Chapter six is very important to keep in mind, especially for our next big assignment. When we are designing websites, it is important to understand the importance of navigation. This chapter uses a metaphor of street signs and breadcrumbs to navigating through a website. Things should be evident in any web page. There should be a clear navigation system that can be seen, (like a LA street sign) from a far distance. We want our users to understand where they are at every moment. Confusion should not be an issue, but if this occurs there should always be an evident "home" button. The site id should always remain at the top left corner of each page so that the user always knows which site they are on. The logical hierarchy of any site should include: The site ID, sections of the site, subsections, sub-subsections, the page, areas of the page, and items on this page. Chapter 6 also describes the importance of a search bar. Often there are users that go to this first hand, rather than browsing around the entire website in order to find what they are looking for. With the search bar, there should be absolutely no confusion and should be listed as a box with a "search" button. Bottom-line, no questions asked. Another thing that was interesting to me was the use of "breadcrumbs" these help the user understand where they are, and where they have been. These are best used when they are located at the top of the page, like an accessory. To indicate movement, the best symbol would be >. The use of a small font size is key to using this as an accessory. The last thing this chapter discussed was the use of tabs as navigation. These are visual cues that the user is moving from one section, to the next and helps differentiate them from each other.
Breadcrumbs?
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