Nielsen Norman Group Announces Its 'World's 10 Best Intranets'

Five years ago when usability research firm Nielsen Norman Group conducted its first intranet design contest, companies viewed their intranet mostly as a nice-to-have, and left it to grow as it may.

This year's 10 world's best intranets demonstrate clearly that intranets have come of age, and are now being built strategically and purposely as a need-to-have productivity tool that delivers substantial cost savings. This year's winners showcase the latest and best in intranet design and function, and are described in detail in Nielsen Norman Group's "Intranet Design Annual 2005: The Year's Ten Best Intranets," co-authored by usability expert Jakob Nielsen and his associates Kara Pernice Coyne, director of research and researcher Mathew Schwartz.

"The winning companies saved between $200 and $1,000 annually per employee by improving their intranets. If all companies designed equally good intranets, the annual gains would be at least $22 billion in the United States alone, or about $100 billion added to the world economy," said Jakob Nielsen, principal, Nielsen Norman Group.

The 10 best intranets for 2005, in alphabetical order, are

• Banco Espanol de Credito (Banesto) (Spain)
• Cisco Systems Inc. (U.S.)
• The Electrolux Group (Sweden)
• The Integer Group (U.S.)
• NedTrain (Macaw B.V.) (The Netherlands)
• Orbis Technology (U.K.)
• Park Place Dealerships (U.S.)
• Procter & Gamble (U.S.)
• Schematic (U.S.)
• Verizon Communications (U.S.)

"Our winners are the best of the best intranets. They stood out because it's clear they put resources into identifying features that help all of their employees be more productive, and then they present the features creatively and with an eye always on usability and accessibility, whether for employees with disabilities or for those who work outside the office environment," said Kara Pernice Coyne, director of research, Nielsen Norman Group.

Highlights From This Year's Contest

Beyond the Office:
Intranets came to life as document repositories, and soon grew into support tools for office workers. Now, intranets are so important for all employees, they're moving beyond the office-bound role to areas such as warehouses, and are becoming more accessible for employees with disabilities. Four of this year's winners, Electrolux, NedTrain, Procter & Gamble, and Verizon provide access to their intranets through kiosks in factories.

Advanced Design Concepts:
Intranets today are pioneering the use of online video, which is still rarely used successfully on websites. Companies use video to showcase the personality of their executives and illustrate the company's culture. Orbis built its intranet on the platform of a Wiki, a collaborative authoring environment in which any employee can edit any page at any time.

Internationalization:
Several of the winning intranets support employees in multiple countries, and in some cases provide localized portals in as many as seven languages. Electrolux puts the current time-of-day at three main locations (Sweden, Eastern US and Sydney) at the top of every page.

"Intranet Design Annual 2005: The Year's Ten Best Intranets," which presents detailed case studies of the 10 winners, is available to download for $128 from the Nielsen Norman Group Web site.