Employee Internal portal - Infinitus
Beyond the Social Intranet: Unlocking Productivity with a Customized Workstation
A social intranet can serve as a digital hub, mirroring the familiarity of Facebook for work-based interactions. However, its success hinges on more than just technology – it demands an underlying shift in company culture.
To truly benefit from a social intranet, employees across all levels must actively participate and engage with its features. This requires not only a well-designed platform but also a willingness to adapt and adopt new ways of communicating and collaborating within the organization.
As we delve into this case study, you'll discover how one company pivoted the initial concept from a social intranet to a practical internal portal. This shift aimed to create a more efficient and effective workspace by streamlining tasks, improving communication, and enhancing employee engagement.
Through user research, design thinking workshops, and data analysis, the team identified key pain points and areas for improvement. By prioritizing practicality over social features, they created a portal that catered to the diverse needs of employees at all levels.
Role.
UI/UX Designer
Team.
LKK Health Product Group IT, Admin Team
Scope.
UX Research - User interview | Research analysis | MVP testing
UX design - Usability test | Prototyping
UI design - Visual design | Photography
Overview.
I led the redesign of an internal portal for overseas employees using Microsoft Sharepoint as the foundation. The project aimed to enhance the user experience and streamline task completion for colleagues working remotely.
The initial request was to incorporate social features into the portal, which I believed would not align with the corporate culture and behavior of our traditional Chinese organization. Instead, I focused on creating a functional platform that addresses the unique needs of overseas employees.
I collaborated closely with product managers and engineers to design a modular approach for the portal. Our goal was to create an efficient platform that enables colleagues from different departments to complete essential tasks, such as:
Applying for IT equipment
Requesting vacation time
Submitting reimbursement claims
Booking meeting rooms
By prioritizing functionality and ease of use, we created a tailored intranet solution that addresses the specific needs of overseas employees in our organization. The redesigned portal has improved task completion efficiency, reduced administrative burdens, and enhanced overall user satisfaction.
This experience highlights the importance of adapting design solutions to meet the unique cultural and behavioral needs of organizations, rather than imposing generic or trendy approaches.
Background.
As part of its extensive portfolio, the LKK Health Products Group serves as the parent company for multiple subsidiaries, including:
Infinitus (Direct Selling Company): A renowned direct selling company with a strong focus on health and wellness products.
Infinitus Property Investment: A real estate investment arm of the group, catering to the needs of its diverse stakeholders.
Tianfanjian (TCM Herbal Production): A leading manufacturer of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbal products, leveraging centuries-old knowledge and expertise.
HeHa (Healthtech Startup): A cutting-edge startup focused on innovative health technology solutions, driven by a passion for improving people's lives.
With a workforce exceeding 8,000 employees, the LKK Health Products Group has established itself as a formidable player in the healthcare industry.
Initiative to Develop Internal Portal:
The group's chairman has emphasized the importance of digital transformation, recognizing its potential to revolutionize business operations and drive growth. To propel this initiative forward, the China division embarked on an ambitious project to develop a brand-new internal portal leveraging Microsoft Sharepoint's capabilities. This cutting-edge platform aimed to streamline communication, enhance collaboration, and provide seamless access to essential resources for employees across the organization.
Challenges.
Lack of Integration: Despite leveraging Sharepoint as a foundation, the final product failed to incorporate its intended functionalities, rendering the investment in Sharepoint features redundant.
Customization Overload: The extensive customization efforts led to a loss of standardization and consistency, potentially complicating future maintenance and updates.
Missed Opportunities: By not fully utilizing Sharepoint's capabilities, the project may have missed opportunities for improved collaboration, content management, and scalability.
Social sharing function allows colleagues to share, reply and like posts just like Facebook.
The mainland portal was designed with customised components, and it did not leverage any of the Sharepoint services.
Most components cannot be re-used.
Research.
To optimize our internal portal's performance, I conducted an in-depth analysis to identify areas for improvement. My objectives were twofold:
Understand Stakeholder Needs: Collaborate with various internal support departments (Administrative Department, HR Department, IT Support Department, and Finance Department) to determine their common requests and core functionalities required from the internal portal.
Identify Areas of Improvement: Conduct in-person interviews with colleagues to gather insights on pain points and areas where the workflow could be enhanced.
To achieve these objectives, I:
Facilitated workshops with the Administrative Department, HR Department, and IT Department to discuss their specific needs and expectations from the internal portal.
Gathered feedback from colleagues through interviews, enabling me to pinpoint areas of improvement in our current workflow.
Collected information from vendors, programmers, and engineers specializing in SharePoint customizations to identify technical boundaries and opportunities for optimization.
By engaging with various stakeholders and exploring areas for improvement, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of how to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our internal portal, leveraging the capabilities of SharePoint.
Research insight.
