What are the main functions of the portals?
The ideal portal is based on the following areas of functionality:
– search and navigation
– customization
– notification
– task management and workflow
– collaboration and groupware
Although most of the functionality is not new, what is new is the idea that the business value of the whole is considerably more than the sum of its parts. Thus, a successful portal does not only consist of good collaboration support or good integration of information sources. Rather, it consists of, like a successful cooking recipe, a well-integrated mix of the basic functionalities of the portal.
Search and navigation
This functionality forms the basis of most successful public web portals, which means that a successful portal should assist its users in an efficient search for content.
A portal must:
– automatically present to its users the information appropriate to the user’s role
– Suggest additional information to the user, and / or allow the user to voluntarily personalize the information presented by the portal.
– Allow the user to search for information that was previously not known to be relevant to the user’s role, but that may be available through the portal.
Provide customization
Personalization is vital for the delivery of adequate information to portal users: each user gets only the information that is specifically tailored to their needs. Personalization should be based on the roles of the users, as well as their preferences.
There are several types of customization:
– Personalization of navigation
for example, shortcuts to specific information, mostly known as bookmarks or favorites
– Personalization of data / content
for example, what stocks do I want to see in my stock quote
– Design customization
for example, what information appears where on the screen, in what format, color or size
There is an important high-level distinction between:
– Design customization
the initial appearance of the portal, which can be ‘pre-personalized’ according to the user’s role
– Voluntary customization
where the user is offered a menu of customization options to choose from
– Involuntary customization
where the system itself makes decisions unilaterally for the user according to “guesses” about the user’s preferences.
On a website, personalization is the process of tailoring pages to the characteristics or preferences of individual users. Personalization, which is commonly used to improve customer service or e-commerce sales, is sometimes called one-to-one marketing; because the company’s website is designed to specifically target each individual consumer. Personalization is a means of meeting customer needs more effectively and efficiently, making interactions faster and easier, and consequently increasing customer satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat visits.
Provide notification
Notification (push technology) is known as a system in which a user automatically receives information from a network server. Push technologies are designed to deliver information and software directly to a user’s desktop without the user actively requesting it. Therefore, the user has the opportunity to subscribe to active information sources (such as regularly updated news sources and reports) and request to be notified when documents are updated.
Provide task management and workflow
Portals that provide task management services can help users participate and / or manage formally defined business processes.
The workflow functionality enables the automation of business processes. Therefore, as part of an automated business workflow process, a portal should be able to notify its users when they have tasks to perform.
For example, Digite app
Provide group software and collaboration
Knowledge management and groupware ensure that the required information is stored in the right place and in the right way. In this way, the right people are brought together with the right information. Groupware software helps with less formal collaboration than workflow tools. As with workflow automation, groupware increases the value delivered by many types of specialized portals; for example, it is:
– increases the attractiveness of e-commerce portals between businesses and consumers
– enables informal communication between suppliers and customers on business-to-business e-commerce portals
Supply chain portals also rely on collaborative support to help suppliers and their customers manage their relationships. Additionally, supporting collaboration is a key requirement for knowledge portals.
