ABSTRACT:
Portals are very commonly used platforms that address many needs. This paper provides a unique method of organizing portal pages and therefore enabling accessibility of the information and knowledge provided in the portal. The portal is the main platform for knowledge management solutions and for content rich applications; accessibility has been found to be a critical factor for portal use and business success. The method reported is based on organization by context rather than by knowledge format. Relating the context to processes of work and main users' needs, as defined by field users, yields high-level portal usability and therefore to effectively built portals.
Keywords:
Knowledge management, Portal, Content organization
The Portal Platform
Portals are very commonly used platforms that
address many needs. The Portal, in its initial meaning, is "a grand and
imposing entrance (often extended metaphorically)" (Dalkir,
2005; p 340). The term portal today is indeed used metaphorically. The portal
is a workplace, enabling effective consolidation of data, information and
knowledge. As people struggle today in the overwhelming environment of
information and information systems representing data, the portal serves as an
organizer, easing the process of reaching the right content at the right time.
The term is used sometimes as is, however sometimes is defined as "the
enterprise portal" or "the knowledge portal" distinguishing it
from the Internet based portal: Neuman, et al. (2005; p 475) state: “
Collins (2003) and Firestone (2003), quoted by Dalkir (2005; p 234), explain the nature of the portal:
"Knowledge portals provide access to diverse enterprise content,
communities, expertise, and internal and external services and
information." Dalkir (2003; p 234-235) continues
and elaborates on the portal's essence: "The purpose of a portal is to
aggregate content from a variety of sources into a one-stop shop for relevant
content. Portals enable the organization to access internal and external
knowledge that can be consolidated, analyzed, and used as inputs to decision
making… Knowledge portals link people, processes, and valuable knowledge
content and provide the organizational glue or common thread that serves to
support knowledge workers."
Kotorov and Hsu (2001; p 86) explain the critical nature of the
portal in the Knowledge Management context: “If we state it
metaphorically, knowledge management portal technology holds the promise of
being the brain of the organization (Nelson & Winter 1982) that provides
its employees with vital information (Kotorov 2001)
for success in the hypercompetitive market place, which in turn secures the
survival of the organization.”
The Accessibility Challenge
Many portals and websites are content rich. There is no accurate definition for the term "content rich". Many websites on the Internet serve as marketing and sales enablers; others, as collaborative sites, connecting people with shared interests. Both types may or may not be defined as content rich, depending on the amount of pages they include. If the normative user can easily reach all content on site, no matter how it is organized and what search engine is supplied, and find requested information, we will not define it as "content rich". If accessibility depends on organization and/or on other search mechanisms, the portal or website are defined: content rich. It does not matter whether the portal enables access to information and knowledge stored on it or if the information and knowledge displayed are stored elsewhere and only reflected via the portal. Content rich depends on the result. Neuman et al. (2005; p 472) affirm: ”Web portals, as content aggregators, provide efficient access to information and services online: they are electronic gateways or entrances that provide hypertext links to other sites and collect information. They provide a focal point and an information source that can be personalized, allowing people to gather detailed information, on demand. Web portals play an increasingly important role amongst online communities as audiences seek out more specific information, providing valuable opportunities.” Accessibility is so important that it is addressed in one of the three questions to be answered on the portal mission statement: ”Who will the portal serve? What information or services will the portal provide? And - How will the information be delivered?” (Augustyniak et al, 2005a; p 287). Furthermore, Augustyniak et al (2005b; p 643) state: “Content management is the keystone of a portal. The components of a portal CM strategy include the content inventory and analysis, content acquisition, access structures, classifying content, content life cycle, CM software, and metadata standards.”
Accessibility is one of the main factors of
usability. Usability is defined as a criterion in portal quality models.
”The portal must provide a simple and intuitive navigation for
users” (Moraga, Calero & Piattini 2006; p 557); Criteria include:
”Usability: content layout and classification, website structure,
etc. ” (Moraga, Calero & Piattini 2006; p 559).
Augustyniak et al (2005b; p 643) claim:”The
success or failure of a portal is directly linked to the effectiveness of its
CM strategy. Due to the explosion of available information via the web, the
challenge for the IP who is developing a portal is not acquiring and storing
voluminous amounts of content from various sources, but instead organising the information so that it can be delivered in a
customised, personalised
format. The goal of the portal is to provide end-users access to highly
relevant data from a myriad of sources, simultaneously and in
real-time.”
