Our current set up with Site Directory at the Division level takes too many clicks to get to the department site you are looking for. Site Directory is not helpful in this situation. In reading this blog article for ideas, I found someone voicing a similar complaint:
What doesn’t work with Site DirectoryI. All sites are added automatically generating at least a few problems.1. Sites that are empty are added2. Users that add their own descriptions can put some sites over the top in terms of scope. Data may not be relevant.3. If you click on a site you more than half the time will not have access. How many times does it take to make you not want to use the site directory? Sites are not security trimmed.4. Sites may no longer exist (some features in MOSS 2007 can help you take care of this one at least.)What you need…1. Sites that are useful and interesting… not old, not crusty, not empty, not shallow…2. Sites that are security trimmed or are open3. Categorizations need to be useful and easy to navigate and not empty nodes (not too deep)
Unfortunately, Joel’s solution of using the Search function rather than browsing is not an option yet since we dont have the Search feature enabled yet.