South African intranet design wins global accolade

TFG and Intervate became the first South African and first African winner in the Design Annual since its inception in 2001. Jakob Nielsen, principal of Nielsen Norman Group, describes TFG's intranet as "a dynamic and engaging way to access information, connect with colleagues and get work done.

"It incorporates elements of the group's corporate identity such as brand, colour and fonts in a way that puts a fresh design on the intranet. The modern style and features support employees in the head office, regional office, and distribution centre, as well as field management."

Intervate Cape Town MD Wilhelm van Rensburg says, "The sense of reward from knowing that we are contributing to industry best-practices at a global level is immense." He explains that TFG needed to evolve its intranet from being a static document hosting service, to a more dynamic environment that made finding information easier, encouraged collaboration between teams and facilitated internal communication and innovation.

The intranet benefits from rich, visual designs that emphasise the top company news in a rotating carousel. Topical messages from leadership and from various areas of the business are combined with simpler features like birthdays, work anniversaries, canteen menus and weather forecasts, for example.

The 'About Me' section encourages staff to populate their profiles with information about their skill sets, recent projects and what they are currently working on, to foster greater collaboration between business units and teams.

"Optimising the intranet for mobile was a key consideration, with increasing numbers of users accessing the intranet from smart devices and with many staff constantly on the move and in various regions throughout the country," concludes van Rensburg.

To purchase the Design Annual, go to www.nngroup.com/reports/intranet-design-annual/.