A Double Challenge - Labeling Systems

A Double Challenge

As with organization and navigation systems, labeling systems are much ignored and yet crucial to users understanding and being able to find information in your web site. Your challenge when working with labels is twofold. First, you want your site's labels to speak the same language as the site's users. We've discussed all sorts of sources for labels, from users to thesauri to analysis of users' queries to experts to the site's content itself. But human beings are fickle creatures; everyone is different, and everyone changes the way they think from moment to moment. Their use of language changes similarly. So the other half of your challenge is to use their language even more consistently than they do. That's why it's helpful to think of individual labels as parts of larger systems. Strive to design systems that are consistent in the labels that they use, the editorial style that colors those labels, and the granularity of content that those labels address.