Navigation and Menus Will Meurer

Topics Navigation Basics Navigational Elements Other Navigation Techniques Implementation Usability Take Away Points References

Navigation Basics What is a navigation system? A set of tools that enables users to get to the information they desire How? By providing structure and context

Navigation Basics Navigation… –Gives users the ability to get from one place to the next while understanding: Where they are Where they’ve been Where they’re going –Helps users understand the content structure

Navigational Elements Browser-based –Linear - Back, Forward –Nonlinear – Browsing History, Favorites –Contextual – Status Bar, URL (e.g. Status Bar

Navigational Elements Site-based –Menus Global Local Global and Local Menus, Global and Local Menus,

Navigational Elements Site-based –Contextual Bread crumbs Inline links Relational –intersite, see also Bread crumbs, Inline and relational links,

Navigational Elements –Supplemental Sitemaps Indexes Guides Search Index, Site Map,

Other Navigation Techniques Personalization –Automatically building menus and contextual navigation based on user characteristics Customization –Enabling the user to alter the layout and navigational elements according to preference Social filtering –Elements built based on all the site’s users Personalization, Customization, (Rosenfield & Morville, 2002)

Implementation – Organization Hierarchical –Menu systems, like global and local –Sitemaps Task-based –Guides Alphabetical –Indexes Chronological –News –History Popularity-based –Social filtering Alphabetical, (Vanduyne, Landay & Hong, 2003)

Implementation – Goals Navigation should support every type of viewing strategy –Undirected Viewing, Conditioned Viewing, Informal Search, Formal Search (Choo, Detlor, & Turnbull, 2000)Choo, Detlor, & Turnbull, 2000 Navigation should be simple and transparent –Users don’t focus on the navigation and site structure (Nielsen, 2000)Nielsen, 2000 –Deep menus on each page are difficult to use Fitt’s Law (Wikipedia, 2005)Wikipedia, 2005

Implementation – Goals Therefore, don’t do this: Looking for a hair dryer, I mean, uh, something less embarrassing,

Implementation – On your site Navigation decisions are based on: –Taxonomy –Site structure –Labels –Site type Portal – Customization Library catalog – Index

Usability Menus –Use features such as: Mouseovers, even just underlining text Mouse pointer change, make it a hand Showing current location –Image Watch file size Provide alt tags for accessibility –E.g. Preload all graphics so mouseovers work instantly (preload code)preload code –Flash Basic rule: Do not use Flash menus

Usability Contextual elements –Stay away from “click here”.here –Linking every word appears overly complex and lessens strength of the important links (Nielsen, 2000)Nielsen, 2000

Take away points Navigation systems are what get users to the information they are seeking Various types of navigational elements can be leveraged to provide a user with the best tools to get the information they want Choosing elements and implementing navigation systems is an integral part of Information Architecture. Effective navigation, like all parts of a successful product, must be built with usability in mind.

References Choo, C. W., Detlor, B., & Turnbull, D. (2000). Information Seeking on the Web: An Integrated Model of Browsing and Searching. Retrieved 12 Oct from eeking%20on%20the%20Web.htm eeking%20on%20the%20Web.htm Nielsen, J. (2000). Is Navigation Useful? Retrieved 12 Oct from Rosenfeld, L., & Morville, P. (2002). Information architecture for the World Wide Web. 2nd ed. Sebastopol, CA: Orsquo;Reilly van Duyne, D. K., Landay, J. A., & Hong, J. I. (2003). The design of sites: Patterns, principles, and processes for crafting a customer- centered Web experience. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Fitt’s Law. Wikipedia, Retrieved 15 Oct from