Understanding User Behaviors and Patterns
Chapter 3 Identifying and Evaluating Your Business and Technical Requirements 59

Table 3-5 shows the aggregation and integration features and their benefits.

Understanding User Behaviors and Patterns

Study the people who will use your portal. Factors such as when users will use the

portal and how users have used predecessor systems are keys to identifying your

requirements. If your organization’s experience cannot provide these patterns, you

can study the experience of other organizations and estimate them.

Use these questions to help you understand users:

• How many end users will you have? What is the size of your target audience?

Table 3 -5 Aggregation Features and Benefits

Feature Description Benefit
Aggregated
information The Portal Desktop provides the primary
end-user interface for Portal Server and a
mechanism for extensible content
aggregation through the Provider Application
Programming Interface (PAPI). The Portal
Desktop includes a variety of providers that
enable container hierarchy and the basic
building blocks for building some types of
channels.
Users no longer have to search for the
information. Instead, the information finds
them.
Consistent set of
tools Users get a set of tools like web-based email
and calendaring software that follows them
through their entire time at the company.
Users do not have to use one tool for one
project, another tool for another location.
Also, because these tools all work within the
portal framework, the tools have a consistent
look and feel and work similarly, reducing
training time.
Collaboration Portal Server provides control and access to
data as a company-wide resource. In many companies, data is seen as being
owned by individual departments, instead of
as a company-wide resource. The portal can
act as a catalyst for breaking down these silos
and making the data available in a controlled
way to the people who need to use it. This
broader, more immediate access can improve
collaboration.
Integration Portal Server enables you to use the Portal
Desktop as the sole place for users to gain
access to or launch applications and access
data.
Iintegration with existing email, calendar,
legacy, or web applications enables the portal
to serve as a unified access point, enabling
users—be that employees, partners, or
customers—to access the information users
need quickly and easily.