Pragmatic Web-Advisory Research
Our research is driven by interactions with our clients such as from consulting engagements or inquiries. Our research documents address key issues related to Web design, usability, Web site analysis, Web Governance, Intranets, Portals and Content Management. We provide our pragmatic and neutral advises in two written forms:

• PracticeByte, which answers one issue (1-2 pages)
• Practical Planning Preview, which is a in-depth analysis of a subject (6-12 pages)

Browse By Topic

Intranet / Portal (4)	Web Governance (2)	Web Design / Usability (3)
Web Projects (1)	Global Companies (3)	Web Analysis (2)
Common Mistakes (3)	Web Objectives / Strategy (6)

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Our Research Papers
Latest Publication
PracticeByte Nicolas Buerki 14 Jun 2006	Corporate Intranet / Portal: Weather Forecast, World News - Yes or No? Non-corporate related information on intranets or portals, such as weather forecast, general stock news, or any other non-business supporting information can increase business efficiency. Many companies however, dedicate too much space on their Intranet or portal home page for it, wasting valuable space to link to.....
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 12 Jun 2006	How to Communicate With Your Web Site Design Group An issue which has not been given much attention is how Web site business owners communicate with their design group, be it internal or an external agency. Too often the interchange is cursory consisting of a high-level list of functions the owners want the Web site to perform supplemented by questions about the desired style or image asked by the design firm.
Login Required - Research Documents
PracticeByte Nicolas Bürki 12 May 2006	Intranet Portal Content Survey What kinds of Intranet /Portal content top the "Must Have" list for market leaders? We polled 50 major European companies (cross-industry) to determine what information they provide on their intranets or portals. Major findings include...... Please login to see the details of the document...
Practical Planning Preview Nicolas Bürki 25 Jun 2004	Best Practices - Defining Web Site Design Standards Most organizations fail to achieve cost and business benefits through Web site design standards and many fail to consistently brand across Web sites. Learn the proven approaches and best practices to define effective Web site design standards. Read Abstract or Login
Public - Research Documents
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 30 May 2006	Dollars and Sense: Measuring the Value of Web Sites Web sites matter for two reasons: today's customers expect a company to have a Web site, if only to provide contact information or locations, and at least some parts of most companies have discovered that Web sites can cut costs, generate additional revenue, or both. However, even a simple Web site comes at a cost, so it is important to make certain that the business value is known and optimized.
PracticeByte Nicolas Bürki 16 May 2006	Common Mistakes: Home Page Design The home page of a Web site, Intranet or portal decides whether site visitors start navigating or abandon the site immediately. Companies and non-profit organization should avoid the following pitfalls, to ensure that site visitors enter the site
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 16 Jun 2005	Common Mistakes: Aligning Business Objectives with the Web Site After all that effort to get them to your Web site, what do customers find when they get there? For too many companies the answer is a "collection of stuff" that marginally meets the needs or expectations of the customer and does not capitalize on the tremendous business opportunity to educate and move the relationship forward. Why do companies let this happen?
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 03 May 2005	Web Site As Metaphor for Overall Business Strategy During a consulting engagement in the summer of 2002 I discovered the power of using the Web site as a tool to keep business strategy discussions on track and make abstract concepts more concrete.
PracticeFlash Nicolas Bürki 05 Apr 2005	When NOT to Use Web Site Analysis Tools Exploiting the data of Web site analysis is time and resource intensive and calls. Only Companies with allocated budget for continuous site improvements, measurable Web site objectives and dedicated Web resources should use Web site analysis.
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 22 Mar 2005	Is your Web Site Damaging Your Company Brand? Is your web site running on executive autopilot, created during the excitement of the Internet wave then left behind as executive attention focused elsewhere in the business? If so, it is time to decide what to do with the resources being expended to keep your web site alive.
