Practical steps to make SharePoint more user-friendly, intuitive, and aligned to how your people actually work
Microsoft SharePoint is a powerful platform designed for document management, collaboration, and intranet development. While it's widely used by organizations for its integration with Microsoft 365, many teams find SharePoint difficult to use or unintuitive out of the box.
The problem isn’t the platform—it’s the implementation. Poor design, unclear navigation, and one-size-fits-all structures often get in the way of adoption. When SharePoint is set up without team input or usability in mind, it becomes a frustrating experience rather than a collaborative hub.
A successful SharePoint environment does more than store documents. It enables employees to:
If your SharePoint site feels clunky, it’s likely not aligned with how your teams actually operate.
Here are six practical, scalable steps to turn SharePoint from a clunky interface into a collaborative workplace tool your teams will actually want to use.
Before designing your site, talk to actual users. Understand how different departments—HR, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Operations—organize their work.
Ask Users:
What are their most common tasks?
What tools do they currently use?
What’s difficult or time-consuming about accessing files or resources?
This input should guide your structure.
Break your SharePoint architecture into team-specific sites or hubs. Each should be customized around that team’s goals, language, and tools.
Examples:
Marketing Hub: Campaign calendars, brand guidelines, content templates
HR Hub: Policies, onboarding checklists, benefits documents
Sales Hub: Proposal templates, battlecards, CRM dashboards
This targeted design makes it easier for each department to work faster and stay aligned.
Modern SharePoint pages are more visual, responsive, and easier to edit. They support drag-and-drop layouts, integration with Microsoft Teams and Power BI, and a mobile-friendly experience.
Migrating from classic SharePoint sites to modern ones can dramatically improve usability and design flexibility.
Integrate the tools your teams already use:
Teams: Embed chats or channels directly into SharePoint pages
Planner: Manage team tasks and project timelines
OneDrive: Ensure document syncing is seamless across platforms
Power Automate: Reduce manual steps with automated workflows
This creates a centralized digital workplace, not just a file repository.
Even the best content is useless if employees can’t find it. Improve discoverability with:
Metadata tagging
Clear folder naming conventions
Custom search scopes
Pinned frequently-used documents
Use audience targeting to personalize content for specific departments or regions.
Don’t assume users will just figure it out. Offer micro-training, how-to videos, and onboarding guides tailored to specific roles or departments.
After launch, gather feedback regularly and adjust based on real usage patterns. SharePoint should evolve as your teams grow and change.
When SharePoint is intuitive and team-focused, companies see:
Higher productivity from faster access to resources
Fewer IT tickets related to navigation or permissions
Increased collaboration across departments and geographies
Less reliance on external or unauthorized tools
Better documentation and knowledge management
For growing organizations—especially those with regional offices across the U.S. (like in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Atlanta, or Denver)—a well-designed SharePoint environment bridges silos and supports scale.
SharePoint isn’t inherently difficult. But without thoughtful planning, it quickly becomes underused or misused. The key is to align SharePoint to how your teams actually work—by focusing on simplicity, structure, and culture.
When done right, SharePoint becomes more than a document storage system. It becomes the foundation of your collaborative, modern workplace.
We help organizations design SharePoint environments that are intuitive, scalable, and built around real user needs.