High level accessibility, however, is not as easy
as might be anticipated. Too many portals are built, yet usage level is low. Of
course, some portals' low usage level may result from poor content, irrelevant
content for the user. Accessibility may be perfect, but if the content reached
is not of benefit to the user, he or she will not come back. Nevertheless, many
content rich portals and websites do include necessary content but fail elsewhere.
“The success or failure of a portal is directly linked to the
effectiveness of its CM strategy. Due to the explosion of available information
via the web, the challenge for the IP who is developing a portal is not
acquiring and storing voluminous amounts of content from various sources, but
instead organising the information so that it can be
delivered in a customised, personalised
format. The goal of the portal is to provide end-users access to highly
relevant data from a myriad of sources, simultaneously and in real-time”
(Augustyniak et al, 2005b; p 643). ”The portal
will only provide as much value as the accessibility of its content” (Augustyniak et al 2005b; p 644). The present situation is
not optimal: ”Current web technologies are
seriously limited in making distributed information accessible for users in an
efficient manner” (Neuman et al. 2005; p 475).
Cousins (2006; p 434) agrees: “Portals are not great user
experiences.” An overflow of information is almost as deficient as a lack
of information, because the bottom line is the same: The user does not arrive
at the required information and knowledge. Calabrese and Orlando (2006; p 250)
coined the term: “Three clicks to content.” The difference between
three clicks and five clicks is the difference between use and no-use.
Accessibility is critical.
By emphasizing on accessibility, we do not omit
other causes. The list is long. However, poor content (described above) and
poor accessibility are the main ones.
From Accessibility To
Organization Design And Classification
Our target is to ”get
people today and tomorrow directly to the information they need” (Powers
2004; p 16). How is accessibility reached? By access structures as defined by Boiko (2002; p 651): ”Access
structures are the means of organizing content in order to find it easily and
reliably.” Boiko elaborates on the need of
access structures. This hypothesis must be clarified. We all experience
accessibility using several methods: accessing information via a search engine;
accessing information via navigational menus; accessing information via maps
(site maps, conceptual maps or geographical maps); and, accessing information
via hyperlinks (termed as associative navigation). Boiko's
statement is not intuitive, as many times, we tend to think, that supplying a
search engine as the access method is satisfying, and further organization is
not required.
Access is achieved through organization design-
the proposed navigation structure - and through classification of specific
documents, according to the structure designed. Using a search engine as the
main or only access structure is insufficient (Kotorov
& Hsu 2001); multi-channels must exist. Snowden (2007) discusses the
multi-channel as gate to information and knowledge in terms of different tools,
leading to knowledge sharing, but the multi-channel-to-knowledge is a need also
within the portal boundaries. Resources of planning and implementation need to
be focused on optimal organization design and easy classification.
Common Organization Design – The Supplier
Attitude
”As with any system-development initiative,
the time and energy spent in the planning process is reflected in the success
or failure of the end product. Portal development is a
complex and costly endeavor that requires meticulous planning and design”
(Augustyniak et al, 2005a; p 283).
When discussing content organization, the
navigational tree features prominently. The navigational tree is the menu,
structured hierarchically, and pointing to the content through sub-menus called
“branches.” “Leaves” are the last level menus, pointing
to the content itself. When designing navigational trees, we usually use a set of ”good” navigational guidelines. Boiko in his book “The Content Management
Bible” (2002) defines, in detail, how navigational organization is to
take place. The major guidelines for defining navigational trees include the
following:
¨
Balanced
navigational trees (depth and breadth): No one broad branch, and all others
very narrow, etc,
¨
Depth:
Three clicks to information. However, this number can vary depending on the
portal in which it is located. In portals and websites, characterized by low
motivation of the user, the number of clicks to information should be even
lower (one to two clicks); just as, while searching in Google, or any other
public search engine, results are usually scanned only on first page. In
portals and websites, where we assume higher motivation (one searching in his
own personal folders on his computer), the depth (defining number of clicks to
information) can be higher.
¨
Breadth:
Lists presented within one page, with no or minimal scrolling. The recommended
number of items in the menu is also limited. No magic one unified number
exists: Some speak of seven, other limit to twelve. The rational for choosing
the maximal number, is based on the logic in which the list of items are
organized by. If the list, for example, is a list of countries, organized by
Alphabetical order, the user knows, also when he or she are on the beginning of
the list, what is further expected, and therefore, a longer list (higher
breadth) is acceptable. In other cases, the limit is based on the ability of
the user to scan the list in one glance. Significant to this ability are both
content parameters (as explained above) and also graphical parameters (as font
type and size).
