Navigation refers to the method used to find information within a Web site. A navigation page is used primarily to help users locate and link to destination pages. A Web site’s navigation scheme and features should allow users to find and access information effectively and efficiently. When possible, this means designers should keep navigation-only pages short. Designers should include site maps, and provide effective feedback on the user’s location within the site.
To facilitate navigation, designers should differentiate and group navigation elements and use appropriate menu types. It is also important to use descriptive tab labels, provide a clickable list of page contents on long pages, and add ‘glosses’ where they will help users select the correct link. In well-designed sites, users do not get trapped in dead-end pages.
Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines
Provide Navigational Options
Guideline: Do not create or direct users into pages that have no navigational options.
Comments: Many Web pages contain links that open new browser windows. When these browser windows open, the Back button is disabled (in essence, the new browser window knows nothing of the user’s past navigation, and thus is disabled). If the new window opens full-screen, users may not realize that they have been redirected to another window, and may become frustrated because they cannot press Back to return to the previous page. If such links are incorporated into a Web site, the newly-opened window should contain a prominent action control that will close the window and return the user to the original browser window.
In addition, designers should not create Web pages that disable the browser’s Back button. Disabling the Back button can result in confusion and frustration for users, and drastically inhibits their navigation.
Sources: Detweiler and Omanson, 1996; Lynch and Horton, 2002; Spool, et al., 1997; Tullis, 2001; Zimmerman, Slater and Kendall, 2001.
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