book

Designing Web Navigation

by James Kalbach

August 2007

Beginner

416 pages

12h 16m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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SCOPE OF THIS BOOK
ACCESSIBILITY AND INTERNATIONALIZATIONACCESSIBILITYINTERNATIONALIZATION

1.1. CONSIDERING NAVIGATION1.1.1. DEFINING WEB NAVIGATION
1.2.1. NAVIGATION PROVIDES ACCESS TO INFORMATION1.2.1.1. BALANCED NAVIGATION1.2.2. NAVIGATION SHOWS LOCATION1.2.3. NAVIGATION SHOWS "ABOUTNESS" OF A SITE1.2.4. NAVIGATION REFLECTS BRAND1.2.5. NAVIGATION AFFECTS SITE CREDIBILITY1.2.6. THE BOTTOM LINE
1.3.1. DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES
2.1. INFORMATION SEEKING2.1.1. MODES OF INFORMATION SEEKING
2.2.1. LOST IN HYPERSPACE
2.3.1. NAVIGATING WEB SITES2.3.2. NAVIGATIONAL CHOICES2.3.2.1. SCANNING AND THE SCENT OF INFORMATION2.3.2.2. BANNER BLINDNESS2.3.2.3. SATISFICING
2.4.1. DOCUMENT GENRE2.4.1.1. STUDIES IN DOCUMENT GENRE2.4.2. DESIGNING FOR INFORMATION SHAPE
2.5.1. DESIGNING FOR EMOTIONS2.5.1.1. QUALITIES OF EMOTIONS2.5.2. EMOTIONS IN INFORMATION SEEKING2.5.2.1. INFORMATION SEARCH PROCESS2.5.2.2. TAILORING THE ISP2.5.3. INFORMATION EXPERIENCE
3.1. STEP NAVIGATION
3.2.1. REWIND AND FAST-FORWARD3.2.2. DIRECT ACCESS PAGING
3.3.1.3.3.1.1. LOCATION BREADCRUMB TRAILS3.3.1.2. PATH BREADCRUMB TRAILS3.3.1.3. ATTRIBUTE BREADCRUMB TRAILS
3.9.1. TABS
3.13.1. STAR TREES3.13.2. VISUAL THESAURI3.13.3. VISUAL CLUSTERS
4.1. CATEGORIES OF NAVIGATION4.1.1. STRUCTURAL NAVIGATION4.1.1.1. MAIN NAVIGATION4.1.1.2. LOCAL NAVIGATION4.1.2. ASSOCIATIVE NAVIGATION4.1.2.1. CONTEXTUAL NAVIGATION4.1.2.2. ADAPTIVE NAVIGATION4.1.2.3. QUICK LINKS4.1.2.4. FOOTER NAVIGATION4.1.3. UTILITY NAVIGATION4.1.3.1. EXTRA-SITE NAVIGATION4.1.3.2. TOOLBOXES4.1.3.3. LINKED LOGO4.1.3.4. LANGUAGE SELECTORS4.1.3.5. COUNTRY OR REGION SELECTORS4.1.4. INTERNAL PAGE NAVIGATION
4.2.1. NAVIGATIONAL PAGES4.2.1.1. HOME PAGE4.2.1.2. LANDING PAGES4.2.1.3. GALLERY PAGES4.2.1.4. SEARCH RESULT PAGES4.2.2. CONTENT PAGES4.2.2.1. PRODUCT PAGES4.2.3. FUNCTIONAL PAGES4.2.3.1. Search Forms4.2.3.2. SUBMISSION FORMS4.2.3.3. WEB APPLICATIONS4.2.4. PAGE LENGTH
5.1. THE VOCABULARY PROBLEM
5.2.1. SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF THE USER5.2.1.1. AVOID COMPANY LINGO5.2.1.2. AVOID TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY5.2.1.3. AVOID CLEVER LABELS5.2.1.4. AVOID ABBREVIATIONS5.2.1.5. USE APPROPRIATE TONE OF VOICE5.2.2. DESCRIPTIVE LABELS5.2.3. MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE LABELS5.2.4. FOCUSED LABELS5.2.5. CONSISTENT LABELS5.2.6. LABEL LENGTH
5.3.1. BROWSER TITLES5.3.2. URLS5.3.3. PAGE TITLES5.3.4. CREATING A FLEXIBLE SCHEME5.3.4.1. REDUNDANT SCHEMES5.3.4.2. ADDRESSING REDUNDANCY
