Your SharePoint homepage is more than just a landing page—it’s the digital doorway to your organisation’s entire SharePoint environment. A well-designed homepage, paired with intuitive navigation, plays a crucial role in keeping users engaged, connected, and productive. This guide explores how to build a welcoming and user-friendly SharePoint experience, complete with layout tips, navigation strategies, and accessibility considerations.
Homepage Layout Tips for Maximum Impact
The homepage sets the tone for the user experience. Here’s how to make it visually appealing and functional:
1. Use Hero Web Parts for Quick Access
Hero web parts are perfect for highlighting key content such as announcements, important documents, or featured resources. Their visual layout draws attention while offering quick access to high-priority areas of your SharePoint environment.
Here are some best practices:
- Limit Hero Tiles: Use 3-5 tiles to prevent overwhelming users.
- Prioritise What’s Important: Feature resources like onboarding documents or company-wide news.
- Update Regularly: Rotate featured content to keep the homepage dynamic and relevant.
2. Implement Quick Links for Efficiency
Quick links are a user favourite for easily navigating to frequently used resources. Group these links logically, such as by department, project, or tools. For example:
- For HR: Policies, benefits guides, and leave request forms.
- For IT: Ticket submissions, system guides, and FAQs.
- For Projects: Links to team sites or project dashboards.
3. Share News Updates Across Teams
A news section not only informs users but also makes your homepage dynamic and engaging. Use the built-in SharePoint news web part to highlight:
- Company announcements
- Event updates
- Achievements and milestones
- Tailored news for specific teams (more on this under audience targeting).
4. Add Personalised Touches
Consider integrating web parts that make the homepage more user-centric:
- Activity Feeds: Display recent document activity or site updates relevant to the user.
- Calendars: Add events or deadlines users would want to track.
Pro Tip: Ensure a visual hierarchy—place the most important elements above the fold (what users see without scrolling) and use white space strategically to reduce clutter.
Designing Consistent and Intuitive Navigation
Navigation is the backbone of usability. Users won’t stick around if they can’t easily find what they need. Follow these tips to create consistent and logical navigation:
1. Keep It Simple and Predictable
The golden rule of navigation is simplicity. Include only the most essential links in your global navigation menu, and organise them logically. Suggested categories:
- Departments: HR, IT, Marketing.
- Resources: Policies, Document Library.
- Tools: Teams, Planner, Help Desk.
Users should instinctively know where a link will lead. Avoid vague labels like “Miscellaneous” or “Other.” Instead, opt for clear and descriptive names.
2. Use Mega Menus for Complex Structures
If your organisation’s SharePoint structure includes many sites or categories, adopt mega menus. A mega menu expands to display all subcategories in an organised grid, making it easier for users to scan and select.
3. Reflect the User Journey
Consider user behaviour. For example:
- Frequently accessed resources (policies, recent files) should be front and centre.
- Department-specific links should be nested under relevant categories, accessible in fewer than three clicks.
4. Standardise Navigation Styles
Ensure navigation is consistent across all sub-sites by inheriting hub site navigation. This builds familiarity and reduces the learning curve when users switch between sites.
Using Audience Targeting for Dynamic Navigation
Audience targeting is a SharePoint feature that allows you to personalise navigation and content for specific user groups. Here’s why it matters:
- Relevance: Different teams have different needs. HR might need quick access to benefit forms, while Sales might look for CRM links.
- Clarity: By targeting only relevant links to users, you declutter the homepage and navigation menus.
How to Enable Audience Targeting:
- Group Users: Define groups in your Microsoft 365 admin centre (e.g., Sales, Marketing, IT).
- Apply Targeting: On your SharePoint web parts (such as Quick Links or News) or navigation menus, enable audience targeting and assign content to relevant groups.
- Test Before Deploying: Verify that the right content appears for each group.
Audience targeting not only saves users time but also enhances their experience by displaying content that matters to them.
Mobile Responsiveness and Accessibility Considerations
It’s essential for your SharePoint environment to perform flawlessly across all devices and comply with accessibility standards. Here’s how to ensure inclusivity and usability:
1. Design for Mobiles and Tablets
More users are accessing SharePoint on mobile devices. To ensure mobile responsiveness:
- Use Responsive Web Design: Leverage SharePoint’s built-in responsive layouts.
- Optimise Images: Use small file sizes to reduce load times on mobile networks.
- Simplify Navigation: Avoid multi-level dropdowns that are hard to use on touchscreens.
Test your homepage on various devices to ensure consistent performance.
2. Follow Accessibility Standards
Accessibility isn’t just ethical—it maximises engagement by accommodating all users, including those with disabilities. Tips to achieve compliance:
- Provide Alternative Text for Images: Ensure all images include descriptive ALT text.
- Use High-Contrast Colours: Make text easy to read against its background.
- Keyboard Navigation: Users should be able to navigate entirely via the keyboard.
- Check with Accessibility Tools: Use tools like Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker to identify issues.
3. Include Multilingual Options
For organisations with global teams, offering content in multiple languages keeps all users engaged. SharePoint’s multilingual feature lets you translate site navigation and content.
Building a User-Centric SharePoint Experience
A well-designed SharePoint homepage and navigation system welcome users, guide them effortlessly, and keep them engaged. By focusing on intuitive layouts, clear navigation, dynamic audience targeting, and accessibility, you can create a digital workspace that meets current needs and scales for the future.
Start by reviewing your homepage. Are the most important elements front and centre? Does your navigation reflect how your users think and work? Make those changes today to build a user-friendly SharePoint experience that your team will love.
What’s one change you could make to your SharePoint environment right now that would improve user engagement? Take the first step today!