Our design / analysis reports provide clients with information....
Why easy navigation is so important?
Visiting a website can be like a visit to a foreign country!
There are several keys to making a website easy to navigate:
Where am I? The user must know instinctively, at every point
within the site, the answer to these questions:
Where am I? Where can I go? Where have I been?
Is it worth bothering?
If a link on a page is described only by a single word, it is
doubtful that the contents of that page are being explained
in sufficient detail. People do not want to click on links
to see if the page matches their interest - they need to know
in advance. Describe pages in sufficient enticing detail -
either with a line of description after the link, or else by
the use of a 'mouse-over' popup title, which is very easy to
add to a link, and is used extensively on this site.
Don't spoil for choice
A homepage which is covered with many different links, graphics,
and features, is potentially very confusing. Tests show that
adults cannot hold more than seven or eight options in their
minds at the same time. It may be wise to restrict the number
of main section links within a site to about this number. Then
other pages can be links from these main themed sections.
Logical structure
Plan the site structure logically. Make every page accessible
with a minimum number of clicks - this suggests that no page
should usually be more than three layers deep in the site.
Provide a sitemap showing every available page - some people
prefer to access a site this way. (It also helps search engines
spider through your site.)
Place yourself in the mind of a first-time site visitor - or
better, ask some friends who do not know your site to test it
for you. Remember also that many visitors will be relative newcomer
to the Web, and will not understand web conventions that you
take for granted. You could be losing many visitors if your site
lacks usability.
