vannova
04 Jun 2007, 10:25 AM
Every page of your site, you must provide clear and unambiguous answers to the two basic questions your visitors will ask themselves, "Where I am?" and "Where do I go from here?". Though, that this should be given priority over the niceties of design (as you may expect me to), simply because thoughtful and professional design is highly unlikely to hinder navigating the site.
The principal vehicle for travelling around a site is a set of buttons commonly grouped on each page into a navigation bar or navigation panel. This article is mainly concerned with different aspects, both functional and artistic, of designing navigation panels. Rather than theorize about what makes a good or bad navigation panel, we'll deduce the main do's and dont's from real-world examples.
You shouldn't be surprised to learn that the home page of a site is primarily responsible for the impression your visitors get about the entire design---its importance far exceeds that of any of the subpages. The same applies to the navigation system of a site: If you manage to persuade your first-time visitors to make one step down from the home page, the chances of them getting involved with the content and wishing to explore your site thoroughly become much higher.
The principal vehicle for travelling around a site is a set of buttons commonly grouped on each page into a navigation bar or navigation panel. This article is mainly concerned with different aspects, both functional and artistic, of designing navigation panels. Rather than theorize about what makes a good or bad navigation panel, we'll deduce the main do's and dont's from real-world examples.
You shouldn't be surprised to learn that the home page of a site is primarily responsible for the impression your visitors get about the entire design---its importance far exceeds that of any of the subpages. The same applies to the navigation system of a site: If you manage to persuade your first-time visitors to make one step down from the home page, the chances of them getting involved with the content and wishing to explore your site thoroughly become much higher.