Navigation design

Introductory articles

  • Site navigation: a few helpful definitions
    Collaborating with your team on the design of a navigation system can be difficult unless you all share the same vocabulary when talking about the different parts that make up the navigation UI.

Discussion articles

  • A-Z indexes to enhance site searching
    Unlike typical search engines, A-Z indexes created by expert indexers point to all substantial information about a topic. Nothing is missed, and extraneous pages are not retrieved.
    (Heather Hedden)

  • Adaptive menu design
    80% of usability is navigation. That's what the gurus tell us. If you get the navigation right it seems almost guaranteed that users will be able to find what they are looking for on your application or site. But getting the navigation right is not that easy. Several layers of design factor into effective menu systems. In this article, Dr. Kath Straub discusses how to select the best menu presentation style for a given application.

  • Avoid within-page links
    "On the Web, users have a clear mental model for a hypertext link: it should bring up a new page. Within-page links violate this model and thus cause confusion."
    (Jakob Nielsen - Alertbox)

  • Breadth vs depth
    During the last 5 years a controversy has been brewing concerning the breadth vs. depth in menu design for websites. Which is best? A site that is broad and shallow, presenting a lot of choices to the user right away, but only requiring a few layers? Or is it best to have narrow and deep, which means presenting only a few choices at a time, but requiring many layers in? As is usually the case, the answer turns out not to be so simple. In this issue of the newsletter we explore the variables that are emerging as important in the debate.

  • Breadcrumb navigation: further investigation of usage
    The purpose of this study is to further investigate breadcrumb usage by evaluating the following research questions: Do users choose to use breadcrumbs as a navigational tool? Does breadcrumb usage improve navigational efficiency? Does the location of the breadcrumb trail on a page effect usage? Does a breadcrumb trail aid the user’s mental model of the site structure?

  • 'Click here': needless words
    The words "click here for..." and "click here to..." serve no purpose within links. Unfortunately, many news sites still use them. According to Google, "click here" is on about 8,970 pages at sptimes.com alone.

  • Do you hear what I hear? ... or why it may not matter that users still ignore breadcrumbs
    Breadcrumbs make site learning and navigation more efficient. And it's the designer's job to enhance efficiency, right? So we continue to design sites with breadcrumbs. But breadcrumbs are only beneficial if users notice them. And largely, they don't. Or maybe they do and they are telling us something.

  • Essential navigation checklists for web design
    These checklists pull together best practice in the disciplines of information design, usability and accessibility, into an easy to apply format. If you are already familiar with those topics, the checklists serve as a handy reminder that is easy to refer to and apply when planning navigation. If unfamiliar it's also a fast-track lesson providing you with a head-start in getting it right and enables you to make better informed choices/compromises.

  • Getting confidence from Lincoln
    In the Lincoln study, we looked at sites where users frequently found their target content and sites where they didn't. We wanted to know what the difference was between the links, so we compiled two questionnaires to identify key attributes for each link. In our analysis of the data, we isolated a factor we didn't expect. With each click, users told us they were more confident they would succeed on those sites where they actually did succeed. Somehow, they were predicting their success.

  • Global navigation
    Global navigation is the links to a site's top-level categories that occur on every page of the site. While global links to top-level categories help reinforce the breadth of a site's offering, they also consume significant screen real estate for links that arguably are not as relevant to users as page-specific content. This is particularly true at the lower levels of the hierarchy, where there is a larger amount of semantic distance between the global links and the page content.

  • How Google manages its homepage
    "An average person can deal with only 7-10 choices on a webpage, according to Google research. That's why it's so hard to get a link on the Google homepage."
    (Gerry McGovern - New Thinking)

  • How many items should go in a menu?
    This article explains why Miller's "magic seven" does not apply to navigation or menu design.
    (Alan James Salmoni)

  • Image links vs text links
    "A well-designed image link will work as well as a well-designed text link. A poorly-designed image link will fail as often as a poorly-designed text link. Since image links are significantly harder to design 'well', our recommendation to clients has been to favor text links. They are more efficient to create and manage and produce the same results."
    (Jared M Spool - User Interface Engineering)

  • Information scent: helping people find the content they want
    "Many sites don't expose content on home pages or section pages. The only method users have of finding content are navigation headings. Navigation headings are typically limited to one or two words, which often isn't enough to clearly distinguish one heading from another and give a clear indication of the content offered in that section of the site."
    (Iain Barker)

  • Location of the scrollbar
    Are scrollbars located close enough to where users typically work with a website or list box to encourage the fastest possible use? Studies at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have shown that many users preferred to have the website content index located in the right panel because it was closer to the traditional right-placed scrollbar.

