Goodwill Industries International's Intranet Awarded Nielsen Norman Group Recognition

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MyGoodwill, Goodwill Industries International's intranet, was selected as one of "The Year's 10 Best Intranets" by Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g), a leading user experience research, training and consulting firm that advises companies how to improve bottom line through human-centered design of products and services. Award recipients were recognized for prioritizing the consolidation of systems as a way to offer high-quality business applications in a single location for the benefit of all employees.

"We are honored to receive this prestigious distinction for our intranet," said Beth Perell, vice president, member relations, for Goodwill Industries International. "Goodwill Industries International is committed to employee and member communications, and is leveraging technology to promote a culture that encourages the development and sharing of new ideas, resources, best practices, templates, and learning opportunities across the 163 autonomous Goodwill organizations in the United States and Canada."

Tackling its previous, outdated site, which contained a user-generated taxonomy that had expanded to include 13,000 terms (with typographical errors and redundancies), the Goodwill team worked to streamline MyGoodwill's content, create a new taxonomy, improve search and build a governance structure to support users. The team started from scratch, creating a new taxonomy of more than 1,000 terms, customized to the vocabulary of the organization.

"Transitioning from a site with an overgrown, employee-generated folksonomy to one with a clearly defined taxonomy helped the Goodwill Industries International intranet become a place for employees to share information with its numerous local, independent member organizations," said usability expert Jakob Nielsen, principal of Nielsen Norman Group.

In response to user feedback, the team also put the search tool front and center in the new design, encouraging users to use the improved technology with a "search first" approach.

The winning intranets are each described in detail in Nielsen Norman Group's "Intranet Design Annual 2017: The Year's 10 Best Intranets," and is available at: http://www.nngroup.com/reports/intranet-design-annual/. The report recognizes and highlights features, trends and information about corporate intranet sites for 2017, including truly responsive design, graphic-first approach, and personalization.

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL
Goodwill Industries International (GII) is a network of 163 community-based, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada with a presence in 13 other countries. GII is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is recognized by GuideStar with its Platinum Seal of Approval, the organization's highest rating for charities. GII was also ranked by Enso as the #1 brand doing the most good in the world, and was the only nonprofit brand rated in Forbes' 20 most inspiring companies for three consecutive years. Local Goodwill organizations are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that fund job training programs, employment placement and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 3,200 stores collectively and online at shopgoodwill.com®. Local Goodwill organizations also build revenue and create jobs by contracting with businesses and government to provide a wide range of commercial services, including packaging and assembly, food services preparation, and document imaging and shredding. Last year, local Goodwill organizations collectively placed 312,000 people in employment in the United States and Canada. In addition, more than 35 million people used computers and mobile devices to access Goodwill education, training, mentoring and online learning services to strengthen their skills. To learn more, visit goodwill.org.

For more information or to find a Goodwill location near you, use the online locator at Goodwill.org or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook: GoodwillIntl or Instagram: GoodwillIntl.

ABOUT NIELSEN NORMAN GROUPNielsen Norman Group (http://www.nngroup.com) in an evidence-based user experience research, training and consulting firm that advises companies on how to improve the bottom line through human-centered design of products and services. NN/g principals Jakob Nielsen, Don Norman and Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini are each world-renowned user experience experts who were advocating human-centered design and usability long before it became popular to do so. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, NN/g evaluates interfaces of all kinds and guides the critical design decisions that make websites, applications, intranets and products achieve their full potential for businesses and their users.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International

Related Links

http://goodwill.org