Effective Navigation Design for Web Sites
Designing simple, intuitive, easy-to-use navigation for Web sites isn't just a good idea: It's good business. If you make it easy for users to find what they want on your Web site, they will reward you by coming back again and again. And designing good primary navigation -- the tabs, buttons, or text links that point to the most important areas of your site -- does not require a degree in computer science; all it takes is some common sense. Your site navigation will succeed to the extent that it:
Your site navigation will succeed to the extent that it:
1. Tells users what's on the site, and
2. Helps them get what they want, quickly and easily
When designing a navigation scheme, start with a site map. If you have a small site you should be able to sketch out all the pages of your site; if it's a larger site, write down the names of the page categories of you will use.
Your site map should give you a good idea of what your main navigation categories will be. Each main category will get its own tab, button, or link in your navigation scheme. Six or eight main categories, without exceeding ten, is the magic number. Users will get overwhelmed when confronted with too many choices.
Once you have compiled your list of sections, you will need to decide how to present them. Top-tab navigation and left-side button navigation are the two most popular schemes for a reason: they work, and Web users are comfortable with them. Look around at some of your favorite sites of various sizes and see what navigations schemes are out there. Then check out the sites of your competitors and other companies in your industry and see what the conventions are.
Are there similarities among all the sites in your industry? If so, there may be good reason. Maybe a particular organizing principle lends itself to your type of site. If you have a better way of presenting your navigation scheme, by all means, do it. Do not be different for the sake of being different. You may lose some users through the use of an unconventional navigation scheme.
Do not bother with the use of "fancy" navigation techniques. These may include Flash graphics, dynamic "flying" menus, or potentially confusing graphics in place of simple text. There is no law against making your site aesthetically pleasing. Just do not do it at the expense of ease of use.
That brings us to another important point about Web design: your site exists for your customers, not for you. Sure, you may own it and maintain it, but the site only exists to help your users get what they want: your products, service, or information. Put yourself in the place of an "average" user. Can an Internet novice figure out how to get around your site easily? If not, you may be cutting yourself off from potential customers.
