Clutter Index (SWOOP for SharePoint)

The Clutter Index report helps you understand how much clutter and noise your SharePoint intranet or selected sites create for users.

It gives you:

• A single Clutter Index score

• A clear health status (e.g. Great, Good, Slightly Cluttered, Very Cluttered)

• Visibility into the drivers of clutter so you know what to improve

What is the Clutter Index score?

The Clutter Index score is a number from 0 to 100 that summarises how cluttered (or clean) your intranet or selected sites feel to users, based on behavioural usage signals.

Scores are grouped into health levels:

• 81–100: Great
  Your content is in very good shape with minimal noise.

• 61–80: Good
  Your content is generally working well, with some areas to streamline.

• 41–60: Slightly Cluttered
  Clutter and low‑value content are starting to impact the experience.

• 0–40: Very Cluttered
  Significant clean‑up is needed for users to navigate efficiently.

On the report, this appears as a health indicator ring with colour and text:

• Green – Great

• Blue – Good

• Yellow – Slightly Cluttered

• Red – Very Cluttered

This lets you quickly see whether your intranet or site is in good shape, or whether clutter is making it harder for people to find and use content.

How the Clutter Index score is calculated

The Clutter Index is calculated as a weighted average of five metrics (each expressed as a percentage). 

How to read the report

The Clutter Index report is available in these modes:

• Intranet > Health tab
  Shows Clutter Index scores for all content within the intranet scope, for content created before the end of the reporting period. It gives an overall view of how cluttered your intranet feels to users.

• Sites > Health tab
  Shows Clutter Index scores for all content within the selected sites, again for content created before the end of the reporting period. Use this to compare sites and identify specific areas that need clean‑up.

Use this report to:

• Understand whether your intranet or site experience is being impacted by clutter and noise

• See whether the problem is driven more by:

  • Low‑value content

  • Navigation complexity

  • Irrelevant homepage

  • Irrelevant news

  • Irrelevant content pages

• Compare Clutter Index at intranet level versus site level

• Track whether content clean‑ups and navigation changes improve the score over time

Note: As the Clutter Index aggregates metrics across sites, it is not available on Audience or Content dashboards.

Why Clutter Index matters

The Clutter Index helps you answer:

• “How much clutter are our users exposed to when using the intranet?”

• “What is driving that clutter, and where should we focus clean‑up efforts?”

When your Clutter Index score is low (more cluttered):

• Users are more likely to:

  • Skim and abandon pages quickly

  • Bounce around several pages without finding what they need

  • Ignore news posts, even if they’re important

• Important content competes with:

  • Outdated, duplicated, or low‑value content

  • Poorly named or poorly structured pages

When your Clutter Index score is high (less cluttered):

• Users can:

  • Find what they need faster

  • Spend more time on the right pages

  • Rely on the homepage and navigation to guide them

• Editors can:

  • Focus effort on fewer, higher‑value pages

  • Maintain a cleaner intranet that is easier to govern

How to improve your Clutter Index score

You can improve the Clutter Index by working on the underlying drivers.

Reduce Low Value Content

• Remove, merge, or archive outdated and duplicate pages

• Improve page titles and introductions so users immediately understand the purpose

• Make key pages scannable:

  • Clear headings

  • Short paragraphs

  • Bulleted lists

• Move critical information out of attachments and onto pages where it’s easier to read

Reduce Navigation Complexity

• Simplify navigation and reduce competing entry points

• Create clear hub/landing pages and retire redundant ones

• Group related content logically and add purposeful cross‑links (not just “see also” everywhere)

• Use analytics to identify “dead‑end” or confusing pages and improve or retire them

Reduce Irrelevant homepage

• Make the homepage clearly answer: “Where do I go next?”

• Highlight top tasks and key journeys rather than everything at once

• Provide role‑based entry points for major audiences (e.g. frontline staff, managers, specific business units)

• Remove or de‑emphasise low‑value widgets and links that don’t help users get started

Increase News Readership

• Publish fewer, more targeted news posts focusing on what people really need to know

• Improve headlines and summaries so value is obvious at a glance

• Use images, layout, and formatting to make news easier to scan

• Unpublish, archive, or reclassify news that is no longer relevant

Improve Content Relevance

• Review which departments have very low average visit time compared to others

• For those departments:

  • Validate their top tasks and information needs

  • Create or improve dedicated content and navigation pathways

• Use audience‑targeted pages, menus, or hubs where appropriate

• Involve department representatives in reviewing content and navigation for their area