DIGITAL TOOLS FOR
COLLABORATION

Over the last year, the world has learned that creating effective team collaboration around critical business processes is not a luxury; it’s a core competitive requirement.

MediaPlant has more than two decades’ experience designing custom team collaboration environments on multiple generations of Microsoft platforms. We understand the importance of usability, discoverability of content, layered security and interoperability. From SharePoint and SQL to Power Platform and Azure, we’ve kept ahead of new developments in technology while keeping the business benefits and user experience at the center of our design and architectural approach. And when out-of-the-box features aren’t enough, we reach beyond for customized solutions.

We build tools that help you and your audience visualize, update, and manipulate complex data or business rules for a more vivid and convincing presentation of information.

Empowering Business-Critical Functions with Better Tools

Talent is a critical competitive battleground. Recruiters on the front lines need effective ways to find and share content and track tasks through to completion, using the latest tools and platforms.

Multi-site modernization: Microsoft’s University Recruiting team engaged MediaPlant to migrate their portfolio of sites from classic SharePoint to SharePoint Online. As part of this modernization they wanted to design and implement a consistent look and feel to make the sites more user-friendly. This process involved designing page layouts and building out pages, migrating content, designing graphical elements, as well as collaborating with stakeholders to update and reorganize older content on each of the sites.

We employed creative workarounds to maximize content discoverability and then added custom design elements to address specific site user needs while also maintaining a UR branded appearance. We also developed a complex set of application forms using PowerApps, with integrated Power BI dashboards that enable admins to efficiently manage the volunteer recruiter program and pipeline. And we architected and developed a custom PowerApps tool to enable site users to search for their recruiting contact by pivoting on location, school, and discipline.

Getting Information into the Right Hands

Custom events finder tool: One way to broaden your organization’s influence is to attend and participate in major industry events. But you can’t attend if you don’t know when and where the events are scheduled. Microsoft’s cloud events marketing team needed a new way to share information about third party events around the globe to an internal audience of product managers, SMEs and engineers looking for speaking opportunities, and the corporate marketing team. They wanted search and filtering capabilities and the ability to show a lot of detail about each event, including location, size, website and social media links, and Microsoft’s type of involvement, plus the ability to add post-event reports. And they wanted the initial version quickly – less than 6 weeks.

We modeled v1 on two other PowerApps dashboards previously developed which had similar multi-filtering functionality and were able to launch on time. With rapid adoption and expansion of the number of events in the tool, we pivoted immediately to architecting a more sophisticated v2, with increased filtering and search capabilities in the front end dashboard and a substantially redesigned event details UI. The app is backed by a SharePoint list, which allows non-technical administrators to easily add/edit events.

Keeping Information Secure and Current

User-interface and information architecture updates: Microsoft’s Trust, Integrity and Protection team is tasked with keeping Microsoft platforms secure, but who keeps their data secure and current? The team’s old site outlining essential security and privacy policies was burdened with a lot of outdated and expired content that was difficult for administrators to update, in part because of a very complex permissions structure.

MediaPlant worked with stakeholders to redesign the legacy SharePoint site for SharePoint Online, to give it a fresh and current look and feel and reorganize the content and site navigation so it is easier for users to find. We conducted content and permissions audits and consulted with stakeholders on a migration and archiving strategy, and developed a simplified permissions model and future management best practices.

We created a SharePoint hub site used as the design and UI standard for the collection of group-related team, collaboration, and information sites. The hub site provides administrators with a consistent look and feel, aggregates outside content to populate news and feature sections, and implements features across the sites more simply.

Are you using the right tools for a digital-first world?
We can help you create digital communication solutions that make sense of complexity, foster collaboration, and help share your message.

Contact us