Site Architecture and Navigation
- Organizing Site Content
Determine what the content of your site should be. It should be done by questionnaires that you have gotten back saying what will drive people to your site. Also look at what other sites are doing as well. Lastly what you think content should be can be added to the mix.
This content should be divided into ‘objects’. Objects are the parts that make up the page, from the copyright notice to the company logo, the header, the body, all are objects. Arranging objects consistently on a page give it a structured look. From this you will decide on the look (headers, footers, etc) and the structure (hierarchy) of the web site. The whole purpose, can the user find what he want to quickly? - Content decision – users
What does the user want should be the most important. It is gathered by:
Market Research
Benchmarking other similar sites
Internal Information (what type of support calls they get, web page logs from the server are two examples). - Content decision – client
Talk to the client to see what they want. Look at advertising that they have done to see what has worked. What is the mission statement, what branding do they have. Make sure that your web site matches their branding. Color can affect it as we will learn later. - Content decision – order
In the end the client pays for the site, but if the user does not come he will not be happy. Always try to balance the needs of the two. - Determining web site objects
Take the content and break it up in to objects. Object should never be more than one web page (what you see on the screen) in length. Take some index cards and write out what each object is with the following items
Title
Purpose
Content (Source)
How often updated
Who will update it
These cards can be used to help layout the site as well as to give end-users who can help you design it as well. - Prioritizing Web Site Objects
You need to determine what is needed for the site by breaking them down into three categories.
Mandatory – ones that must be there
Desirable – ones that would be good to have
Optional – if we can get these, good.
This needs to be done by a review with the client - Organizing Web Page Objects
Make sure that the pages are independent blocks of information as both users and search engines will be accessing them. Make sure that content is no longer than 3 to 4 screen sizes. If it is, break the content up into chunks that will fit on to a page.
Repeating objects should be noted on cards but then removed from the stack. In its place draw a mock up of the page. - Information Architecture
Information architecture deals with how a web site is laid out and the the navigation tools used to move around it. When possible, the hierarchical structure of a site should be as broad as possible to keep the amount of clicks to the information down to a minimum. To do this make fewer menus but have more choices in them. Break down the topics into useable chunks in the menus. - Linear Design
Along with the hierarchical layout talked about there is a linear design as well. It should be used when you need to have one page follow another like a news story or a tutorial. At the least, this type of design should have a clearly marked exit. At best, there should be links to all the pages in the line so that the user can jump back and forth as they see fit. - Organization of the home page
Links to the information can be arranged several ways. You can group, or chunk, by topic or by audience for example, Also, use of metaphors helps by helping the user understand by things that they are familiar with. - Navigation
When a user is at your site they should know where to go next, where they are now, and where they have been. Use consistent link coloring. There is a reason for having a visited link color, it can lead them to where they know the information is, or not to make the same mistake twice. By changing it to one color for all link types you may take away a visual clue they can use. Avoid underlining text so as not to confuse it as a link. Name your pages appropriately so that looking at them in the address bar will mean something to your user. For larger sites consider using breadcrumbs so the user can see how they got to where they are. Make sure the title tag accurately reflects what is on that page. Heading tags are helpful in two ways, they help search engines know what is important and help the end use see where information they need may be. Graphics and color can be helpful to identify what part of the site a user is at. If site is a good size, add a search engine. Drop down menus can be hard on inexperienced users so think twice before using. And always verify with the user and the client that the site will work the way they expect it to.
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