Building Context
With all navigation systems, before we can
plot our course, we must locate our position. Whether we're visiting
Yellowstone National Park or the Mall of America, the You Are Here mark on fixed-location maps is a familiar and valuable
tool. Without that landmark, we must struggle to triangulate our current
position using less dependable features such as street signs or nearby stores.
The You Are Here indicator can make
all the difference between knowing where you stand and feeling completely lost.
In designing complex web sites, it is
particularly important to provide context within the greater whole. Many
contextual clues in the physical world do not exist on the Web. There are no
natural landmarks and no north and south. Unlike physical travel, hypertextual
navigation allows users to be transported right into the middle of a large
unfamiliar web site. Links from remote web pages and search engine result pages
allow users to completely bypass the front door or main page of the web site.
To further complicate matters, people often print web pages to read later or to
pass along to a colleague, resulting in even more loss of context.
You should always follow a few rules of thumb
to ensure that your sites provide contextual clues. First, all pages should
include the organization's name. This might be done as part of the title or
header of the page. As a user moves through the levels of a site, it should be
clear that they are still within that site. Carrying the graphic identity
throughout the site supports such context and consistency. In addition, if a
user bypasses the front door and directly accesses a subsidiary page of the
site, it should be clear which site he or she is on.
Second, the navigation system should present
the structure of the information hierarchy in a clear and consistent manner and
indicate the location within that hierarchy. See Figure
4.2 for an example.
Figure 4.2. The navigation system for the Argus
Clearinghouse clearly shows the path the user has taken through the hierarchy
and indicates the user's current location. This helps the user to build a
mental model of the organization scheme that facilitates navigation and helps
them feel comfortable.
Related Topics
Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, DMCA Policy and Compliant
Copyright © 2018-2024 BrainKart.com; All Rights Reserved. Developed by Therithal info, Chennai.