Here at Intranetizen, we’ve talked about the need to measure the impact and performance of your intranet.  While success isn’t measured by page visitors, its hard to meet any of your goals if nobody come to the intranet in the first place.

In this special guest post for Intranetizen, William Amurgis - former director of internal communications at American Electric Power - sets out how you can boost traffic to your intranet by focussing on access, relevance and timeliness.

Last week Nielsen Norman Group published the 2013 edition of their design annual, widely regarded as the most comprehensive guide to trends in intranet design. Since 2001, usability guru Jakob Neilsen and his team have tracked changes in design and functionality for intranets and made recommendations for the year ahead.

The four Intranetizens like to read articles, books and blog posts on a variety of topics – it’s what makes a dull intranet manager interesting.

In this special edition of Interesting Elsewhere, and in celebration of the Paralympics, we have been reading up on all things related to accessibility. We also hope to cover this topic in more detail in the next few months.

We’ve all seen the case studies showing beautifully-executed intranet projects, with their perfect UX, top-notch features and stylish design. But what’s hidden in the dark recesses of your intranet? Or those other intranets you don’t like to talk about?

In early March, I attended the London Designing intranets that work masterclass led by James Robertson (@s2d_jamesr) of Step Two Designs. If you haven’t already heard of James, read his blog or own one of his books, then you need to fix that immediately. James knows intranets, therefore you should know James.

I was looking forward to attending James’ masterclass because he promised an interactive day full of:

• design principles and concepts
• practical techniques, including card sorting, tree testing and usability testing
• pros and cons of the homepage design

Did he deliver on that promise? I think so. Ok, I am not saying James didn’t deliver what he had promised, nor am I saying I was disappointed in the masterclass. Actually it is the exact opposite, but I was disappointed in the debate. I wanted more from my fellow attendees!

Our 2012 prediction post sparked some healthy debate about the role of news on corporate intranets. A mainstay of intranets since day dot, news has no doubt occupied a significant proportion of your homepage real estate but the time has come to challenge that position. Is news dead-space, or does it justify its inclusion with ease. This week we invite Rachel Miller of AllThingsIC to guest blog with the Intranetizen team to discuss the role of intranet news.