¨
Content:
Consistent values within sets in the same tree level (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4 and not
1,
In the past six years, over 20 portals and
content-rich websites, mostly serving within organizations, were examined by
the author. Most of the above-described guidelines were applied, yet the organization
of portals and content rich websites seemed far from optimal as users found it
difficult to find predefined content in the sites (see the "accessibility
challenge" paragraph above). It is not that that these guidelines are
incorrect; they are simply not sufficient.
In many cases, the information and knowledge were
organized according to the suppliers’ perspective, by those employees in
charge of updating the information. The suppliers (also termed- providers) are
also the most natural group to be assisted by while planning the navigational
tree. On the process of portal needs analysis, it is easiest to interview the
information and knowledge providers, who serve, in most cases, as the content
experts. The “supplier attitude” is recognized in the literature,
as for example in Frappaolo (2006; p 66): “The
party that is best equipped to organize or classify knowledge is the knowledge
provider (he or she who has a clearer perspective and understanding of the
knowledge, and can thus separate the wheat from the chaff). However the
knowledge provider frequently does not understand the precise knowledge
requirements of the knowledge seeker, nor the specific context in which the
knowledge seeker plans to apply the knowledge.” What seems easy, natural,
and most common, does not turn to be optimal at all.
Organizing The
Contents In The Users’ Perspective
In order to properly design accessible portals or
content rich websites, organization must reflect the users' perspective: ”We believe that a discussion about knowledge in
organizations will be incomplete without commenting on the subject from a
knowledge worker’s perspective, though this lens is infrequently used. More often, knowledge management is approached from an
organizational level of analysis, often without regard for the end user”
(Prusak & Weiss 2007; p 37).
This is not trivial, as analyzing the needs of any portal or content rich website is usually carried out together with knowledge providers - the suppliers. Even when users are questioned in the first stages as to their needs, the process of deepening and collecting the content is performed by the suppliers. Because they are providing content, it is all too easy to organize the contents though their lens. Indeed, it seems simpler, when organizing contents according to suppliers, to maintain and govern the various content areas, each overseen by a knowledge provider. The first step is to recognize the importance of the users’ perspective, and to be aware, while designing the portal, of the “supplier attitude” trap. The different attitude can be emphasized from the following example: I was asked to review a portal of a large food retailer. The portal was designed for the stores, and the main users were to be the supermarkets' managers. The navigation tree included the right breadth and depth, was balanced and consistent. However, it was designed guided by the suppliers' attitude. An extreme example was the sub-menu, which served as the gate to computer application systems. It was defined via the suppliers' attitude, in this case, computing systems' managers (IT staff). It included two items: a) Application systems; and- b) Data warehouse systems. Indeed, this definition is precise. However, the supermarket's manager, now weighing possibilities regarding enhanced orders for a coming holiday, where shall he seek last years orders information: On the first item of "application systems", or on the second of "data warehouse systems". Every IT (information technology) person will probably know that the "data warehouse systems" is more likely to include an answer to his question; very few supermarket managers would have a clue where to start. Organizing the information regarding to "orders", "inventory", etc., would serve better in terms of the main defined users.
Common Organization Design – Format Structure
One of the most common ways examined, for
organizing navigational trees in portals, is by the format of the content.
Information and documented knowledge may exist in many formats, including:
¨
Working
documents: Daily produced/used information. i.e.: work plans.
¨
Regulations
and procedures of work: Controlled guiding information.
¨
Industry
standards (sometimes separated from the organizational regulations, as they are
external)
¨
Templates;
¨
Forms;
¨
FAQ’s:
Frequently Asked Questions (including, also the answers);
¨
Discussion
groups (forums);
¨
Presentations.
It is well understood, why portal planners tend to
plan navigational trees according to information and knowledge format: It is
easy. This is definitely a well-defined structure with no contradictions
between menu items, and is easy for the knowledge providers to maintain. This
reminds the first years, when organizations started using personal computers
and networks. A common structure of the directories would include:
¨
Word
documents;
¨
PowerPoint
presentations;
¨
Excel
spreadsheets.
As easy as this structure may seem, it serves
well, only if the user knows what information he or she are exactly looking
for. In other cases, it may be useless.
In order to facilitate accessibility for the user,
a different approach is recommended.
Organizing The
Contents In The Context Of Business Processes
Noorani & Kodandarama (2007; p 747)
write about sales portals: “Several CPG companies have set up sales
portals, but not been able to effectively use it as they have not been able to
streamline the process making it transparent to all the channel partners
involved.”
