Branding SharePoint Engagement Considerations When Branding SharePoint Intranet and Team Sites By Brandon Hill-Jowett Principal Consultant Portals and Collaboration

Agenda What is branding? Who’s got the money and what do they want? Who is using it and will they? Who came first? OOB or Customise? Why did God create graphic designers? What questions might they ask? What questions should you ask? Resources and Training Summary.

What is branding? Branding for beginners Where do we start? The process Why is it so technical? Physical vs. Virtual files Changes take forever.

Who has the money and what do they want? Identify the stakeholders Find out their goals and objectives Non technical issues often are the reason big project fail. – Shared understanding or requirements/needs – Knowing the limitations of the software (When to use it/When not to) – Estimating effort and schedule accuracy

Who is using it and will they? Different types of users What is the target audience. What is the purpose of the site. Adoption – Focus on those who want it.

Who came first? This is an easy one, Functionality. – Strategic goals are achieved through functionality – Objectives are met and measurable because of functionality. Branding is also essential – It tightly supports the organisational goals – It should not stifle functionality – Can completely encapsulate companies design goals.

OOB or Customise? What does OOB and customisation mean? – Browser – SharePoint Designer – Visual Studio Components of design – Themes – Master pages – Page layouts – Web parts and APIs

Why did God create graphic designers? What should you look for in a graphic design company? What should you have ready for your first branding workshop? What questions might a SharePoint branding company ask? How companies can encourage successful branding.

What questions might they ask? Operational scope of the SharePoint portal: Is the portal targeted for public, partner or internal consumption? The answer to this question will often determine the extent of the branding project. Portal design status: Is the functional design of the portal completed or is it still fluid or under development? Portals still under development present additional challenges for the branding effort. Graphics and color scheme: Are the graphics elements and associated portal color scheme (Chrome) defined and available, or will additional graphical design work be required? Final design decision responsibility: What is the defined process for reviewing and approving the portal brand? Establishing who and how final branding designs will be approved is probably the most important consideration of all.

What questions should you ask? Should we brand? How will it look on mobile? What technologies are not supported? What happens if we move to 2013?

Resources – – – Training – Online, SP training kit. – SharePoint champion, one hour sessions – Courses – Play

Summary Have fun with Branding Principal Consultant Portals and collaboration Any Questions?