Website Navigation Design

Before we delve into visual design we would like to suggest some organizational tips for working through the architectural and information design aspects of site design.

Navigation systems: Consistent navigation is one of the keys to making a website easy to use. Home pages sometimes use a different layout from the rest of the site and the navigation system might be handled differently. However, it is generally better to establish your navigation right from the start. If the home page has a different layout, the rest of the site should certainly maintain consistent navigation. The main navigation should always be in the same place on the page and should never change. Don't remove the navigation button of the "current" section. While it's true that a button for the "current" section is not technically needed (since the visitor doesn't need to navigate to a section they're already in), it should not be removed for the sake of navigational consistency.

The main navigation of a typical site includes the main sections, and what we refer to as "site utilities" or global navigation. Site utilities are pages like "contact us," "search," "site map," and home." These sections are common to almost every website and can often utilize icons rather than being listed among the main sections. Main sections are the primary main categories for the site. "About us," "Products," "What's New," and "Services" are examples of main category headers. These are usually specific to each company and will include any number of sub pages. We generally use "cascading menus" for the sub sections of main sections (more on this later). For download and speed reasons we may use graphic text for the main section headers, but HTML text for the sub menus.

In addition to a consistent main navigation we also recommend a consistently located sub navigation system. Sub navigation not only makes it easy for the user to toggle between pages within a main section, but also helps to maintain orientation for the visitor as they explore the site. A navigation system should clearly identify and distinguish main sections (first tier), sub sections (second tier), and third tier pages. The consistent use of layouts for main section pages, sub section pages, and third tier pages, (as well as their associated title sizes and formats) can provide visual clues to the visitor as they navigate through the site.   next >