Chapter 4
Designing Navigation Systems
As our fairy tales suggest, getting lost is
often a bad thing. It is associated with confusion, frustration, anger, and
fear. In response to this danger, we have developed navigation tools to prevent
people from getting lost. From bread crumbs to compass and astrolabe to maps,
street signs, and global positioning systems, people have demonstrated great ingenuity
in the design and use of navigation tools.
We use them to chart our course, to determine
our position, and to find our way back. They provide a sense of context and
comfort as we explore new places. Anyone who has driven through an unfamiliar
city as darkness falls understands the importance that navigation tools play in
our lives.
On the Web, navigation is rarely a life or
death issue. However, getting lost in a large web site can be confusing and
frustrating. While a well-designed hierarchical organization scheme will reduce
the likelihood that users will become lost, a complementary navigation system
is often needed to provide context and to allow for greater flexibility of
movement within the site.
Navigation systems can be designed to support associative
learning by featuring resources that are related to the content currently being
displayed. For example, a page that describes a product may include see also links to related products and
services (this type of navigation can also support a company's marketing
goals). As users move through a well-designed navigation system, they learn
about products, services, or topics associated to the specific content they set
out to find.
Any page on a web site may have numerous
opportunities for interesting see also
connections to other areas of the site. The constant challenge in navigation
system design is to balance this flexibility of movement with the danger of
overwhelming the user with too many options.
Navigation systems are composed of a variety
of elements. Some, such as graphical navigation bars and pop-up menus, are
implemented on the content-bearing pages themselves. Others, such as tables of
contents and site maps, provide remote access to content within the
organization structure. While these elements may be implemented on each page,
together they make up a navigation system that has important site-wide
implications. A well-designed navigation system is a critical factor in
determining the success of your web site.
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