The document discusses various strategies for online navigation. Effective navigation aims to guide users to desired content and actions while providing an overview of what's available on a site. Common navigation elements include horizontal and vertical top menus, secondary menus, utility menus, footer links, breadcrumbs, search boxes, and pagination. Key principles for navigation include making it easy for users to find what they want with minimal effort, keeping the design clear and simple, and using natural language to describe sections.

1. ONLINE
NAVIGATION

2. Navigation:
Getting the user from A to
(where you want them to) B.

3. For users:
1. Find stuff they want
2.Get an overview of what’s
on the site
3.See where they are
4.See where they can go
For site owners:
1.Drive people to action points
2.Cross-sell services or highlight
additional information
3.Show what is/isn’t available
4.Be found on Google
Role of navigation…

4. • Why the navigation is there (its role)
• Who will be using it
• Where they want to go
• What YOU want them to do
• How you will manage it (CMS etc)
Choosing a navigation style

5. The Structural-Browser Model
• The Family-Tree model
• Creates a clear hierarchy of content
• Collection of links advance the user to other pages

6. Horizontal Navigation

7. Horizontal Navigation
• Conserves the most amount of
screen space
• Makes for using drop downs for
secondary navigation
• Location most familiar for users,
we read left to right
• Does have a limit in terms of
length of navigation item

8. Horizontal Navigation

9. Vertical Navigation

10. Vertical Navigation
• Good for sites with a lot of
main navigation items
• Supports multiple types of
secondary navigation
• Can act as a page design
element
• Normally takes up more space
then horizontal navigation

11. Vertical Navigation

12. Secondary Navigation

13. Secondary Navigation
• Common location for displaying
B-level pages
• Moves out of the way when not
active to conserver screen space
• Don’t rely on more then 2 levels
of pop-out/drop down menus
• Design enough contrast with the
information below so the user
can clearly read the text

14. Utility Navigation

15. Utility Navigation
• Assistant pages
• Pages that don’t fit into a single
logical category
• Location/Language selectors
• Shopping Cart/User login info
• Pages that you want displayed on
every page

16. Footer Links

17. Footer Links
• Provides a place for important
information away from other content
• Acts as a visual “End” to your page
• Allows users to access pages without
scrolling back to the top
• Can be styled as multiple columns

18. Breadcrumb Trails

19. Breadcrumb Trails
• Convenient for users
• Reduces clicks to return to higher-
level pages
• Doesn’t usually hog screen space
• Don’t use when you don’t need to
• Don’t use as primary navigation
• Don’t use when pages have multiple
categories

20. Search Boxes

21. Search Boxes
• Not every website needs a search box
• The box must be clearly visible, quickly
recognizable and easy to use
• A search box should be a box.
• A search box should be simple
• Don’t make the input field too short
• Don’t making the submit button
too small

22. Pagination Navigation

23. Pagination Navigation
• Provide large clickable areas
• Identify the current page
• Space out page links
• Provide Previous and Next links
• Use First and Last links
• Put First and Last links on the outside
• Give the user a sense of volume

24. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think

25. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience

26. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience
3.Focus their attention

27. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience
3.Focus their attention
4.Organize your content

28. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience
3.Focus their attention
4.Organize your content
5.Use natural descriptions

29. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience
3.Focus their attention
4.Organize your content
5.Use natural descriptions
6. Strive for Simplicity

30. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience
3.Focus their attention
4.Organize your content
5.Use natural descriptions
6. Strive for Simplicity
7.Embrace whitespace

31. The Golden
Rules of Web
Navigation.
1. Don’t make the user think
2. Don’t test user patience
3.Focus their attention
4.Organize your content
5.Use natural descriptions
6. Strive for simplicity
7.Embrace whitespace
8. Don’t assume

32. THANK YOU!