Designing Web Navigation

SOURCES OF LABELS

Where do good labels come from? First and foremost, learn from your users. Attempt to match your labeling system to user expectations. Chapter 7 outlines some research techniques for doing so, including methods such as card sorting. But, as previously noted, there will never be a single, perfect system that meets all of your visitors' needs. The goal, then, is to optimize as best you can.

And, of course, an important resource is your own creativity. No amount of user research is going to give you the absolute correct answer. There is no silver bullet. Your intuition plays a big role in navigation design. From time to time, you may need inspiration, however. Here are some places to get ideas and a broader perspective on labels:

Thesauri and word generators

If you get stuck, brainstorm as many alternatives as possible. Look to dictionaries and thesauri for synonyms and alternative word forms. Or, you can consult keyword suggestion tools. These have emerged as a tool for search engine optimization to track keyword usage. These show frequency of search queries that contain any word or phrase you enter. Google's AdWords suggestion tool (http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) and Overture's keyword selector (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion) are two examples.

Competitor sites

Patterns in labeling emerge across sites in a similar business and market. Look at how competitors are labeling their navigation and site features. It may ...