Identify Navigation Systems

Here's a breakdown of common website navigation and labeling types, with a focus on their usability implications:

1. Navigation
   • Hierarchical Navigation (Main Menu):
     • Typically a horizontal bar at the top of a site.
     • Features main sections, often with dropdown submenus.
     • Best for: Well-structured sites with clear categories.
   • Footer Navigation:
     • Links at the bottom of a page.
     • Often includes secondary links (About, Contact, Privacy Policy), sitemap, or repeated main navigation.
     • Best for: Supplementing primary navigation.
   • Utility Navigation:
     • Small set of links, usually top-right of a page.
     • Focuses on user actions (Login, Profile, Search, Shopping Cart).
     • Best for: Quick access to essential actions.
   • Sidebar Navigation:
     • Vertical list of links, often on the left or right side.
     • Common for blogs, news sites, or content-heavy sections.
     • Best for: Navigating within a specific content category.
   • Breadcrumb Navigation:
     • Shows a user's location within the site's hierarchy (e.g., Home > Products > Electronics).
     • Best for: Orienting users in complex websites, preventing them from feeling "lost".
   • Faceted Navigation:
     • Allows filtering content by attributes (size, price, color).
     • Often used on e-commerce sites.
     • Best for: Zeroing in on specific products in large catalogs.
2. Labeling:
   • Navigation Labels:
     • Should be clear, concise, and match users' mental models.
     • Avoid jargon or overly creative terms.
     • Test labels with actual users to ensure they're understandable.
   • Call-to-Action Labels (Buttons):
     • Use action verbs (e.g., "Download", "Subscribe", "Add to Cart").
     • Make the purpose of the button instantly clear.
   • Headings and Subheadings:
     • Break up content into sections with informative headings (H1, H2, etc).
     • Guide users' scanning and quickly convey the topic of each section.
   • Link Text:
     • Make links descriptive, avoid generic "Click Here."
     • Link text should indicate what the user will find on the destination page.

Important Considerations

• Consistency: Use the same navigation patterns and labeling styles across the site.
• Mobile-friendliness: Navigation must be easy to use on smaller screens.
• Don't Overwhelm: Too many navigation options can be confusing. Focus on the most important.

Navigation systems consist of tools that enable users to find their way around a site. Such tools tell users where they are, where they have been, and how to get to where they want to go. While browsers are equipped with basic navigational features like Back, Forward, History and Bookmark, a complex Web site needs to provide more navigational help. Navigation features can be classified as Global, Local, or Supplemental.

• Labeling system: Labels represent groupings of information. Organization and navigation systems cannot exist without labels. An example of a label is "User Profile." The label might accompany a clickable button and lead to a grouping of information about the user. Well-designed labels can efficiently convey complex ideas in a minimum of space. Successful label use requires creating a labeling system, in which the user can readily grasp a logic and consistency in the way labels are deployed.

Navigation is the way people will get around the site.
It is absolutely dependent on the Information architecture, but in a project it is done after the Information Architecture is drafted. It will include things like:

1. navigation bars
2. related links
3. in-page navigation elements (such as hyperlinks)
4. helpers like A-Z indexes and site maps

When users look for information, they have a goal and will methodically look for that which they are searching. Even before you started to read this paragraph, chances are you did because you either had the implicit goal of determining the elements of web navigation, or had the explicit goal of finding information about Navigation Design.
Navigation is only one segment of the information architecture of a website, but it is the most visible segment to the end user. Fortunately, the internal structure of your web development team does not have to be known to the end user. For instance,

1. marketing may maintain most of the site,
2. human resources maintains the job section,
3. and investor relations has outsourced the finance to Goldman Sachs.

If your site shares a navigation strategy, the minor behind the scenes implementations will be much less apparent to the user.
In the following lesson, you will learn more about another key component of information architecture which is searching.