Designing Web Navigation

SUMMARY

Within a decade and a half, the Web has moved from a small hypertext system used for sharing scientific documents to a worldwide phenomenon, fundamentally changing the way we do business and lead our lives. More robust means of accessing information, such as the type of interaction offered by rich web applications, represent another step in this evolution.

The single most important advantage of rich web applications over static web pages is a smoother, more fluid user experience. Web applications allow people to filter, sort, and manipulate information dynamically, as well as perform functions. This maximizes users' time and provides a more satisfying information experience overall.

The new possibilities that technologies such as Flash and Ajax offer also bring new challenges in navigation. The notion of linking from page to page—a fundamental part of web navigation—is replaced by single-page applications and dynamic interaction more akin to desktop software. But unlike these programs, web applications have several distinctive considerations that make them uniquely web-based products:

• Rich web applications reside within another application: the web browser. The designer of a web application must consider how the controls of the browser work together with the application itself, particularly the back button.

• Web applications that are launched in a secondary browser complicate window management and detach the application from the experience on the rest of the site.

• Examples of ...