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London Underground praised for 'world-class' intranet
Makes global top 10 along with Department for Transport…

By Andy McCue

Published: Wednesday 23 June 2004

London Underground and the Department for Transport have been ranked in the top 10 public sector intranet designs in the world.

Hundreds of government departments and agencies from around the world submitted entries for the contest run by research firm Nielsen Norman Group (NNG).

The DfT was commended for saving £130,000 by relocating its employee newsletter to the intranet, while London Underground improved the usability of its intranet from 1,000 employee visits a week to 70,000.

Other public sector bodies that made it into the top 10 include the Defence Finance and Accounting Service (US), Senate Republican Conference (US), Department for Victorian Communities (Australia) and the National Research Council (Canada).

Jakob Nielsen, founder and principal of NNG, said the top government organisations are setting an example for the private sector to follow.

"In comparison to private sector companies, we found that the keepers of the top government intranets were especially attuned to the metrics relating to the usage and ROI of their intranets," he said in a statement. "When they saw an area for improvement, they didn't wait around to make 'the big fix.' Instead, they made important incremental changes that yielded big results."

At the opposite end of the scale, Nielsen said the worst problem seen with intranet design is poorly constructed information architecture and confusing menus.