Levi’s
UX Design ( SharePoint ) for the Global Information Security Team
SharePoint
What impression did you have when you heard about this web-based collaborative platform from Microsoft?
Boring
You probably may think. That is perhaps an impression that many would think of when it comes to a document management and storage system. What if I told you it could actually be a lot more fun than a regular website, and that you can turn it into a playground to nurture communications and team engagements with games, contests, surveys, forums, FAQs, and more? For this project, I had designed the Global Information Security Site on Levi's worldwide intranet.
That was what I did for this project to bring Information Security Awareness within Levi's.
For this project, I had used the Double Diamond as my design process to identify the problems and deliver strategic and tactical solutions.
First, I needed to talk to the team to understand the stakeholders and the users' pain points. From the user interviews, I learned that the main pain point across the board about information security was that people tended not to care much or not pay enough attention to this subject, which can potentially cause severe problems for the organization.
Overall pain points
On the stakeholder side
They had a hard time making people interested and pay attention to the subject.
They had a hard time knowing the typical information security threats that users faced daily.
They had a hard time finding out and measuring the effectiveness of their effort in bringing information security awareness across the board.
On the users side
Users found the information security subject not interesting.
Users think it wasn't that big of a deal.
Users did not know enough about the appropriate actions and measures they should take.
By identifying the pain point one by one, it helped us to discover the biggest question, which was-
How do we make people more engaged and be proactive about information security awareness?
After we had identified the most important question, we started to define what we could do about this.
During this phase, I had started the Define process by beginning a series of brainstorm meetings with the stakeholders. Not only that we dived deeper and specifically look into each pain point, but we also started thinking about the possible solutions for each problem by asking questions:
The questions:
What can help to get the attention of the user?
What do people generally like and enjoy when browsing online, including less tech-savvy people?
What can help us identify the real issues and threats that the employees of Levi's are facing daily?
How can we help the employees to access guidelines and information about information security easily?
How do we spread the awareness across the board within the organization, from the entry-level staffs to executives?
From the brainstorm sessions, our answers to those asks were:
We could create a visually appealing and user-centered intranet space that aligns with Levi's branding guide and also the mission of GIS department.
Instead of creating just another file storage system, we should focus on creating an environment where people can feel fun and comfortable digging around and hanging out.
Let's blend professionalism with causal fun (just like Levi's brand)! Because of the highly configurable nature of SharePoint, lots of things could be done to create a multimedia user experience for the team site.
Going from there, I dived into the research for the capabilities of SharePoint - to know what to build, we first should understand what is feasible and possible. To my surprise, there was a lot can be done with SharePoint at that time.
After I got a clear picture of the possibility, I put the project in motion by setting project scopes and development plans and started drafting the information architecture and the content strategy framework. I also started implementing features that can keep the users excited and have some fun with the subject of information security.
After a series of iterate and feedback sessions and testing with the stakeholder teams, the virtual information security workplace was ready to go live to the worldwide employees at Levi's!
Here is how it was like:
(The context of this project is blurred for security measures.)
The Overall Approach
I had taken the approach of guiding the users with imagery narrative and combined with minimal and clear Call-To-Action components to help them find what they need, and let them dive deeper into the area they are interested in.
Home Page
On the home page, it first kickstarted the user experience with the featured information security video of the month, and a welcoming message from the GIS department, followed by the Call-To-Action to enter the latest contest and the featured story of the month.
Security Awareness Page
After that, the Levi's employees can find more interesting and engaging materials under the Security Awareness page, which featured a monthly refreshing information security poster, along with a survey section that allowed the team to periodically host different surveys to the users to address the current issues. It also included a searchable FAQ section, and thumbnails to other areas, including the Call-To-Action to the file repository site.
The Forum Page
Next, the users can find an information security focus forum to share the issues and questions directly, communicate thoughts about information security with each other, and get answers and insights directly from the GIS team. For the team, it also became a source to identify actual issues and questions that Levi's employees had encountered and an opportunity to take action in real time.
Services, Policies and Procedures Page
At the services, policies and procedures page, I had organized all the 'boring'
files and categorized them into relevant sections with visually appealing image headers, which helped guide the users' attention to the right place (and something fun to look at while searching what they need in the sea of file icons). They were also allowed to share and download the files they needed within the organization!
Information Security Challenge Page
Lastly, it is about time to have some fun. The users can access the latest information security challenges and games and a chance to win a prize if they can champion the featured challenge!