Presentation for Euro IA 2010 by Peter Boersma (with support by Henning Fischer) of Adaptive Path. This presentation reflects the things we tell clients when they suggest to use Faceted Navigation. It goes into what Faceted Navigation is and is not good for and what tips & tricks we've learned in researching, designing and evaluating faceted-based solutions.

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5. Adaptive Path helps teams and organizations create products and
services that deliver great experiences to improve people’s lives.
consulting
experience
research events
experience
design 4,000
participants
experience
strategy
r+d 20
countries
8
50
books
hundreds
of articles
c o n s u lta n c i e s
thousands
of readers

7. our clients ask for it

8. “wouldn’t it be cool if...”
“we want to...”
“we already have...”
“can you make it like...”

11. Faceted Navigation 101

12. facets
=
attributes of content items

13. navigation
=
finding your way
in (an information) space

14. faceted navigation
=
selecting
attributes of content items
in order to
find your way
in an information space

15. typical design
facet1
value1.1(#)
value1.2(#)
item item item
facet2
subfacet2.1(#) all content items
item item item
subfacet2.2(#) (or none)
item item item

16. typical design
facet2 value a.b (x)
subfacet2.1(#)
subfacet2.2(#)
item item item
all content items
item item item
whose attributes match
value a.b
item item

17. typical design
facet2 value a.b(x) subfacet c.d(x)
subfacet2.1
value2.1.1(#)
value2.1.2(#) item item item
all content items
item item
whose attributes match
value a.b and subfacet c.d

18. When to use
Faceted Navigatio
n

19. Good when:
all your content items have
all the metadata

21. online magazines
books news
scientific
training & events articles
software & tools about
Kluwer

22. Good when:
your facets and values
actually distinguish
content items

25. Good when:
your users understand
the facets and values

29. When NOT to use
Faceted Navigation

30. Not good when:
your users may have
problems with the UI
e.g. select/deselect facets,
orthogonal hierarchies,
controlled vocabulary

32. Not good when:
your users prefer search
over browse

34. Not good when:
your content items have
optional features

35. facets

36. optional
features
facets
optional
features

37. Not good when:
you only have
a small collection

39. Not good when:
your users are
in non-selection phases of the
purchase process

41. Not good when:
you want to
encourage serendipity

43. top 5
recent
soon
related

45. Known alternatives

46. search

48. directory listing

50. product tables,
comparison charts

52. product configurators,
wizards, advisors

54. top 5/10/50 lists

56. fewer products

58. Adaptive Path’s
Tips & Tricks

59. #1
make sure that
selected facets
remove other,
non-relevant facets

63. #2
at some point,
comparison charts may be a
better solution

68. #3
for products that appear in
many categories,
add a “for general use”
facet/value

73. #4
the order of facets
determines how they will be
used

76. #5
use faceted navigation
in combination with
other navigation types

78. search & filter
top 5
recent
soon
related

79. #6
“view all designs”
is not a filter

82. #7
ask yourself:
should we
use faceted navigation
for all content types?

86. Summary

87. Good Not Good
when: when:
- metadata - problems with UI
in place
- users prefer search
- facets distinguish
content items - optional features
- users understand - small collection
facets
- non-selection phases
- serendipity

88. Alternatives
- search
- directory listings
- product tables
- comparison charts
- configurators/wizards/advisors
- top 5/10/50 lists
- fewer products

89. Tips & Tricks
#1 selected facets #4 think about order
remove non-relevant of facets in interface
facets
#2 comparison charts #5 combine facets
may be better with other navigation
#3 consider a “for #6 “view all” is not a
general use” facet filter
#7 use facets only for
content where it
makes sense

90. Questions?

91. start anyw here ot good for
ted Naviga tion is n
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