Designing Effective Web Navigation 4/2002

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I. Introduction

Effective navigation is perhaps the most important aspect of ensuring a Web site's usability. Consistent and informative navigation helps to ensure that users are able to identify where they are, where the content they need is, and what the easiest way to get to that content is. This paper is designed to give Web developers, designers, and Web content publishers an in-depth look into creating successful Web site navigation. It will examine the important aspects of designing an effective navigational scheme. Global, local, contextual, and supplemental navigation methods will be examined.

II. Poor Web site Navigation: The number one problem on the Web

Slow download speed was once considered the most severe usability problem on the Web. However, recent studies and experts have identified that not being able to navigate and find site information as the worst usability issue on the Web. Georgia Tech's 10th GVU survey (http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/) found that "the most dissatisfying Web experiences were a) not being able to find specific information, b) using Web sites that are confusing, and c) Web sites with slow download time, respectively."

Even Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen has acknowledged the lessened severity of slow download speeds as compared to Web site navigation problems. He states that increased bandwidth has helped to lessen the download speed problem. Broadband connections, although far from achieving widespread use, have continued to increase rapidly. Average connection speeds have also increased significantly from the earlier days of the Web, based on the adoption of higher speed dial up modems. Also the enlightenment of Web professionals, through the preaching of usability experts such as Nielsen, has lead them to begin designing lighter (in terms of page size) sites.

However, as the Web continues to grow so do the usability problems associated with inefficient site navigation. Large robust Web sites continue to offer more and more content. With that additional content comes an increased need for consistent and informative navigational schemes. A site's navigation should be built around the target user population and their goals.

III. Defining a site's mission and audience

Before any thought of how a site's navigation should be structured, a sites audience and mission must be thoroughly examined, and defined. The intricacies of defining a site's audience and mission are beyond the scope of this paper. However, the process should involve developing a firm understanding of the organization and its goals and objectives. The targeted user population should also be studied in order to develop a series of user profiles and site tasks that the users will want to complete. A combination of interviews, focus groups, surveys, observation, and competitor analysis help to gain insight into a Web site's mission and target audience.

IV. Defining a site's content

In addition to defining a site's mission and audience, specific content to be included on the site must be defined. Much of this information will come forth as the organizations members and target audiences are studied. Obviously the amount of content to be offered on a site is dependent upon the size of the client organization, and the site's mission. It is often tempting for organizations to want to throw as much information as possible onto their site. However, content should not be arbitrarily included on a site without first giving thorough thought into the purpose of the content. Each piece of content should in some way support the site's mission and/or user's goals. A site with huge amounts of information is not necessarily a good site. Extraneous information can easily deter the user from effectively interacting with the site, and finding the content they desire.

V. Organizing a site's content

Once the site's mission, audience, and content have been defined, the next step is determining how the content will be structured. This is where designers, developers, information architects, and project managers begin to consider the site's navigational scheme. Information architects (IA's) are experts in organizing information and designing the most effective and efficient methods for presenting that information on the Web. Most Web site projects won't have a professional IA on staff, but all Web professionals can adopt the methods and practices followed by IA's.

There is a wide range of techniques used by information architects to organize the content of a Web site. The initial phase involves the grouping of the site's content. This can be done through group meetings, interviews, card sorting, and various other methods. Card sorting involves writing the names of particular categories of content on an index card or small piece of paper. These content pieces are then grouped according to their relationship to the other pieces of content. This grouping goes on until a series of well-defined groups have been defined. These content groups will make up the major sections and subsections of the Web site. This process can also be performed using another medium, such as a white board.

The process of examining user scenarios helps to further determine what content should be on the site and how the content is structured. Using the site's defined mission and audience, likely user tasks are examined to determine the effectiveness of the proposed content structure. An example of a scenario follows.

• Web site: A university's Web site
• User: Parent of prospective student
• Task/Goal: The parent's child is interested in visiting the campus. The parent wants to visit the University's site and find out the exact location of the campus so that they can look it up on the map.
  

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