Session Abstract

As an organization’s intranet owner, you’re part of the discussion around page design, content, and navigational structures. You're often under pressure to build things a certain way based on executive level pressure. In this session we will talk about real usability concepts with demonstrated success and research behind it. We'll dive into mental models and usability design, specifically hitting topics like • Examine why users ignore intranet content even when it is technically available • Explore how mental models differ from organizational structures and why designing around real employee tasks creates more intuitive pathways • Learn how cognitive load can affect intranet option and how to fix it • Review how content design directly affects findability • Identify practical improvements intranet owners can make immediately. Attendees will leave with practical usability techniques they can use to push past opinion-driven design decisions and build intranet experiences around how people actually think, work, and search.

Patrick Cash-Peterson

Patrick is a UX certified Nielsen Norman Group Professional specializing in site builds, migrations, and user experience. He has over 20 years experience working with clients as a project manager in many different fields. Patrick brings a unique understanding blending design, user experience, and project management to work with clients. He is skilled at balancing those goals against the project scope, requests, timeline, as well as easing concerns around the changes the projects can bring. Patrick enjoys digging content to help build strong information architecture as well as helping clients understand user experience and helping them implement best practices.