> Archived Articles   In the collection Intranet Principles Defining a mission statement that mobilizes Making User Architecture Meaningful, Part 1 Making User Architecture Meaningful, Part 2 Complex Intranets & Governance: Who decides what? Sliver Platters: Danger warning or sign of health? “Understand the intention, then react accordingly.”

Silver Platters Danger warning or sign of health? (April 2004) I've often seen silver platters in large intranets. They are pages of links selected by a well-intentioned user to help others find what he/she has found to be useful. "I'll bring you everything you need on a silver platter!" Why does the person do this? It can be because the intranet is hard to navigate. Or content that should be found in one place is too dispersed and you never know if you have found it all. It can be a political statement by a team or department, a declaration that they want their own entry point, their own approach to the content they use the most. In this case, the silver platter becomes a pseudo home page. Some platters are useful Theme-based silver platters can be useful. For example, "marketing information" where links are provided to the marketing "sub sites" on the intranet from all locations or divisions, along with links to competitor web sites and online industry information sources. This type of silver platter occurs in intranets that are not currently structured according to community needs. The platter may evolve into a community portal but this will require a strategy for managing both content and users. Another useful silver platter is a page of links to all the online newsletters available in the company. This lets people read newsletters and subscribe if they are interested. This type of platter facilitates the "on-request push" that can save time for users. Keep an eye on the silver platter phenomenon, and implement some simple rules. Every platter needs a signature, a contact email and the date when it was last updated. When you see a platter growing and it has an active owner, consider transforming it into a full-fledged space or service and integrate it into the intranet site map and navigation. Silver platters can be a sign that people are becoming very active users of the intranet. They can also be a warning that you need to re-look at your information architecture   (April 2004)

Breakfasts Paris-based working breakfasts for Net managers Survey Annual Global Intranet Strategies Survey - practices, trends, charts and analysis Globally Local Intranet strategies blog by JMC (English) Carnet intranet Stratégies intranet par JMC (Français)