photo : http://www.freeimageslive.com
Navigation
One of the main key elements of a web site is navigation. A user MUST be able to find what they are looking for quickly and with ease. Where ever a user is within a web site they must be able to answer :
- Where am I (What page)?
- How did I get here?
- How do I go back?
- How do I get home?
- How do I get the information that I want?
We have gone through phases where navigation design was complicated, innovative, entertaining, etc. However through it all we found out that simple is usually the MOST effective. Navigation that took too long to figure out, too long to load or change pages, too hard to remember how it works, was all ineffective and drove users away.
Compare navigation to driving a car.
You use a car to get from point A to B. You most likely will want to get there in the most efficient way. We all hate waiting in traffic! Cars are built so that they are easy to drive – anyone who drives a car should know what “D”, “P” and “R” means in terms of what gear you are in. Controls are lit up when it is dark so it is easy for us to see them, the controls are the same day in day out, controls are placed in similar positions from car to car regardless of the make (the steering wheel, where to put the key, where to change the radio station, etc.) Could you imagine if the position for reverse changed everyday? Even traffic lights are pretty consistent – Green = Go, Red = Stop, what about Purple, why doesn’t any city have purple traffic lights? We don’t mess with what works and it’s best if we use something that people can understand globally. The designers of cars design them so that the driver doesn’t have to think much while driving so that it is a pleasurable experience. With little thinking of the actual driving the driver can look at scenery, have a conversation, change radio stations easily. Most tasks involved with driving a car becomes subconscious.
On the web it is very similar, users want to get to the information they want in the most fast efficient manner without waiting and with the least amount of resistance.
As designers it is our goal to make sites that are easy to navigate and we don’t rock the boat. Use what works and don;t get too creative. Everyone knows what an envelope, shopping cart, and a house means in terms of web site navigation. Don’t mess with it!
Jakob Neilson is considered to be the web usability guru – Check out his online column - alertbox.com – a must read in terms of usability.
In class we will discuss:
- Navigation Levels
- Site Maps
- Levels / Cut-Off Point
- Main Nav
- Sub Nav
- Utility Nav
- Navigation Positioning
- The Power of Text Links vs Graphics
- Mystery Meat Navigation vs Standards
- Types of Navigation
- Gallery Nav / Thumbnails
- Back / Forward
- Breadcrumb Trail
Usability Testing
Usability testing can happen in a number of ways. To be cost effective usually paper ideas are used first before heavy coding and development takes place. Why build something only to find out it doesn’t work – so similar to building a car, a blueprint can be drawn out and tested before actually building the site.
Another type of user testing is to test how user view, read, navigate….
Through user testing we can find out how different people interpret the site. Often Terminology means different things to different people.
Sometimes placement and look is not as important as results. Often text alone does a better job.
TYPES OF WEBSITES
A web site must include key components based on the intent or purpose of the site to make it effective. Different components and design for different uses. Branding, logo placement, navigation scheme, and color are just a few of the important aspects to look for in making an enjoyable user experience. Keep in mind that there are differences in navigations needs based on the type of web site it is and the market of users it is trying to communicate with.
FUN / EXPLORATORY
All in all you need to learn the rules and play it safe until you can break the rules. Sometimes there is a need to break the rules but when rules are just broken for the sake of it, the result is usually it just looks like a mistake. Below are sites that express creativity and are exercises in breaking the rules.
LABTIME :
Read the following articles:
Study Websites based on their navigation
The site below contains links to many different sites. Use it a a launching pad to explore – try to find similar sites as it reduces your valuable surfing time.
- Find web sites that display examples of good design & bad design for the categories above.
- Find examples for different types of websites (online stores, information based, entertainment, etc).
- Build a library for reference when communicating with clients and other developers.
Here’s a couple more exploration sites to look at: