7.1 Web Portals
A portal is a single front door that unifies multiple back-end systems for a defined audience. Employee portals, partner portals, customer portals and student portals all share this pattern. This lesson compares portals to websites and intranets.
Portal vs Website vs Intranet
| Dimension | Public Website | Intranet | Portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | Anyone | Employees | Authenticated, role-based |
| Primary goal | Acquisition, brand | Communication, policy | Self-service, transactions |
| Personalisation | Limited (cookies) | Department / role | Per-user, per-role |
| Integrations | Few (CRM, analytics) | HRIS, intranet search | Many back-ends via SSO |
| Examples | corporate.com | hr.intranet.local | mybank.com, myschool.edu |
Anatomy Of A Portal
Figure 5.6 - One login, many systems. SSO is the linchpin of the portal experience.
Success Factors
The five things that separate a loved portal from a tolerated one:
- **SSO that just works** - users never type a second password.
- **A real search bar** - portal search is the new homepage.
- **Role-aware widgets** - finance staff and warehouse staff see different cards.
- **Mobile parity** - portal is opened from phones more than desktops.
- **Personal notifications** - users come back because something is waiting for them.
Discussion
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