  • Location, path and attribute breadcrumbs
    Keith Instone's research on breadcrumbs as presented at the 3rd Annual Information Architecture Summit. Three types of breadcrumbs used on the web are defined, examples given, and a set of research questions is presented.

  • Hypertext links: whither thou goest, and why
    The link is the basic element of hypertext, and researchers have long recognized that links provide semantic relationships for users. Yet little work has been done to understand the nature of these relationships, particularly in conjunction with the purposes of organisational/informational websites. This paper explores the semantic and rhetorical principles underlying link development and proposes a systematic, comprehensive classification of link types that would be of use to researchers and web production teams.

  • Improving web page revisitation
    In this paper, we distill several years of our research on understanding and improving how people return to their previously visited web pages. We report our findings across five categories of revisitation research: characterisations of user behaviour; system models of navigation and their impact on the user’s understanding; interface methods for increasing the efficiency of the Back button; alternative system models for navigation; and alternative methods for presenting web navigation histories. The behaviour characterisation shows that revisitation is a dominant activity, with an average of four out of five page visits being to previously seen pages. It also shows that the Back button is heavily used, but poorly understood.

  • Model of attraction
    The navigation metaphor is the common model used to explain how users interact with the web. The navigation metaphor tries to provide a framework to explain users moving to and through an information space. We put forward the metaphor of attraction (magnetism, gravity, chemical, etc.) as an alternative. This is an initial draft.

  • Navigate on the right? The jury is still out.
    In a recent HFI newsletter, Bob Bailey presented a case for moving web site navigation to the right-hand side of the page. The evidence he cited was a study by Kellener, Barnes and Lingard on the effects of scroll bar orientation plus his own unpublished research on behalf of the National Cancer Institute. I am not certain that users spend most of their time moving between the scroll bar and the navigation fields with a mouse.

  • Navigating information spaces
    The traditional view of HCI sees the person outside the computer, looking onto a world of information. An alternative is to see people as inside their information space. This in turn leads to the idea that people are navigating through this space. An information space is made up from information artefacts which are the devices we use to help us undertake activities in the 'real world'.

  • Navigation accessibility 1: menus and links
    There are many good books and websites with information about designing usable navigation systems. Rather than going over well-travelled ground, this document is the first of two that will consider the accessibility implications of website navigation and how access to site content for people with disabilities might be enhanced.

  • Navigation accessibility 2: accessing page content
    Helping the user locate and go to a web page is crucial to site navigation, but it is only part of the story. Once the user has arrived at the page they should then be able to easily access the content it contains. This is not likely to be problem for an able-bodied person who can use a mouse and quickly scan the content of the page.

  • Navigation blindness
    Most web development projects put a lot of effort into the design of navigation tools. But fact is that people tend to ignore these tools. They are fixated on getting what they came for and simply click on links or hit the back button to get there.
    (Henrik Olsen)

  • Navigation complex
    Years ago I did some navigation research. My goal was to find out if any type of navigation was particularly suited to certain kinds of sites. I also wondered if navigation isn’t too complex in general. I identified six forms of navigation--three main types and three subtypes.

  • Navigation - our visitors' travel guide
    "Navigation and menus are not a technical matter. They are not confined to the world of IT but are used in real life, too. Navigation is a human interaction matter, human beings with all their issues and problems need and use it. Really successful navigations care about the visitors' needs, not promote a technique or our company's structure. What are we likely to find helpful in our local council office: An index of departments or a list of employees?"
    (Chris Heilmann - Evolt.org)

  • On beyond help
    More information is going online, and that information is more critical to both business and personal lives. In the work place, everything from human resource information to procedure manuals are on the corporate intranet. In their private lives, people expect to hop on the web to find not only things to buy, but resources for health, financial, hobby and community information, and they hope to find this information easily. If this information is not presented in ways that make it easy to locate and read, users will seek elsewhere.

  • Persuasive navigation
    By understanding user needs and matching them up with business goals, you can persuade users to go where you want them to go, making them happy at the same time.

  • Site navigation: keeping it under control
    This article offers advice on designing navigation and recommends two principle guidelines: keep navigation to three levels, and don't use product names as navigation labels.

  • The age of findability
    Even inside the small world of user experience design, findability doesn’t get enough attention. Interaction design is sexier. Usability is more obvious. And yet, findability will eventually be recognised as a central and defining challenge in the development of web sites, intranets, knowledge management systems and online communities.

  • The answer you're searching for is 'browse'
    "The prevailing research suggests that users tend to prefer to take small, incremental steps through the information space to find relevant information. They tend to browse--even when they know precisely what they are looking for from the onset."
    (Kath Straub)

  • The psychology of navigation
    Information architects can better understand how to communicate navigational choices by examining how users make choices.

  • The right trigger words
    The purpose of every link is to move users forward. Each link needs to give off enough "scent" to clue the user into the content to follow. That scent comes from trigger words. When creating new content, the designers' most important task is to ensure that the links to that content contains the right trigger words.
    (Jared M. Spool)

  • Understanding web searching and navigation patterns
    We describe a model for log data of user search sessions obtained from a trail-based search and navigation documentation system. The model elicits interesting patterns that can be used to better understand Web user search and navigation behaviour. Our study shows that such log data reveals interesting patterns beyond the typical statistical query terms analysis.

  • Website breadcrumbs
    Breadcrumbs are a navigation element that theoretically allows users to orient themselves within a website. They are primarily intended to help users avoid becoming lost by indicating to them where they are at in the website. A second purpose for breadcrumbs is to offer shortcut links for users to "jump" to previous categories in a sequence.

  • Website indexes
    Alphabetical back-of-the-book style indexes on websites are certainly a useful aid to site navigation.

  • Where am I?
    "It seems strange to be talking about something as basic as navigation 11 years into the web era. And yet, if you’re a web designer, chances are you’ve made some mistakes in this fundamental area. I know I have. So let’s go back to basics."
    (Derek Powazek - A List Apart)

Research articles

  • Breadcrumb navigation: an exploratory study of usage
    In an attempt to better understand how, when, or even if, users use breadcrumb navigation in a real-time online environment, we conducted an exploratory study to determine if participants use breadcrumbs when given a list of items to find on a website. In addition, we were interested in monitoring what other navigational methods they use to access information or e-commerce items (i.e., back button, navigation bars, search).

  • Cascading versus indexed menu design
    Two common ways to present menus are to either hierarchically cascade the menu items upon mouse-over, or to simply place most, if not all, of the menu items in a categorical index. This study evaluates both approaches and provides performance and subjective data that suggest the category index method is best.

  • Cognitive models for web design: information foraging theory applied
    Information foraging theory gives those researching user interaction with web sites a way to examine user goals, their decision making processes and adaptations to the information access system environment.

  • Collaborative information retrieval
    The goal of this study is to obtain a better understanding of social aspects of information retrieval in a variety of workplace settings. Information retrieval has been viewed as an individual activity, and tools to support it can benefit from a more complete understanding of why and how it is carried out. Part of our plan is to develop a conceptual framework to guide research, design, and organisational behavior in the area of Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR).

  • Designing for web revisitation: exploiting structure from user interaction and navigation
    A high percentage of web access are visits to pages that the user has already seen in the past. Currently available support for page revisitation, through standard browser features, and suggested improvements have been based on simple history models which do not fully incorporate information about the user’s interaction with the web and the resulting navigation structure. In our research we propose a syntax for parsing navigation history into structural elements that has proven useful for identifying patterns in the history and building features for supporting habitual web usage.

  • Exploring user mental models of breadcrumbs in navigation
    "Breadcrumbs are a common Web site navigation element, yet little is known about whether users notice, use and understand what they are. We surveyed 4,775 sites to determine how many use breadcrumbs and what conventions exist, then conducted usability tests to explore user mental models of breadcrumbs."
    (Angela Colter, Kathryn Summers, Cheri Smith)

  • Help! I'm lost: user frustration in web navigation (PDF)
    Computers can be valuable tools, and networked resources via the Internet can be beneficial to many different populations and communities. Unfortunately, when people are unable to reach their task goals due to frustrating experiences, this can hinder the effectiveness of technology. This research summary provides information about the user frustration research that has been performed at the University of Maryland and Towson University. Causes of user frustration are discussed in this research summary, along with the surprising finding that nearly one-third to one-half of the time spent in front of the computer is wasted due to frustrating experiences

