Overview
Rio Tinto sought to upgrade its aging intranet to better support its extensive and diverse global workforce and enhance information access and efficiency. Rio Tinto partnered with us to deliver a scalable, user-friendly platform that improves global accessibility and productivity. We provided technical expertise in information architecture, governance frameworks and user testing.
About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company that operates in 35 countries across six continents. It produces essential materials, including iron ore, copper, aluminium and a range of critical minerals and materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities and nations to thrive.
Business challenge
Rio Tinto’s legacy intranet was a critical tool, supporting frequent visits from a diverse global workforce. However, the highly customised SharePoint 2013 platform was approaching end-of-life. As a central tool for communication, productivity and access to company information, its limited user experience, accessibility and language support was creating barriers for its global workforce. Internal silos had emerged, with different departments and regions relying on disparate systems, leading to inefficiencies and fragmented access to information.
With 120,000 employees and contractors across 35 countries, including office staff and frontline workers, Rio Tinto needed a modern intranet that supported multiple languages, improved accessibility, and integrated seamlessly with enterprise systems, all while maintaining strict cybersecurity standards.
The goal was to create a ‘Digital Front Door’ that simplified systems, boosted productivity and delivered an intuitive, engaging and future-proof platform for the entire workforce.
Solution
We were engaged by Rio Tinto to support the modernisation of its intranet across two key stages: discovery and delivery. This highly collaborative effort involved a multi-faceted project team led by Rio Tinto that included both our team and the platform vendor. We played a key role in driving product evaluation, software requirements and delivery management, ensuring a seamless and efficient transformation, while also providing valuable expertise in information architecture, governance frameworks and user testing.
Discovery Phase
We worked in close partnership with Rio Tinto to define business requirements and develop a strong business case for intranet modernisation. Expanding on Rio Tinto’s existing user research and persona development, our team conducted additional evaluations, usability testing and stakeholder engagement to ensure the solution would deliver a seamless and user-friendly experience. Activities included user interviews, creation of mock-ups and validation of personas through real-world testing.
Leveraging our expertise in information architecture, we assisted Rio Tinto in conducting A/B testing to evaluate and refine navigation and content discovery across the platform. A comprehensive vendor product evaluation followed, resulting in the selection of a scalable solution with robust content management that delivers personalised dashboards, mobile accessibility and incorporates social features such as commenting and feedback.
Delivery Phase
We collaborated closely with Rio Tinto across technology platform implementation and content migration. Our team provided project management for the technical stream and overall scrum master expertise, orchestrating efforts across teams in Australia, Canada and the UK to ensure smooth coordination across multiple time zones.
Technology platform implementation
The technology stream focused on designing and developing a modern intranet, aligned to Rio Tinto’s business and security needs. We worked closely with the vendor on the platform’s setup and partnered with Rio Tinto’s internal technical teams to ensure seamless integration and compliance with their cybersecurity standards. This involved introducing a new URL and domain, collaborating with Rio Tinto’s cyber team to conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment, and managing the setup of Azure services to enable a secure connection between the vendor’s environment and Rio Tinto’s Microsoft 365 tenant and SharePoint Online.
Collaboration across teams also ensured smooth synchronisation of user data and authentication through Azure Active Directory and other data sources, enabling a unified user experience globally. In parallel, we developed a robust governance framework to manage multilingual content, navigation, tagging, and taxonomy, ensuring alignment with Rio Tinto’s standards, processes and long-term vision for the intranet.
User testing and readiness
To ensure the intranet was intuitive and user-friendly, Rio Tinto and our team worked closely together through every stage of development. We conducted extensive testing, including A/B testing to refine the information architecture and enhance navigation, search functionality, and mobile accessibility. This collaborative approach enabled early issue identification, consistent alignment on branding, and the creation of a detailed readiness plan to ensure the intranet was fully prepared for a successful launch.
Content transition
A significant portion of the project involved transitioning a large volume of content from the legacy SharePoint 2013 system. This was a joint effort, with Rio Tinto leading the content transition and our team coordinating delivery timelines, facilitating scrum ceremonies, and ensuring seamless collaboration across all teams. Together, we adopted a phased, collaborative approach designed to minimise disruption and preserve data integrity throughout the process.
Our expertise in governance, information architecture, and solution alignment ensured the solution met both user needs and business requirements while laying the foundation for a sustainable and user-friendly intranet experience. To support a smooth transition, we also implemented a URL redirect solution to prevent access to the legacy intranet once content had been successfully migrated to the new platform.
Collaboration and communication
We took a proactive role in project execution, driving knowledge sharing and maintaining momentum through agile ceremonies and continuous guidance. Our team worked closely with the vendor to streamline execution and meet key delivery milestones. To support seamless global operations, communication was effectively managed across multiple time zones, from East Coast Australia to Montreal, Canada.
Go-live and user adoption
The successful go-live of the new intranet was a true team effort. The intranet’s intuitive design and new features, including personalised dashboards and a launchpad directing users to key applications, made it easier for employees to navigate and access the information they need. An updated homepage and targeted news tailored to various roles further supported relevance and engagement.
Our team worked closely with Rio Tinto and the cross-functional delivery group to optimise the information architecture, improving navigation, search features, and mobile access. These enhancements streamlined the user experience and enabled more efficient access to information.
As part of the project, we also partnered with Rio Tinto to define clear success criteria focused on employee engagement, usability, and simplifying complex systems. This established a valuable performance baseline to support ongoing measurement and optimisation.
Outcomes
Through a highly collaborative effort, Rio Tinto successfully deployed a modern intranet that enhances communication, productivity and accessibility for its global workforce. Key outcomes included:
- Identified an intranet platform fit for current and future business and technical needs for over a million monthly visits across 35 countries.
- Provided VPN-less access and support for four languages to improve accessibility.
- Enabled employees to access relevant information instantly with a personalised dashboard.
- Introduced role-based news features to improve engagement through targeted content.
- Improved search capabilities to streamline navigation and content discovery.
- Applied intranet information architecture and governance to align with best practices.
- Established a strong foundation for continuous innovation with a scalable platform.
- Achieved clear communication, timely milestones and exceeded expectations for seamless execution.
