NAVIGATION
SITES
Design That Offers a Sense of Place
Article describing the "you are here" factor in web design.
Designing Navigation Systems
An excerpt from Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, a book by web architects Lou Rosenfeld and Peter Morville. Source: Web Review.
Designing Web Navigation
An Anchor article offering five tips for planning your site's navigation, from understanding user goals to building in shortcuts.
The Joust Outliner
The Joust Outliner is a JavaScript navigation tool that shows site structure as folders.
The Navigation and Usability Guide
Web Review article outlining navigation principles and tips.
Persistent URL Home Page
Information on persistent URLs. When someone tries to visit a PURL, they are first taken to an intermediate resolution service, which determines where the end destination is, and sends the browser there.
Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus
Visually navigate through related terms with this Java-based concept map.
Problems with Navigating in Web Applications
Article presenting common navigation problems on the web and techniques for avoiding them.
Web Page Design for Designers: Navigation
Article offering tips on navigation design.
Web Review: Navigation
Articles on navigation design from Web Review magazine.
ARTICLES
A Flying Menu Attack Can Wound Your Navigation
Too often, designers use fancy menus - of the pop-up, drop-down, or cascading variety - when simple text links or forms would be better navigation tools. (7/25/2000 at Lighthouse on the Web)
Build Traffic Through Good Site Design
To maximize the amount of "good" interaction a user has with your site - whether that means lots of page views, or lots of purchases - you need good internal navigation. (9/27/1999 at WDVL)
Helping Lost Site Visitors: The Error 404 Handler
Suggestions for information to put on a "page not found" error page, and technical information on how to do it. (10/4/2001 at WebReference.com)
Navigation - Make it Easy to Get Around
Examines various aspects of website navigation - including telling users where they are, where they should go next, and how to get there - and gives tips and tricks on getting the message across. (10/20/2000 at WebmasterBase)
Navigation Trees
Using JavaScript to build a hierarchical Tree for easy site navigation. (9/5/2000 at builder.com)
No Weak Links
There are at least 23 ways to "weaken" Web site links, all of which make your users trust you a little less; here's how to keep your links working for you. (11/26/1999 at Borland Inprise)
Plotting Your Course to Successful Navigation
The importance of a good website navigation system, and advice on implementing one. (9/15/2000 at Web Review)
Thinking Beyond Web Usability
An interview in which Donald Norman, the author of The Psychology of Everyday Things, dispenses with the notion that web usability is paramount, focusing instead on the overall results of an online experience. (12/19/1999 at WebWord.com)
Usability and Navigation
Advice on using website navigation elements to make your site more usable - what kinds of things you should link to from each page, what links should look like, and how to show your site's structure. (10/8/2001 at WDVL)
Web Designers Should Stop Searching
According to research firm User Interface Engineering, on-site search engines are not very effective in getting users to the content they want; good categorization and navigation links are more likely to provide a good experience. (11/27/2001 at PC World)
When Bad Design Elements Become the Standard
Jakob Nielsen advises, once again, to use the design standards that most other sites use, since that's what users are used to; including those standards which have nothing going for them but popularity. (11/14/1999 at UseIt)
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