Reactions of computer savvy users to information on the intranet

Providing a corporate human resources Web site to enable employees access to their benefits and health benefits information is a sensible use of the intranet and a worthy goal. As the designer/developer of the Web site, as well as an employee of the company, you may naively assume you know your audience very well. This dual role of audience member and designer is both a strength and a weakness. This paper emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience and the need for iterative design and usability testing; it also presents the reactions of your users to the design that you so carefully tested with them prior to implementation. Often, there is a problem in the interpretation of the requirements - maybe you didn't really implement exactly what the users had in mind or you provided them with what you assumed was an acceptable compromise. In these situations, you have to accept the responsibility and decide what to do next. However, the users of your product, in this case a Web site, also have some responsibilities. This paper discusses the responsibilities of both designers and users.