"Week 3 Reading"

Summary:

In this week's reading, Krug explains the importance of navigation to a website, likening it to finding your way around a department store. He goes on to explain how the two examples are similar in that they both are important to finding certain items, but the similarities stop at the point that a website is not a physical space, thus users don't have the benefit thereof. As such, certain steps must be taken by websites to ensure that the user can find their way around. Making use of well-established conventions, every page of a site (not including registration, transaction, and home pages where they would be a distraction) should have a persistent navigation that includes a Site ID (preferably in the upper left corner),  Page Name (generally at the top), Sections and subsections (also at the top, with the current section notated), Local navigation (often at left, including sites related to the current site), “You are here” indicator (Breadcrumbs work well for this purpose), and Search (As many users will eschew browsing altogether for search. Should use simple conventions of being labeled "Search" alone, possibly with a button that says "Go"). He also points out effective navigation techniques that are often reminiscent of physical items, such as tabs.

Related Links:


http://www.webdesignpractices.com/navigation/breadcrumb.html
Brief explanation of - and stats for - breadcrumb navigation.

http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/effectivewebsites/a/web_navigation.htm
Short summary of five rules easily-navigated sites follow.

http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/navigation.html
Longer tutorial on designing Web navigation, with slight differences to Krug's philosophy.