Designed for Use, 2nd Edition

Designing Hierarchies

In the previous chapter, we saw that products are often organized using hierarchies. Here’s another example.

Open any website, and it’s likely to be arranged in a hierarchy. Let’s say your laptop’s internal camera doesn’t work anymore, and you need help. You open the manufacturer’s website in your browser. Where do you go to find help? If your computer is from a big electronics manufacturer, you probably start by clicking “Computers” and then “Notebooks.” Here you’ll see a list of laptop lines from your manufacturer. Clicking the proper line of notebooks should take you to a list of laptop models, and you should be able to find yours in that list. On the page for the specific model, you’ll probably look for “Support.” Ideally, ...