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title: Rethinking intranet information architecture
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Rivers, not trees, as explained by the Rumsfeld Framework. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

| View in browser Issue #14 September 24, 2026 Librarians spent over a century perfecting the Dewey Decimal System, a beautifully logical way to organize a library shelf by shelf. And yet, when patrons walk in, they're asking for a book, not a number.   Structure versus how things actually get used — it’s a tension Deane Barker knows well. Over three decades, he’s helped organizations make sense of how content is modeled, structured, and delivered — the invisible systems that make the digital workplace actually function.   In this issue, he explains why your intranet might be optimized for the wrong half of that equation.   Off to Deane! — Kim Pop quiz ↘ What is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)? Breaking content into small, individually findable units A way AI models get retrained A method for ranking search results Scroll to the bottom for the answer. Deane Barker, Director of Strategic Engagement, Staffbase  Most intranets organize information into hierarchical trees — home page, top-level sections, subsections — mimicking how public websites work. But this metaphor misses a critical insight about how employees actually need information.   Understanding information types: the Rumsfeld Framework Back in 2002, during the Iraq War, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a famous (and much-mocked) statement about categories of knowledge:   “There are known knowns — things we know we know. There are known unknowns — things we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns — things we don't know we don't know.”   This framework applies perfectly to how intranets function: Known Knowns are facts you’re aware of and understand their value. You know the periodic table exists and that gold is “Au.” Known Unknowns are facts you know exist but don't know their specifics. You know your company has a dress code, but you can't remember if pink neckties are allowed. You know Client XYZ has a Salesforce record, you just need to find it. Unknown Unknowns are facts you don’t even know exist. You have no idea the north parking lot is being resurfaced tomorrow, or that Congress is discussing a legislative change affecting your industry, or that Mary in Accounting had a baby and won't be back for 10 weeks. Two ways employees use intranets Known unknowns work with “trees” of content. Employees navigate hierarchical structures to find information they remember exists — policies, references, profiles. They’re doing “known item searching,” drilling down through layers until they find what they’re looking for. But the majority of intranet value comes from unknown unknowns — unplanned discoveries. You can’t search for what you don't know exists. You can only discover it through a constant stream of fresh information.   News as the river That stream is news. The announcements and updates flowing down your intranet homepage operate like a river — timely, temporal, and dynamic. Analytics consistently show news content vastly outperforms static departmental information. One client saw news access at 150% higher rates than department content, despite far less investment in that section.   News serves a deeper function beyond mere information delivery: It creates shared organizational identity and unity. Historian Mitchell Stevens noted that societies depend on a “flow of a shared perspective” to maintain cohesion. News is the lifeblood of collective awareness — the shared experiences that bind a group together. The missing priority Most intranet projects spend enormous effort designing elaborate content architectures and site maps, then add news almost as an afterthought. One client summed up the value hierarchy in a single line: “The news is where the info is at. All the other pages are there just in case.” What if intranet projects started with the news feed instead of ending with it? Start by determining what information rivers exist. Then give employees tools to find, filter, combine, share, and get notified about them — and create systems for pushing information into these streams.   Like trees depend on water, organizations depend on the continual influx of fresh information that courses through the intranet. It often receives the least planning and analysis — yet it’s the backbone of daily organizational life.   \* \* \*   If you’ve found other ways to apply this, I’d be interested to hear what’s working. You can reply to this email or reach out on LinkedIn. 📚 Reading list Built In Is AI changing the way our brains process information? What do memory palaces, sandwiches, and Freud have in common? They're all used here to explain why getting answers delivered instead of discovered might be quietly reshaping how we think, remember, and trust what we're told. Full article → Work Futures How AI is changing communication at work AI can write like a person, but can it build trust like one? This candid conversation explores personalization, authenticity, and belonging in a workplace where AI is increasingly part of every message. Full article → Reworked The only intranet that matters Why does a farmer from the 1800s understand information overload better than most modern comms teams? This piece uses that comparison to explain why less really is more when it comes to what you send employees. Full article → The answer is a. AI breaks content into chunks and can only retrieve what's clear and self-contained. Separate facts, separate URLs, and clean structure mean AI, and your employees, can actually find what they're looking for. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe to The Workplace Rewrite to receive the next issue! Staffbase Inc., 408 Broadway St, New York, NY 10013, United States Unsubscribe Manage preferences Site Notice Privacy Policy |
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