Unit 3 Reading

Don't Make Me Think
Chapter 6
If your website isn't easily navigable, people won't use your site. Coming up with a way finding system to easily lead users through your content without overwhelming, confusing, or frustrating them is key. When you access a website, usually you are trying to find something.When you're on a website, there isn't a store representative standing there waiting for your every question, so this is where a search box comes in. When people are browsing, they are relying on hierarchy to guide them through the content. The menu bar is similar to a direction/location sign in a store. When you enter a section, subsections appear. Just like walking around a store; if you can't find what you're looking for you will eventually leave.

People feel as if they are in a physical space when they are exploring in the web. Websites are missing some information we are used to obtaining subconsciously on a daily basis. There is no sense of scale on a website. Does the website have 50 pages or 10,000 pages? Also there isn't a sense of direction on a website. We talk about moving up and down in a website, but these terms are based strictly on hierarchy. When we move around in a physical space, we get knowledge about the space. We learn where things are and also learn shortcuts.
When navigating the web, you are relying on links to take you places. Home pages are important because they are fixed places, where you can always navigate back to. Navigation is the website, it is not just a feature.
Nobody likes feeling lost. Navigation can give us something to hold onto, leaving us feeling grounded. Navigation also tell us what a site contains by revealing content.  Revealing the site may be ven more importnt than guiding or situating us. Navigation lets us know how to use the site. Done right, you should instinctively know where to start and what your options are. Navigation also gives the user confidence in the company who owns the website. "Do these people know what they are doing?" A website should reflect the quality of the business!
Web Navigation Conventions are the appearance and location of the navigation elements so we know what to look for and where to look when we need them. Putting them in a standard place lets us locate them quickly and it allows us to distinguish them from everything else. It can frustrate users and lose clients by having a convention that is broken. A persistent navigation is used to describe the set of navigation elements that appear on every page of a site. This gives users confirmation that they are in fact on the same website.This is also an indicator that users will only figure out how to navigate the web site once. The only times this is not put on every page is when you are dealing with the home page, and also when you are inputting information to a form. Persistent navigation on forms can be a distraction. A Site ID can be the companies name, or logo displayed on absolutely every page, in the same location. The Site ID represents the entire site. The Sections is a term known for the primary navigation. It's the top level of the site's hierarchy. The Utilities are the links to important elements of the site that are not part of the content hierarchy. A way to search for things can clear up confusion for some users. Implementing a search bar for easy navigation is important when building an e-commerce site. A search bar could be taken out of context. Are they searching the entire web or strictly this website? Spell it out if necessary. When designing a website, keep in mind that the person who is reviewing the usability issues wants to see more than four levels deep  in your flow chart. They are interested in lower-level navigation just as much as they are the top-level navigation. Pages names have specific rules. Every page needs a name, that is in the right place. The name needs to be prominent and the name needs to match what you click. "You are here" indicators are important when a user is trying to navigate through a website or menu bar.

The term "Breadcrumbs" is used because it is a trail of where you are and where you went to get there. Breadcrumbs show you the path from the homepage to the page you are on. Breadcrumbs should be put at the top of the page, use this symbol ">", use tiny type, and the place you are should be bold-faced. They should never replace a page name.

Tabs are a physical metaphor in a user interface that actually works. Tabs divide the content into sections, and make it easy to open that content. Tabs are self-evident, hard to miss, slick, and suggest a physical space. Tabs that are successful are drawn correctly, are color coded, and one is selected when you enter the site to specify exactly what page you are on.