LabWeb: An Intranet Designed for Usability

This paper describes the approach and methodology used to redesign and restructure the toplevel pages of PNNL's large, distributed intranet. Usability principles and methods were essential in gaining acceptance of the product. We also learned the truth of Guy Kawasaki's dictum, "Think digital, act analog"; even the most thoughtfully designed web page can leave users cold until a human being helps explain it. As a result, we have found it very beneficial to provide a “live demonstration ” of LabWeb for various groups at their staff meetings. Background The Laboratory’s first intranet “welcome page ” was created in 1994. At that time, web technology was relatively primitive. Very few people at the Lab were familiar with HTML, and very few internal web pages existed. Our page was put together as a proof of concept; it consisted simply of text links to other internal sites (Human Resources, Finance, etc.). New links were added as new websites came online. This “table of contents ” format worked well enough to manage such a limited amount of content. Of course, we all know what happened to web publishing in 1995! New internal websites wer