Checklist: how to choose a knowledge tool that people will actually use

You need to purchase new equipment, but you’re not sure which approvals are required. You know Procurement has a procedure, yet you still have to ask a colleague to send you the right link.

A knowledge tool should help colleagues find and use that information independently. To choose one that fits their work, compare shortlisted tools using the same real content and tasks. Then weigh the results alongside the effort and cost of keeping the information useful.

Find a handy checklist here.

1. Match the type of tool to the problem

Knowledge management tools help employees record, maintain and find information about how work gets done. But different capabilities address different needs.

APQC’s advice on choosing knowledge management tools starts with identifying the problem: finding existing information, capturing knowledge that has never been documented or keeping content trustworthy. Those problems require different responses.

Use these distinctions to build your shortlist:

These capabilities can overlap within one product. Check what your existing software already offers before adding another tool.

If the purchasing procedure has never been written down, better search will not supply it. If reliable information already exists but is difficult to find, a new repository may create unnecessary migration and maintenance work.

2. Check whether people can find information by task

A colleague looking for purchasing approvals should not need to know which department owns the procedure or where its documents are stored.

Nielsen Norman Group’s intranet research found that organising information around employees’ everyday tasks helped them find it, while departmental structures made finding information harder. Apply that principle when comparing how candidate tools organise and retrieve information.

Give colleagues outside Procurement the same task in each shortlisted tool. Let them choose their own search terms, without showing them which folder to open. Record whether they find the correct procedure, how long it takes and whether they need help.

Use ordinary employee accounts too. Compare whether each tool gives people access to the information they need while keeping restricted content protected. A successful search with an administrator account does not establish that an employee can open the result.

3. Compare how easily people can keep information reliable

Readers need to recognise which instructions are current. Content owners need a manageable way to correct them.

Ask the intended content owner to update the same procedure in each candidate tool. Check whether readers can identify the current version and the person responsible for it. Where approval is required before publication, test that step as well.

Then have a colleague report an unclear instruction. Compare how the issue reaches the content owner and how much effort it takes to resolve.

These tests reveal differences that a feature list can hide. Record the time, permissions and assistance needed for routine changes. A tool that meets readers’ needs but requires more maintenance than your team can support may be a poor fit.

4. Measure the effort to complete a real task

Start each test in the system colleagues normally use for their work. Ask them to complete a realistic task using the information available through the candidate tool.

Measure the whole task, including finding the answer, understanding it and applying it. Record system switches, copied information and requests for help. Finding a page quickly is only useful if the employee can act on what it says.

The KCS Practices Guide, developed for service environments, connects knowledge use and improvement with resolving a question. This makes the working experience an important part of the comparison.

At VRT, existing Confluence documentation was turned into knowledge base articles and connected to the service portal, allowing employees to see possible answers when raising a request. That illustrates a useful selection question: how easily can people reach relevant information while doing their work?

5. Compare the full cost of each candidate

Compare costs using the same number of users, content scope and required capabilities. Include the work of moving or connecting information, preparing content and keeping it current alongside licence costs.

Use the trial results to estimate routine maintenance effort. If one tool needs specialist assistance for changes that another allows content owners to make themselves, include that difference.

Also record any configuration or additional work needed to meet your requirements. Confirm that it resolves the gap before treating the candidate as a suitable choice.

Your checklist for comparing knowledge tools

Use the same checks for every candidate and record the results side by side. Decide beforehand which requirements are essential.

When a test fails, establish whether the cause is the tool, its configuration or the content. Missing instructions or outdated documents can undermine every candidate. Resolve those issues consistently before comparing results.

Remove candidates that cannot meet an essential requirement. For the remaining options, weigh the observed differences in task completion, maintenance effort and cost. The decision should be supported by what colleagues could actually do with each tool.

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