Intranet Testing
Intranets have become crucial components of modern business infrastructures and are being adopted by virtually every company. They are used in delivering organizational information, processes and workflows (McHale, 2012). Intranets are developed through accretion, and there is the need to include the organization’s information resources in the development of the intranets. However, issues in the testing of the intranets exist because of difference between the developers and users. These issues can be efficiently be resolved by including both groups in the testing of the intranets.
The best option of resolving the issues between the developers and users is by gathering a representative group of users to test the usability of the intranet (Smith, 2003). The group is given certain tasks to perform, observe and measure the usability of the intranet and approve whether it would be crucial in completing the required tasks. In this regard, the users will determine whether the intranet can be effectively navigated. Additionally, the users will be given the opportunity of determining whether the groupings of the topics in the intranet are logical.
Developers of the intranet should observe the users in testing the efficiency of the intranet and be able to resolve any problem that is noted by the user group. The developers should ensure that the users perform the set tasks and complete short questionnaires that are based on their impressions, comments, as well as suggestions. Additionally, the developers should cooperate with the users by explaining the purpose, instructions and guidelines of the intranet to the users. This would ensure that a mutual understanding exists between the developers and users in relation to the development of the intranet.
References
McHale, N. (2012). Designing and developing library intranets. London, Routledge Publishers.
Smith, S. M. (2003). Five things you should know when developing an Intranet. Retrieved on
25th October, 2012 from
http://conferences.alia.org.au/online2003/papers/murraysmith.pdf
