Note: This appeared in Intranet Professional, prior to its re-launch as Intranets (in 2004).

IP: What unique role does a Web designer play in ensuring the end user has a positive experience on the intranet?

EH: I find in most of my intranet projects that the Web designer is the person responsible for cohesion within the project. Web designers are no longer just artists or Photoshop wizards—their responsibilities have expanded. As a traditional designer, you need to understand color, line, shape, and form. As a Web designer, you need all of the traditional design skills plus an understanding of corporate or brand image, Web navigation, information architecture, and software engineering. Additionally, you must understand the needs of your customer and end user. Through the integration of all these disciplines, the Web designer can create a positive experience for users with a Web site that is not only visually appealing but also technically functional and usable.

IP: How do Web designers know when they have successfully accomplished their function? What methodologies may be used to determine success?

EH: The designer's ultimate goal is to produce Web interfaces that function as the user would intend them to. This is certainly not an easy task with an intranet, which has a broad range of user types and needs. With intranets it is difficult to know if a Web site design is working for its users. Passively, a designer can rely on log data to determine if users are finding the information they need and using navigation as intended. However, this is only a small part of determining if a site is designed correctly.

Taking a proactive approach, user needs and expectations should be determined long before any design is produced or released. Questionnaires and interviews with end users are an essential part of understanding user needs. During the production phase, user feedback is also important. This can be accomplished through volunteer testing of prototype interface designs. Even after release, designers need to solicit feedback from users to determine if the site functions to meet their needs. Ultimately, ongoing communication is the paramount tool for creating intranet usability.

It is important to remember that the Web is not a stagnant tool. Its dynamic ability to provide up-to-the-second information makes it a work that is constantly in progress. Additionally, user behaviors and needs change; advanced technological tools become available to enhance Web operations. Because of this, Web designers must constantly test and retest designs and update content to ensure the site still accomplishes its goals and meets current standards of usability. Far too often Web sites are created and left to rot on the information vine.

IP: What are the must-have skills and competencies for this role?

EH: Web designers are more than artists. They are more technologists than designers. Web designers must have a core set of skills that allows them to produce designs that are visually pleasing, offer credibility to the site, and keep ease of use paramount. To create a usable experience for users on the intranet, Web designers need to understand many disciplines. Web designers should possess traditional design and art skills, along with basic understanding of Web technologies, information architecture, usability, sociology, and psychology. When asked why this is the case, I always respond with, "Look at the complexity of the Web!" The Web is far more complex than any printed piece, video production, or multimedia CD. Therefore, it requires many more skills to master, and the designer will need these additional skills to be successful. The recipe for a good Web designer includes a foundation in traditional design, a good understanding of current Web technologies, and finally a constant study of how users use the intranet.

IP: Which associations, standards bodies, professional literature, communities of practice, and continuing education programs do you recommend for anyone interested in the subject of Web design?

EH: Designers are an eclectic breed and therefore do not have many organizations or standards bodies that oversee their certification. Those for traditional design have existed for many years and continue to offer peer support and career networking. However, I have found there is no better place to learn about the Web than the Web. Doing a simple search on usability turns up an enormous amount of information. I also find the Web to be the best place to see new and exciting ways to deal with intranet design. Much of the design work produced on the Internet is usually visually ahead of the work on intranets. Examining Web sites is an excellent source for creative ideas for designers. Additionally, the more you can get involved in the Web community the better.

Here are some good sources on the Web:

• Wired Magazine [http://www.wired.com/]
• webmonkey.com [http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmon key/]
• The SIGCHI ACM [http://www.acm.org/sigchi/]
• Jakob Nielsen's Web site [http://www.useit.com/]
• Intranet Journal and forum [http://www.intranetjournal .com/ix/index.html]
• Jared Spool's Web site [http://www.uie.com]

I have also found seminars and conferences to provide good learning experiences for designers. These forums provide information on a variety of topics that can help "round out" knowledge and support Web development efforts. On the creative side, I would recommend the HOW Design Conference [http://www.howconference.com] and Web Design World [http://www.webdesignworld.com/]. On the technical side, I would recommend the Intranets conference [http//www.kmworld.com/kmw03/].

IP: If you could transfer key learnings from your own experience to someone just starting out, what would be the top three?

EH: Communicate. Talk to others in the field, ask forum members to critique your work, ask questions on how technology works, talk to speakers at conferences, and share your knowledge with others. Communication is even more important in the vacuum of intranet design. Very rarely do corporate intranet designers get the opportunity to see other designers' work. By sharing and communicating with our peers we continue to learn from our mistakes and challenge ourselves to create better work.

Listen. Much of my work is listening to my customers' needs and my users' wants. During many of my meetings I say very little. I just listen to the ideas, thoughts, feelings, and needs of my customers and users. Having good listening skills and being able to interpret customer and user needs are skills that will take you far in the Web design world.

Learn. The Web, the Internet, and the intranet are ever-changing entities; this includes both the type of technology that is used to the way Web pages look. A good Web designer will continue to educate him/herself on the new technologies, the most recent usability studies, and even a Flash or Photoshop tutorial. Spend time examining Web pages and see how other designers solve difficult navigation or layout problems. Read. Step away from the computer and pick up a book, magazine, or newspaper. Many times I have been able to solve a design problem from something I saw on TV or glanced at in a magazine. Reading an interesting statistic about people can sometimes even solve usability problems. Never stop learning.

The reader will note that this article does not focus on the tools Web designers use. The software packages that designers use to create Web sites are just tools. Obviously, the better designers are at using these tools, the easier it is to get their ideas into the computer. However, creativity and innovation are not available features of any graphic software package. These skills are developed over time through ongoing education and communication. Most industries today label the Web designer as "the guy who makes things look pretty" or "the lady who does Photoshop." But Web designers are so much more. Web designers are faced with difficult interface and information problems daily, and these can only be solved with creativity, contemplation, and strategy, not software products.