Regardless of the type of website we’re working on, we always encounter three basic types of navigation. This article attempts to identify and describe each. Although process-oriented websites share the same navigational types, it’s easier to describe from a content-oriented perspective. These different types of navigation are based on the different styles of finding information, but that’s for the next iteration of this article.
This is the fundamental type of navigation, and is defined by the site’s information architecture. The site’s content (and functional processes) should be structured in a logical manner, with content organized by role, category or function. This structure (the information architecture) is typically reflected in a menu system, and should be designed with a “one element/one location” rule: even though something may be accessible — or even relevant — to multiple things, it should exist only in one area, and this should be reflected in the menu system.
Path-driven navigation solves the problem of the one element/one location rule: even though things may be accessible only through a particular place in the menu, they may be accessed via in-page “path” navigation.
There are two basic types of path-driven navigation: audience-specific paths and context-specific paths.
Audience-specific paths are frequently found on homepages, and typically consist of links into the content structure that are specific for different audiences or needs. Examples include “For Enterprises” or “For Home Users.” Audience-specific paths can be a little less blatant by appealing to specific needs: “Trying to be agile but struggling with your existing code?” (from Agitar’s website) appeals to a particular audience, but through a softer means.
Context-specific paths provide links to “related content” that may live elsewhere in a site’s architecture. In some sections in the BvH Law Group website, we provide visitors with links to related articles that exist in the articles section.
It’s vitally important to maintain a well-structured architecture, both from an ease-of-use perspective and from a maintainence perspective. Menus are for navigating that structure, and appeal to a particular type of user. Combining a menu-driven navigation with a path-driven navigation (for instance, by having multiple instances of the same element) attempts to solve the problems of two types of users through a single system and only ends up frustrating both.
Incidentally, this is the reason why process steps should almost never be defined as tabs: they split a process into separate elements, when in fact they are one.
The final style of navigation is search-based. If a user knows what they are after, a search tool is often the fastest way to access that information (or process).
Everything copyright © 2010 Josh Orum