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 09 Mar 2005	Who Should Set Web Site Business Objectives Depending on the size and complexity of the web site, and the scope of the design project, the participants may represent the entire web site, or they may represent the organizations responsible for a specific web site destination....
PracticeFlash Nicolas Bürki 03 Mar 2005	What is the value of Web Site Design Best Practices for a New Site? Web design best practices serve primarily as a decision tool to reduce time for agreement on the new site design. Best practices allow the Web steering committee to explore proven and successful design options. At this discovery stage, the value of best practices is to sensibilize
PracticeByte Steve Telleen 28 Feb 2005	Business Value - The Touchstone of Web Site Improvements Web site redesign meetings can be challenging, particularly in large organizations with complex Web sites. Different stakeholders, representing different organizational interests, discuss, debate or argue over the aesthetic designs before them. Everyone is willing to express her or his personal likes and dislikes, but intermingled with the aesthetic discussion are parochial business interests that often are covered.
PracticeByte Nicolas Bürki 06 Sep 2004	Intranet / Portal Content - Use a Business and Cost Matrix to Prioritize Content and Develop an Effective Linking Strategy Intranet and portal steering committees face a multitude of challenges when it comes to making decisions about online content. The Cost and Business Matrix can help committees prioritize content, while at the same time serving as a guide for assessing and optimizing links.
PracticeByte Nicolas Bürki 01 Jul 2004	Effective Web Sites: Automate and Enforce Web Governance with ECM The content editor interface should not only provide content maintenance functionality but also automate and enforce Web governance policies and processes.
PracticeByte Nicolas Bürki 25 Jun 2004	Effective Web Sites: Implement at least Basic Governance If Web governance is not defined, Web sites risk growing organically (again), decreasing site visitor experience and lowering return on investment (ROI). Companies without Web governance should define at least the basic Web governance categories to secure current level of site visitor experience.
PracticeByte Nicolas Buerki 11 Jun 2004	Common Mistakes: Functional Specification for Web Development Ineffective functional specification for Web projects such as Web sites, Intranets or Portals contribute largely to delays, higher costs or in applications that do not match the expectations. To limit delays and unexpected investments during the development process, the following pitfalls should be avoided:
PracticeByte Nicolas Buerki 03 Jun 2004	Reduce Web Development Cost By Sharing Web Experience With No External Spending There are various possibilities to reduce the annual recurring Web spending. However, most of them such as typically Web site consolidation or Web infrastructure homogenization result in large projects with significant investment and time to production. For companies that are not yet ready for such investments there are comprises such as sharing corporate Web development, which do not involve external spending but reduce annual recurring Web spending.
PracticeByte Nicolas Buerki 14 Apr 2004	Common Mistakes: Start Using Web Site Analysis Tools Web site analysis tools can contribute to design decisions to improve visitors' online experience. However, in many cases, Web site analysis tools are just deployed as a "nice to have" tool. To exploit the value of Web site analysis tools can provide, avoid the following major pitfalls.
PracticeByte Nicolas Buerki 09 Apr 2004	Global Multilingual Intranet: You Don't Need to Translate Everything But Stay Consistent Companies with a global Intranet may decide to provide country or regional sub sites in other languages. If the Intranet steering committee investigates the costs for initial and ongoing translation, the committee abandons in many cases the plan for a multilingual. However, there are effective compromises for partial translation while ensuring site consistency....
Research Papers from our US partner (iorg.com)
Monthly Newsletters
Newsletter Steve Telleen 01 Aug 2004	First Things First
Newsletter Steve Telleen 28 Jun 2004	Giving Web Site Visits Direction
Newsletter Steve Telleen 01 Mar 2004	Defining a Basic Unit of Web Site Behavior
Newsletter Steve Telleen 01 Feb 2004	Strengths and Weaknesses of Heuristic Reviews
Newsletter Steve Telleen 01 Dec 2003	Balancing Multiple Visitor Objectives On Web Sites
Newsletter Steve Telleen 01 Sep 2003	The Rise of Web Site Principles and Practices
White Paper Steve Telleen 01 Aug 2003	The Challenge of Networked Content