, frequency of use, and consumers. The resulting document will be a reference source and communication tool for your intranet project going forward.