6.1. QUALITIES OF SUCCESSFUL NAVIGATION6.1.1. BALANCE6.1.2. EASE OF LEARNING6.1.3. CONSISTENCY AND INCONSISTENCY6.1.4. FEEDBACK6.1.5. EFFICIENCY6.1.6. CLEAR LABELS6.1.7. VISUAL CLARITY6.1.8. APPROPRIATENESS FOR TYPE OF SITE6.1.9. ALIGNING WITH USER NEEDS
6.2.1. HEURISTIC EVALUATION6.2.1.1. SUGGESTED HEURISTICS6.2.2. CHECKLIST REVIEW6.2.3. NAVIGATION STRESS TEST6.2.4. USABILITY TESTING6.2.5. METRIC ANALYSIS
7.1. BUSINESS GOALS7.1.1. COMPETITORS7.1.2. SITE GOALS
7.2.1. CONSIDERING THE DOMAIN
7.3.1. PLATFORM7.3.2. BACK-END TECHNOLOGIES7.3.3. FRONT-END TECHNOLOGIES
7.4.1. REVIEWING SECONDARY LITERATURE7.4.2. ANALYZING EXISTING USER DATA
7.5.1. PLANNING RESEARCH7.5.2. CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY7.5.2.1. ANALYSIS7.5.3. CARD SORTING7.5.3.1. ANALYSIS7.5.4. PARTICIPATORY DESIGN7.5.4.1. ANALYSIS7.5.5. RAPID PROTOTYPING7.5.5.1. ANALYSIS
7.6.1. RECORD DETAILED FINDINGS7.6.2. GROUP IMPLICATIONS7.6.3. MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS7.6.4. PERSONAS7.6.5. CREATING PERSONAS
7.7.1.7.7.1.1. TASK ANALYSIS
8.1. PERSUASIVE ARCHITECTURE
8.2.1. GENRE AS CONCEPT8.2.2. METAPHORS AS CONCEPT8.2.3. CONCEPT DIAGRAM8.2.4. CREATING A NAVIGATION CONCEPT
8.3.1. LINEAR STRUCTURES8.3.2. WEBS8.3.3. HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES8.3.4. FACETS8.3.5. EMERGENT STRUCTURES
8.4.1. OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE SCHEMES8.4.2. MISCELLANEOUS SCHEMES
8.5.1. ELEMENTS OF A SITE MAP8.5.2. HIGH-LEVEL SITE MAP8.5.3. DETAILED SITE MAP8.5.3.1. CONSOLIDATE THE ARCHITECTURE8.5.3.2. ARRANGE PAGES ON THE SITE MAP8.5.3.3. ADD DETAILS8.5.3.4. PRESENT YOUR SITE MAP
9.1. DETERMINING NAVIGATION PATHS9.1.1. START WITH THE END GOAL9.1.2. DETERMINE NAVIGATION NEEDS9.1.3. CHOOSE APPROPRIATE MECHANISMS9.1.4. REPEAT THE PROCESS
9.2.1. STUDIES IN WEB PAGE LAYOUT9.2.2. GESTALT EFFECT9.2.2.1. ALIGNMENT9.2.3. BALANCE
9.3.1. NAVIGATION RULES9.3.2. VARYING NAVIGATION9.3.2.1. SHOWING PROGRESSION
9.4.1. CREATING WIREFRAMES9.4.1.1. START WITH THE GOAL9.4.1.2. EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES9.4.1.3. PRESENT WIREFRAMES9.4.1.4. REFINE AND UPDATE
10.1. INFORMATION DESIGN10.1.1. TYPOGRAPHY AND TEXT DESIGN10.1.1.1. VISUAL HIERARCHY10.1.1.2. TEXT AS INTERFACE
10.2.1. UNDERLINING LINKS10.2.2. TARGET SIZE10.2.3. ROLLOVERS
10.3.1. COLOR10.3.2. ICONS10.3.2.1. CREATING ICONS10.3.2.2. TESTING ICONS
10.4.1. SCREEN DESIGNS AND PROTOTYPES10.4.2. USER INTERFACE SPECIFICATIONS
11.1. NAVIGATION PRIOR TO SEARCH11.1.1. SCOPING SEARCH11.1.2. WORD WHEEL11.1.3. CANNED SEARCHES
11.2.1. TOPIC LINKS11.2.2. CLUSTERING AND GROUPING11.2.3. SUGGESTIONS11.2.3.1. BEST BETS11.2.4. NO RESULTS
