SABIC: Corporate Intranet

Client:

SABIC is a global leader in diversified chemicals headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It manufactures on a global scale in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, making distinctly different kinds of products:  chemicals, commodity and high performance plastics, agri-nutrients and metals.

Problem:

SABIC is looking for a supplier to develop a customer-centric, business-driven, scalable and robust Intranet that complements SABIC’s global reputation as the world’s 2nd most valuable brand in the chemicals industry. The new website should have:

  • Optimised website to improve web searchability. 

  • User-friendly templates and interface using modular design approach to create a system of modular components that enables flexibility to grow and evolve over time.

  • Clear governance model/process, including internal resources required, to manage web maintenance and content.

Tools:

Outcome:

Intranet portal for desktop and mobile app wireframes are designed with company specifications in mind. The goal was to modernize the company intranet while maintaining the image of professionalism and reputability that SABIC is known for.

My Role:

I worked directly with the project manager to make UI adjustments and suggestions to the Intranet wireframes. We made sure to have photos, names and other details reflect those of potential users, here, SABIC employees. Using the Intranet wireframes of competitor companies, we were able to validate our design decisions and compare and contrast necessary features. My design thinking is included in the explanatory text for each wireframe.

Methodology:

Benchmarks and recommendations are used as guidelines for the Proof of Concept wireframes. Additionally, they are a source of competitive analysis and industry best practices.

Case Study - Hexion

Hexion is a chemical company based in Columbus, Ohio. They produce thermoset resins and related technologies and specialty products.

Recommendation: Employee Directory

Feature: An employee directory allows the user to search for colleagues, access contact information, and familiarize themselves with new and remote employees that might not be in-office.

Recommendation: Mobile Application

Feature: This allows all employees to connect from their mobile device, no matter their location. It allows access to information immediately, therefore saving time delays when people are working remotely or in different time zones.

Case Study - Wacker

WACKER is a German multinational chemical company founded in 1914. The corporation operates more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Recommendation: Newsfeed

A constant newsfeed depicts growth and progress keeping employees excited about the future and motivated to keep working towards a collective goal.

Additionally, it educates your employees with the right information specific to the industry to help strengthen the company-wide knowledgebase.

Recommendation: Social

The social intranet is more than just an equivalent of social media channels for the company. It’s a way to build strong company culture. This social feature invites employees to interact, chat in real-time, video message and get to know each other through various social communities of interest.

POC - Desktop

POC - App

Reflection:

The main challenge here was to modernize the company intranet while maintaining the image of reputability and professionalism that SABIC is known for. We wanted to include features such as reactions and social media, additions that employees would be familiar with from other platforms, alongside traditional intranet functions such as calendar, HR request submissions and document exchange.

How would I improve it in the next project?

Beyond creating these wireframes, it is necessary to consider the construction and organization of the company’s current design system. We need to think about how to incorporate the new intranet designs with their current design system and make them easily accessible to their design team if adjustments or changes need to be made in future iterations of the product.