  • Improving web page revisitation: analysis, design and evaluation (PDF)
    Several years of research suggest improvement is needed in how people return to their previously visited web pages. Web page revisitation is one of the most frequent actions in computer use, so any interface improvements in this area can have a very large effect. Five categories of revisitation research are involved: 1) Characterisations of user behavior; 2) System models of navigation and their impact on the user's understanding; 3) Interface methods for increasing the efficiency of the Back button; 4) Alternative system models for navigation; and 5) Alternative methods for presenting web navigation histories. Revisitation is a dominant activity, with an average of 80% of page visits being to previously seen pages. The Back button is heavily used, but poorly understood.

  • Information seeking research needs extension towards tasks and technology
    This paper discusses the research into information seeking and its directions at a general level. We approach this topic by analysis and argumentation based on past research in the domain. We begin by presenting a general model of information seeking and retrieval which is used to derive nine broad dimensions that are needed to analyze information seeking and retrieval. Past research is then contrasted with the dimensions and shown not to cover the dimensions sufficiently. Based on an analysis of the goals of information seeking research, and a view on human task performance augmentation, it is then shown that information seeking is intimately associated with, and dependent on, other aspects of work; tasks and technology included. This leads to a discussion on design and evaluation frameworks for information seeking and retrieval, based on which two action lines are proposed: information retrieval research needs extension toward more context and information seeking research needs extension towards tasks and technology.

  • Linking and searching
    A series of observations and guidelines derived from a report summarising research on how users find information on web sites.

  • Navigation bars for hierarchical websites
    The goal of our study was to determine the effectiveness of the selection list navigation bar, an innovation to the standard navigation bar. We found that after a short amount of use, subjects could significantly reduce the number page loads necessary to find an answer using the selection lists, but could not significantly reduce the amount of time necessary.

  • Navigation left is best
    "Web sites and Web applications require users to select from navigational options to access subsequent content pages. An important question relates to where the first navigational choices should be located on the page. Is the navigation better placed at the top of the page, on the left or right panels? If three clicks (i.e., three navigational level selections) are required to get to the desired content, should they be grouped together at the top, left, right, or split between different locations (e.g., select from the top, with the next selection[s] from the left, top or right)?"
    (Bob Bailey)

  • Searching vs linking on the web: a summary of the research (PDF)
    This 17-page report summarises the available research on how users search for information within web sites. It addresses users' behaviours and how to improve users' ability to find information through search or the use of links.

  • SmartBack: supporting users in back navigation (PDF)
    This paper presents the design and user evaluation of SmartBack, a feature that complements the standard back button by enabling users to jump directly to key pages in their navigation session, making common navigation activities more efficient. Defining key pages was informed by the findings of a user study that involved detailed monitoring of web usage and analysis of web browsing in terms of navigation trails. The pages accessible through SmartBack are determined automatically based on the structure of the user’s navigation trails or page association with specific user’s activities, such as search or browsing bookmarked sites. We discuss implementation decisions and present results of a usability
    study in which we deployed the SmartBack prototype and monitored usage for a month in both corporate and home settings. The results show that the feature brings qualitative improvement to the browsing experience of individuals who use it.

  • Testing the three-click rule
    In a recent client meeting, a high-ranking executive told us that every piece of content should take no more than three clicks to access. We knew exactly what he was talking about: we've heard the Three-Click Rule many times before. This unquestioned rule of web design has been around nearly as long as the web itself. To see if we could find this kind of relationship, we looked at data from a recent study of 44 users attempting 620 tasks. If there is a scientific basis to the Three-Click Rule, we couldn't find it in our data. Our analysis left us without any correlation between the number of times users clicked and their success in finding the content they sought.

  • Transitional volatility in web navigation (PDF)
    The primary concern of the study was the effects of the navigational volatility on disorientation and Website mental models for two common hierarchical navigational schemes: partial overview and local context support.

  • Transitional volatility in web navigation: usability metrics and user behaviour
    A Master's thesis on user behaviour in within-site navigation.

  • Users decide first; move second
    Designers use interactive design elements, such as fly outs, rollovers, and dropdowns, to conserve space, make the screen less cluttered, and enhance the users' experience. We were surprised when users succeeded more often when they didn't encounter these design elements than when they did