11.3.1. FACETS11.3.2. THE FLAMENCO PROJECT11.3.2.1. START PAGE11.3.2.2. RESULTS11.3.2.3. ITEM PAGE11.3.3. EXAMPLES OF FACETED BROWSE11.3.3.1. NCSU LIBRARY CATALOG11.3.3.2. EPINIONS.COM
12.1. TAGGING12.1.1. TAGGING SYSTEMS12.1.2. SOCIAL CLASSIFICATION
12.2.1. CREATING TAGS12.2.1.1. ENCOURAGING TAGGING12.2.1.2. ACCESSING TAGGING SERVICES12.2.1.3. TAG PROMPTING12.2.1.4. TAG FORM12.2.2. NAVIGATING YOUR OWN TAGS12.2.2.1. VIEWING TAGS12.2.2.2. COMBINING TAGS12.2.2.3. NAVIGATING RESOURCES12.2.3. NAVIGATING OTHER PEOPLE'S TAGS12.2.3.1. ADAPTIVE NAVIGATION12.2.3.2. NAVIGATING TAGS FOR A GIVEN RESOURCE12.2.3.3. LINKING TO OTHER PEOPLE12.2.3.4. SUBSCRIBING TO A TAG VIA RSS12.2.4. INTEGRATING APPROACHES: TOP-DOWN AND BOTTOM-UP
13.1. RICH WEB APPLICATIONS
13.2.1. PAGE TRANSITIONS AND RELOADS13.2.2. BROWSER CONTROLS AND THE BACK BUTTON13.2.3. POP-UP WINDOWS AND EXTERNAL LINKS13.2.4. TYPES OF INTERACTION13.2.4.1. REAL-TIME FILTERING13.2.4.2. DRAG-AND-DROP CUSTOMIZATION13.2.4.3. PANNING AND ZOOMING13.2.5. PAGE SCROLLING13.2.6. CAPTURING AND RE-FINDING INFORMATION
13.3.1. DESIGNING FOR INTERACTION13.3.2. INDUCTIVE USER INTERFACES

Content preview from Designing Web Navigation

SUMMARY

The definition of successful navigation is relative to the site type, business objectives, and user goals. Still, there are basic qualities of navigation and evaluation tools that predict its effectiveness across situations.

A good navigation structure is balanced between breadth and depth. It doesn't require unnecessary clicks or pages to reach target content in the site. Generally, but not always, broader structures work better than deeper ones. Chapter 8 contains more detail on structuring information to help you decide which approach is best for your site.

On the Web, it's safe to assume that people won't want to spend a great deal of time learning how to use a navigation system. Don't leave visitors guessing what to do with overly clever mechanisms or ambiguous labels. As discussed in Chapter 5, clear labeling is essential to the success of navigation.

Be reasonable—not rigid—about consistency. You need to vary the position, color, labeling, and the amount of navigation presented to create a sense of movement through a site. In evaluating navigation, focus on how inconsistencies are used, and determine if they help or hurt the navigation experience.

Clarity and visual logic is important for effective navigation. Provide clear feedback as to location within the site and provide effects such as rollovers to help users select and click navigation. People will make out the intent of mechanisms quickly and automatically. The visual hierarchy you create then guides them on how ...