Web Site Usability through Navigation Design
Navigating through a web site should be simple and efficient. Navigation is one of the key determinants of a web site’s usability.
Usability refers to the ease of use and learning with regards to web sites. It can refer to the effectiveness and quickness of the navigation structure of the web site to be able to present pertinent information to the surfers.
The Issue of Usability
Usability is deemed to be very important in terms of web development today. Web Sites are made with the intention of making them tools for people in doing their daily tasks. Developing complex web sites which do not assist people in effectively doing their tasks would make little sense.
People with disabilities are continuing to grow in number. In the United States alone, one-fifth of the population is pestered by some kind of disability. This is the main reason why many people are gearing towards making web sites more usable. The Internet has become a main instrument for these people to be able to live their lives.
Navigation
The usability of a web site is dependent on several different factors such as accessibility, content quality and readability and over-all presentation, however, many web developers would say that the usability of a web site is all about navigation.
This article tries to lay down some basic tips which should guide a developer on how to make a web site more usable through the improvement of its navigational structure.
Here are some tips on how to make a web site’s navigation more user-friendly:
-Avoidance of irrelevant links
One of the main mistakes of web developers in building web sites is that they add more confusion to the visitor rather than eliminate it. This is the result of putting too much links that are not really needed by the visitors.
Having too many links to the other parts of the web site is clearly an indication that the navigational structure of the web site is not at its best. Let’s examine a hypothetical web site so as to give us a way to discuss the different things to avoid and do in designing a web site’s navigation structure. Let’s say that we are building a public auction web site (one similar to E-bay).
If a surfer would want to buy computer accessories, the web site should not contain irrelevant links to other parts of the web site such as putting a direct link towards the section on buying clothes. If the said person is interested in buying clothes after he has shopped for the computer accessories that he needs, he will definitely find his way to the clothes section. Putting these kinds of links will irritate more people than satisfy more people. It’s like putting a section of computer accessories and a section of clothing right beside each other in a department store-it makes no sense.
-Standardize icons
A study has revealed that 39% of shoppers did not pursue in buying certain items from the Internet because they found the web sites to be too hard to navigate. This meant a lot of loss for the businesses, but this can be avoided.
One of the ways to improve navigation is to use standardized icons for linking pages. Icons were made to be able to represent something that is related to it. The use of random icons will definitely add up to the confusion regarding navigation. Also, developers should not over-explain the icon because icons are there to be able to provide non-text information about the link. A brief explanation should be provided, but it should be kept brief and concise.
-Web Sitemap
The provision of a web sitemap will definitely help people to effectively navigate through the web site. A web sitemap provides a skeleton structure of the web site in a single page. All the links and contents are indicated in a web sitemap therefore making navigation a much easier process.
-Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumb links provide linkage to the major pages of a web site. These are particularly useful for people because they give easy access to the major pages.
-Avoid burying information
Navigating through a web site need not be a journey through an ocean. A simple rule of thumb is that all the web pages in the web site should be accessible from each other not more than 3 clicks away.
These are just some of the ways on how to improve the usability of a web site through the improvement of navigation. These steps should be done hand-in-hand with the other ways of improving a web site’s usability.
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This is very nice post. thank you.
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