Our research revealed several key challenges and pain points with our current internal portal setup:
Low Engagement
Colleagues only engage with the social intranet when it is mandatory in their workflow, indicating a lack of motivation or relevance.
Inconsistent User Information
Despite being employed for some time, none of the colleagues have updated their profile information, which is pre-configured by the HR department. This suggests that there may be limited opportunities for self-expression and connection within the organization.
Preferred Communication Channels
Colleagues overwhelmingly prefer to use alternative communication tools like Slack, IM, emails, or project management platforms rather than the internal portal, indicating a need for more effective collaboration tools.
Disorganized Service Sites
Centralized access is lacking, making it difficult for colleagues to locate relevant information.
Scattered service sites with separate login credentials create confusion and inconvenience.
Colleagues often rely on memorizing links or seeking assistance from others to access these sites.
Internal Support Department Needs
Relevant information, manuals, event photos, and forms are not effectively stored within the internal portal.
Internal support departments continue to utilize shared network drives, which are challenging to access.
Knowledge Management and Sharing
The organization relies heavily on HR folders or shared network drives for storing contacts, seats, passwords, and other essential information. This creates a siloed knowledge base that is difficult to maintain and update.
Proposed solutions.
Create A personalised workstation For colleagues To get their job done at ease, access different systems at ease, search what they want at ease And improve working efficiency
Create A modular site templates For departments To set up their homepage to store public information and publish news And improve communication efficiency, working efficiency, and cost efficiency
To address the challenges identified in our research insights, we propose a comprehensive solution that prioritizes creating a centralized tools hub for our colleagues. This approach aligns with the "done and run" philosophy, focusing on providing essential resources and tools to support their work.
Key Components of the Proposed Solution:
Personalized Workstation: Each colleague's workstation will be equipped with a customized menu tailored to their department or role. Additionally, they can personalize their workspace as per their preferences.
Global Search Functionality: A robust global search feature will be integrated to enable colleagues to find relevant information and resources quickly, streamlining their workflow.
Microsoft 360 Software Access: Convenient access to Microsoft 360 software will be available from a top-right icon, simplifying the process of utilizing these tools.
Modular Site Templates
To facilitate easy setup and customization, we will utilize modular site templates for departmental pages as well as project pages. This approach allows teams to:
Easily set up pre-designed web parts tailored to their specific needs
Edit page contents with ease, ensuring that information remains up-to-date
Design.
Personalized Workstation
Our design features a customized workstation for each colleague, allowing them to access all necessary systems through single sign-on. This streamlined approach enables colleagues to:
Access various systems and departments from a tailored left menu
Personalize their homepage as a workspace rather than a corporate news feed
Key components of the personalized workstation include:
Document Access: Easy access to relevant documents, eliminating unnecessary navigation.
Contact Information: Quick access to important contacts, fostering collaboration.
To-Do List: A centralized task management system to keep colleagues on track.
Global Search Functionality
For situations where information cannot be readily found within the personalized workstation, our design includes a robust global search feature powered by Microsoft services. This comprehensive search functionality enables colleagues to:
Quickly locate relevant information across the internal portal
Save time and increase productivity
Modular Site Templates
To facilitate efficient setup and customization of departmental sites, we have designed several pre-designed web parts tailored to specific departmental needs. These modular site templates enable teams to:
Easily set up their sites using pre-designed layouts and components
Customize their pages with minimal effort, ensuring that information remains up-to-date.
# Personalised workstation
Colleagues can access all the systems by single sign-on. They can access different systems and departments from the customised left menu.
The homepage is designed as a personalised workstation rather than a corporate news broadcast site. Colleagues can access their documents, contacts and to-do list.
Or they need to search anything they want through the global search provided by Microsoft service.
#Modular site templates
Several pre-designer web-part has been designed for departments to set up their sites at ease.
Administration department page is designed with six web-parts. Documents are kept for temporary use while they are not ready for digital forms and workflows.
The above page is an onboarding project page designed for the HR department. And the whole page can streamline a lot of process for the HR department, IT department and Administrative department. With the new portal, they can get rid of the HR orientation folders too.
Impact / Learnings.
Our efforts have yielded significant benefits, positively impacting our internal portal and its users.
Positive Adoption and Scalability
The success of our design has led to its adoption by Mainland portal for their own overseas portal, demonstrating the scalability and adaptability of our solution.
Improved Efficiency and Cost Savings
A key metric used to gauge user satisfaction is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Our internal portal achieved an impressive 8 out of , indicating high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty. This positive impact has directly contributed to:
Increased efficiency among department managers and operating colleagues
Significant cost savings through optimized processes
High Satisfaction Rate from Overall Staff
During the pilot run, our internal portal scored an outstanding 77.8% satisfaction rate from overall staff, showcasing a strong endorsement of our design solution.
These results demonstrate that our efforts have led to a more user-friendly, efficient, and effective internal portal, positively impacting the organization as a whole.