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Clear navigation will stop your site's visitors getting lost.
By Nigel Gordijk
When visitors first arrive at a Web page they ask themselves three
questions:
1. What is this site about?
2. What can I see or do here?
3. How do I go about doing it?
If they can't answer any of these, then the site’s design
has failed.
1. What is this site about?
It’s important to realise that most people visit
a Web site with a specific purpose in mind - for example to learn
the latest news, or to buy a particular book.
A Home page should make it immediately clear what the site’s
owner would like you to do there. At Amazon they’re selling
you books, amongst other things; at news.bbc.co.uk you’re
being offered up-to-the-minute news on a variety of subjects. Within
a couple of seconds it's clear what these sites are about.
2. What can I see or do here?
This should be answered in part by the site’s navigation.
This should be in a clearly defined area with clearly worded links
or buttons that give the visitor some idea of what to expect when
they are clicked on.
Hierarchical content layout should also point out the most important
areas to go to. As usability consultant Steve Krug points out in
his book Don’t Make Me Think, navigation acts like road signs
or department store signage. It tells you where you are as well
as helping point you in the right direction for where you want to
get to.
3. How do I go about doing it?
Obscurely worded links only confuse visitors. Make it absolutely
clear and you won't go wrong.
On this site, instead of “About Me” I could have used
“My Curriculum Vitae”, but this is meaningless in some
countries (this is the World Wide Web, after all). Likewise, “My
Résumé” would make sense in North America, but
not many other places.
Don't be afraid to make it obvious. Looking for “Electrical
Goods”? Follow the store signs. Want to buy “Gladiator”?
Click on “Videos and DVDs”.
Using another “real world” analogy, think of a site’s
design as its packaging. Sitting on the supermarket shelf, the label
tells you what the package contains and explains what the contents
can be used for. Like decent navigation, it may even tell you how
to open it to get to its contents.
Technology is conspiring against you; slow modems, old computers,
dodgy 'phone connections - these all add to the slow download of
a Web page. Don't compound your audience's frustration by making
your site's content difficult to access. |
