The purpose of a web site's navigation is merely to allow users to get to the content they might require. For sites that possess a large number of areas and web pages the navigation plan needs to be properly researched and designed. You need to consider different types of visitors and simulate the most common steps they would take to find what they want on your site and also the navigation plan has to optimize this movement.
The steps required from searching a catalog of items, selecting in the catalog, adding these phones to a shopping cart software, proceeding to check out, to entering the payment particulars is really a specific sequence that should be facilitated through the navigation system. When the sequence is haphazard, it could result in frustration or the user may miss an essential step and also you would have an aborted sale. To locate their way about, users need to know two things:
Navigation does not exist in isolation; good site organization is really a prerequisite for any coherent navigation system. Navigation can be broken into two primary types, Location Indicators and Navigation Controls
Location indicators let users know where they are in the site right now. It must be borne in mind that users coming from outside your site can enter at any page, not necessarily on a 'main' page. They need to be able to orientate themselves. Equally it is necessary that users navigating around your site have a clear idea of where they are both in absolute terms and in regards to other content.
Location information should appear on every page of the site, in the same place and in the same style. Location indicators should tell the user precisely where they are and this should be clear even to a user that has entered the site at an internal page. The place indicator should be identifiable for what it's and make sense in the context of other navigation.
In simple sites a webpage banner - text or graphic - naming the page will be sufficient. For this to operate the page name also needs to appear in the main navigation so that it's relevant within the overall structure of the site. Color may be used. To become really effective the color change should be reflected in the navigation.
Using ‘breadcrumbs' on every page is a good idea. Breadcrumbs demonstrate a number of hierarchical links that you've accustomed to go from page to page within an area. Using breadcrumbs is much like leaving a trail of the path you've followed. The breadcrumbs appear towards the top of the content area, just below the primary navigation template. Each element in the breadcrumb is really a link to that area or subarea. This can help in avoiding a number of back buttons allowing the consumer to directly go back to the primary area page or any other sub area. More importantly, it always shows the context of the page that is being viewed and just how it belongs to a piece or sub-area.
Navigation controls would be the main navigation links; they allow users to maneuver the website. Whether or not they comprise images or text they should be predictably located in the same place, and with the same appearance, on each page. These have several purposes:
There isn't any mystery to usability. It simply involves developing a site, which is accessible to most people, is easy to make use of and get around and delivers on its promises.
You can possess a site that meets the most crucial standards of usability by planning it well and try to keeping the end user in mind. Remember that web sites shouldn't be designed for their owners - they should be designed for their users. Issues with usability might be said to stem from just two sources: the website itself and also the user. In fact the website is definitely at fault; if a user, however experienced or inexperienced, has problems navigating, getting information or comprehending the site.
While websites have grown to be far more complex, web users have grown to be less rather than more experienced as more and more people go online. It's a mistake to consider that the majority of users will be web or even computer savvy and can understand subtle clues about content. Most won't.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Zack Errols at 03162011
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