Blog post
June 25, 2019

Design, develop, test. Design, develop, test. Repeat.

Our IT teams spend much of their time talking with clients about new ideas and improving user experience. As such, product development is a huge part of their role.

Computer science is as much art as it is science. With that in mind, at Isentia, we try to keep things as simple as possible. We increase our developers’ productivity by training them to avoid code complexity, write simple code and follow good software engineering practices when implementing a solution to a problem.

The goal is to make Mediaportal, our blue ribbon platform, easy to use for both the everyday user and those who log in more sporadically.

After extensive research we uncovered a few home truths:

The Architecture of Information in Mediaportal needed improvement: Users felt that jumping from one important feature to another took too many steps. At the same time, visual complexity made the menu hard to scan.

More intuitive design was required: Certain core functionalities were not prominent, with some users struggling to navigate to popular tabs.

Mediaportal needed a more responsive design: Client feedback from users logging on via lesser-known browsers or smartphones showed that not all Mediaportal functions were easy to navigate. We know how important it is for clients to access Mediaportal throughout the day across multiple devices. As such, our technology requires constant review to ensure Mediaportal remains a platform that delivers insights and news anywhere, anytime.

As such Mediaportal has undergone an overhaul.

At the core of this project, as always, were the clients. We worked closely with more than 35 of them, collecting hours and hours of interviews and testing dozens of different design variations. We listened carefully to their feedback and ensured it was incorporated into every design. The end result? Our teams designed a platform that is intuitive and can be used to its full potential by everyone – from first-time users to our most regular visitors.

Enterprise applications bring a whole domain of complexities when compared to consumer apps, as they usually involve connecting to one or more legacy systems and include a much greater scope. However, complexity does not mean we have to settle for less in design. Instead, a well-designed enterprise application harnesses a greater positive impact for the business.

For more information on our Mediaportal platform and the service we deliver, visit our services page and connect with us.

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Around the world, we have Hug Your Cat Day, Lucky Penny Day, Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day, Play Your Ukelele Day, Oatmeal Nut Waffle Day and Grilled Cheese Day – just to name a few.

Today is World Product Day, in fact the first ever World Product Day to have been held. 

#WorldProductDay which spans 43 countries and incorporates events in 90 cities, grew out of a Product Tank initiative founded and developed 8 years ago in London by Mind the Product.

WPD is a simple concept that aims to ‘Bring together Product Managers from around the world to raise awareness of, and the appreciation for, the craft of product management.’

Which prompts the question, why do we need a World Product Day?  The answer to which, is the fourth industrial revolution.

The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to drive production which led to greater levels of urbanisation. The Second, much to the delight of Adam Smith, used electricity to create mass production. The Third used electronics and IT to automate production and popularise personal computing. And now, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is radically expanding on the Third, to power the digital revolution that has been accelerating over the last decade.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has created a fusion of technology that has crossed the physical and digital divide to drive the commercialisation of personalisation at scale, VR, AR, AI and, in context, positioned product management at the heart of this fourth wave or industrialisation.

So, there you have it and let us be one of the first to wish you a Happy World Product Day.

Richard Spencer, Chief Product Officer at Isentia

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Blog
Why do we need World Product Day?

#WorldProductDay which spans 43 countries and incorporates events in 90 cities, grew out of a Product Tank initiative founded and developed 8 years ago in London by Mind the Product.

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Take a peek at Isentia's new look Sydney and Melbourne offices

24 October 2018

Media intelligence and insights leader, Isentia (ASX:ISD) opens its doors to a newly refurbished Melbourne office and shares a sneak peak into its Sydney HQ designed for a new and tech savvy workforce.

SYDNEY

Located on Cleveland Street in Surry Hills, the light-filled Sydney HQ enjoys uninterrupted views of Sydney city and Prince Alfred Park. 

Conveniently located, just a few minutes’ walk from Central Train Station, the office is well connected to bus routes and the soon to be completed light rail. Staff also benefit from newly renovated end-of-trip facilities such as showers, lockers and bicycle parking. 

The vibrant area of Surry Hills is home to a range of cafes and restaurants, gyms, yoga studios and (year-round heated) Prince Alfred Park Pool, with open grass area for unwinding or enjoying a quick break outdoors. 

Isentia HQ benefits from an airy and open plan design creating a sense of community. A newly renovated, open plan kitchen and common area isoften used for Friday drinks, birthday celebrations and friendly (competitive) table tennis matches. Breakout areas, huddle spots, and quiet rooms are available in addition to meeting rooms, making a range of work activity possible – with an innovation lab coming soon!