In his book "Knowledge Management in Theory
and practice", Dalkir (2005; p 12-18) describes
the history of knowledge management and its milestones. He speaks about three
generations of Knowledge Management: "The third stage of KM brought about
an awareness of the importance of shared context: how to describe and organize
content so that intended end users are aware it exists and can easily access
and apply this content. Shared context creates shared meaning. Content needs to
be abstracted from context".
The challenge lies in classifying the knowledge and information in paths that will ease usage while performing the job. The suggested approach is organization by business processes.
“Integration with business processes is a relatively new development, and should be
added to the legacy functionality that already constituted a
portal-personalization, search and collaboration” (Harney 2005; p 10).
”What aids transfer (of knowledge- m.l.)? It also helps if the source is conveying knowledge
about a situation akin to the one to which the knowledge will be applied”
(Leonard, 2007; p 61-62).
Organization by context of business processes has
the potential to improve accessibility radically: It brings the information and
knowledge closer to the user, by defining navigational trees by the business
processes in which the user will employ it.
In the case of uniform business processes that can
be well defined, the names of the processes themselves is
the preferred recommendation for the navigation branch names. For example, in a
safety portal - lifting, working with dangerous materials, etc; in a marketing
portal - participating in conferences, PR, telemarketing, promotion, etc.
However, if this is not applicable, business content subject areas, as close as
possible to business processes, will serve as the tree navigator structure. i.e. in the case of a safety portal: fire, electricity,
dangerous materials, etc.
The information and knowledge may still be
maintained by its format, if it is easier for the provider to maintain it as
such: i.e., by forms, procedures of works, good practices, industry standards
etc. These format containers will be defined as the building blocks of
the portal. The building blocks, however, will not serve as part of the
main navigational tree. The tree will be defined by the business processes,
each page containing elements of several formats, i.e., documents, law precedents,
frequently asked questions, etc.. When adding new
content, however, the knowledge provider will store it regarding to its format,
but will be also asked to classify the item by the business process it serves
(by tags or any other agreed categorization method). These business processes,
organized in a unified structure, will comprise exactly the navigation tree by
which the knowledge and information is to be presented. For example, in the
safety portal, one of the dozen plus portals the author has constructed using
this methodology (for Teva Ltd. The largest generic
pharmaceutical company worldwide), the knowledge and information was organized
in the portal as follows (using ORACLE BEA Aqualogic,
also known as Plumtree platform).
The information was stored in the following lists
and file folders:
¨
Content
experts
¨
Working
documents
¨
Discussion
groups
¨
Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
¨
Useful
links
¨
Additionally,
a ”standards” (regulations) knowledgebase
is handled as an external knowledgebase with an updated version loaded monthly.
¨
The
navigation tree is flat (no hierarchy is needed in this case) and includes the
following main business subjects:
¨
Accidents
& Incidents
¨
Hazardous
Materials
¨
Industrial
Hygiene
¨
Audits
¨
PPE
¨
Maintenance
¨
Risk
Management
¨
Work
Plans
Every page accessed fits one of the businesses
subjects and includes at least six portlets (small
windows). The portlets are homogeneous. Each portlet is a reflection of one of the file folders or lists
described above, i.e. content experts, working documents, etc..
The standards knowledgebase contents serves as the sixth portlet.
The structure is unified, however, the content is mainly different; each portlet is rather filtered to present only the information
and knowledge items classified as relevant to the specific business subject
described. Therefore, a content expert
tagged as expert for hazardous materials will be listed only in this page, and a question in a discussion group (forum) dealing
with risk management and audits, will be reflected automatically, in the
relevant pages.
Standards are connected as an independent
knowledgebase, as the knowledgebase includes the Israeli standards, as received
every month, updated. Its contents is reflected again, in all pages, filtered
regarding to the relevant information. This reflection is obtained with no
tagging, as the knowledgebase is external; furthermore, the knowledgebase is
frequently updated. Relevancy of content, for each page, and each specific
business subject, is achieved by automatically running search queries on the
knowledgebase. In each page, the relevant search query was defined, using
keywords defining the relevant standards for the process or subject.
One of the challenges, often experienced in many organizations, regards to information that no one accesses. i.e., even if a portal is in use, people will hardly access the standards and use them. The described method results in having two to five specific, focus, standards, on each page, relevant exactly to the business subject dealt. The chances that the user, who is not sure about some standard, will open it and examine it are greater, for two reasons:
1. The user will rarely deliberately open the standards knowledgebase. It is more likely that he or she search for an existing document, or an expert knowing the answer. This technique, serves in a "push" mode, as the standards knowledgebase is included on the same page, as more common used portlets.
2. The user, observing the standards knowledgebase portlet, is not overloaded with a long list of standards. Only standards, relevant to the specific business subject, are presented.
As part of the page definition, in addition to the six portlet, described above, each page may also include specific portlets, relevant only to the accessed page, i.e. safety indicators in the Accidents & Incidents page.
In addition to the main navigation tree, organized
by business subjects, another orthogonal menu exists, enabling access to all standards,
all discussion groups, all training materials and other information and data
items that in some cases may be accessed horizontally (comparing the vertical
daily access by business subject).
This way, the user has more than one gate to
knowledge and information: Working on some business subject, he or she may
access all relevant content regarding the subject; when knowing what is requested, the classic "format based" menu can be
used.
The above describe a safety portal of Teva; in other organizations, similar portal organization
methodology was also adopted for different content worlds, i.e. Organizational
Portals, a purchasing portal, a customer management portal, a R&D portal,
etc.. The method was implemented using different
technology platforms, such as SAP Portal, IBM WebSphere
and Microsoft SharePoint. In many cases, business processes were used instead
of business subjects. In most cases the business processes were not a flat
list, but rather a structured 2-3 level tree. Knowledge and Information were
usually represented in recurring folders and lists (viewing all organizations
and content worlds) including:
¨
Good
Practices / tips
¨
E-learning
and training objects
¨
Forms
¨
FAQ’s
¨ Standards and working procedures, etc.
In most cases, not all portlets
were included in all pages, describing the business process. Every page
included 50%-80% of the portlets, always the specific
portlets relevant to the process or subject. Two
levels of focusing exist in these cases: The right formats of information
knowledge, relevant to the process or subject, and, the right content within
these formats.
One finding is shared by users from all
organizations and populations:, when questioned, they
described the portal with superlatives such as intuitive, easy to navigate,
accessible etc. Dozens of users were
questioned, and not even one has claimed that s/he could not find requested
materials.
In all cases, the portals were not built as an
advancement of otherwise-defined portals. Therefore, no findings as to the
level of improvement can be included in this research.
Effective Classification Of
The Content
In order to enable eased access, users retrieved
information and knowledge according to business processes or subjects. However,
saving the information and storing it, is easier for the knowledge provider by
format (regulation, form, tip, etc.). We may assume a conflict between the ease
of the users, and the ease of the providers, as the user will find the
knowledge and information accessible by business context. The described model
offers a solution: The information and knowledge are saved in lists and file
folders, by their format. Regulations will be all saved in one folder; the list
of content experts in another. In this manner, the information and knowledge
may be saved easily; furthermore: each knowledge format is saved regarding its
characteristics: regulations are saved with version numbers; working document
without; Content experts are saved as contact lists with communication channels
(telephone number, email, etc.)
While defining the file folders and lists, 2-3
columns are always added to all, reflecting the business navigation tree (the
number of columns reflects the depth of the tree). While adding a document or
item, the knowledge provider classifies it according to the business subjects
or processes to which it is relevant.
This model eases maintenance three-fold:
1.
It is
easy for the knowledge provider to add in the new content.
2.
It is
easy to classify any item, seeing the “big picture,” i.e.
classifying it to all relevant business processes/subjects, not only the one
that triggered addition.
3.
It is
easy to build new areas defining new business processes or subjects. No new
content stores have to be built, rather additional values simply have to be
added to all existing stores, reflecting the new area, and the navigational
tree has to be updated.
Even though the organization is defined mainly to
ease accessibility of the users, maintenance turns easier and not more
complicated.
Conclusions
A portal content organization model that aims to
ease accessibility and therefore increase business use has been described
above. The model, tested in at least a dozen portals in various organizations,
business private organizations and public organizations; military organizations,
industry organizations and high-tech oriented organizations. , In all cases,
the model eased accessibility as the navigation was built to reflect business
processes or subjects. Additionally to
the navigation benefit, several other benefits exist:
The user finds it easy to access different pages,
all with a similar look and feel, and therefore imparting a feeling of
familiarity (all have almost the same portlets
included).
The knowledge provider finds it easy to continue
adding new content in one convenient place, yet classifying it while seeing the
“big picture” of all business processes / subjects.
The Information Technology (IT) programmer has to
make fewer changes as business needs grow and change.
The model was found beneficial in many ways, but
chiefly in helping people concentrate on content and business rather than on
navigation and access. It continues serving on new portals and rich content
websites projects as well.
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Contact the Author
Moira Levy, CEO, ROM Knowledgeware, Saadia Gaon 24 Street, Tel Aviv, Israel 67135; Email: moria@kmrom.com