The office renovations form part of Isentia’s transformation as a tech company. Supporting this are a wide range of career opportunities from CX, product design and development, infrastructure and solutions development to media analysts. 

Isentia Reception in Sydney
Isentia HQ Kitchen includes group tables, ping pong and modern kitchen facilities

MELBOURNE

Last week the team presented a completely redesigned Melbourne office, now housing more than 70 desks for local analysts, sales, client service and editorial team members as well as new glass offices and meeting spaces that encourage natural light to flow to every corner. 

While Sydney will remain Isentia's headquarters, the decision to update the Melbourne office was an easy one says John Bissinella, Head of Client Solutions. "It was important we update the look and feel of our Melbourne office to keep pace with the speed and innovation of our tech. We deliver Australia’s fastest, most comprehensive and reliable media monitoring, intelligence and insights service – it was time for our workspace to be reflective of this.”

We’re excited to share this space with our valued clients who value the rigour with which our insights and intelligence services are delivered, and appreciate hearing from the people who work to deliver their service 365 days of the year.

With a new kitchen and breakout spaces, renovated bathrooms (including showers and change facilities for commuters), as well as improved lighting, flooring and desk layouts, the office promotes greater collaboration between teams and encourages a more flexible work environment.

Melbourne Isentia new look refurbishment

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Media Release
Inside Isentia’s Sydney HQ and their newly renovated Melbourne office

Isentia (ASX:ISD) opens its doors to a newly refurbished Melbourne office and shares a sneak peak into its Sydney HQ designed for a new and tech savvy workforce.

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Every stakeholder relationship is different, and managing them effectively takes more than a one-size-fits-all approach.

From campaign planning to long-term engagement, having the right tools and strategy in place can make the difference between missed connections and meaningful impact.

This guide covers:

  • Identifying and understanding your key stakeholders
  • Mapping and modelling for influence and engagement
  • Equipping your team to maintain and grow strategic relationships

Get your copy now

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Blog
The fundamentals of stakeholder strategy

A practical guide to tailored stakeholder management, offering strategies and tools to identify, map, and nurture relationships.

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Across the communications landscape, teams are being asked to do more with less, while staying aligned, responsive and compliant in the face of complex and often shifting stakeholder demands. In that environment, how we track, report and manage our relationships really matters.

In too many organisations, relationship management is still built around tools designed for customer sales. CRM systems, built for structured pipelines and linear user journeys, have long been the default for managing contact databases. They work well for sales and customer service functions. But for communications professionals managing journalists, political offices, internal leaders and external advocates, these tools often fall short.

Stakeholder relationships don’t follow a straight line. They change depending on context, shaped by policy shifts, public sentiment, media narratives or crisis response. A stakeholder may be supportive one week and critical the next. They often hold more than one role, and their influence doesn’t fit neatly into a funnel or metric.

Managing these relationships requires more than contact management. It requires context. The ability to see not just who you spoke to, but why, and what happened next. Communications teams need shared visibility across issues and departments. As reporting expectations grow, that information must be searchable, secure and aligned with wider organisational goals.

What’s often missing is infrastructure. Without the right systems, strategic relationship management becomes fragmented or reactive. Sometimes it becomes invisible altogether.

This is where Stakeholder Relationship Management (SRM) enters the conversation. Not as a new acronym, but as a different way of thinking about influence.

At Isentia, we’ve seen how a purpose-built SRM platform can help communications teams navigate complexity more confidently. Ours offers a secure, centralised space to log and track every interaction, whether it’s a media enquiry, a ministerial meeting, or a community update, and link it to your team’s broader communications activity.

The aim isn’t to automate relationships. It’s to make them easier to manage, measure and maintain. It’s about creating internal coordination before the external message goes out.

Because in today’s communications environment, stakeholder engagement is not just a support function. It is a strategic capability.

Interested in how other teams are managing their stakeholder relationships? Get in touch at nbt@isentia.com or submit an enquiry.

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Blog
SRM vs CRM: which is right for PR & Comms teams?

Across the communications landscape, teams are being asked to do more with less, while staying aligned, responsive and compliant in the face of complex and often shifting stakeholder demands. In that environment, how we track, report and manage our relationships really matters. In too many organisations, relationship management is still built around tools designed for […]

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