Design navigation system

The structure of a website should reflect a strategy. Scenarios of navigation must be developed to push the user to follow a path in the website. Nevertheless we should not imprison the visitor and let free to leave or change of topic at any time. The structuring of the website is to build the overall architecture of the website organizing the different information. Since the main topics are identified (it will not exceed ten main headings), it must then determine their organization and cutting into sub-headings. Most of the time the structure of the site can be represented as a tree whose root is the home page:

Navigation elements
The navigation elements are tools allowing the visitor to know where it is located in the site, back where they came from and move through the sections. There are several ways of implementing navigation elements, it includes:

Breadcrumbs
It is a navigation tool consisting of a series of hierarchical links. It represents the path and allows the user:

• To identify the site.
• Easily back to main headings.

A breadcrumb is as follows:
Home > Content > Navigation

A breadcrumb has the following characteristics:

• Links separated by the “>” to symbolize the concept of hierarchy.
• Last not clickable link and bold. It is the page where the visitor is located.

The term “breadcrumb” (literally “bread crumb”) refers to the Grimm tale of “Hansel and Gretel”, recounting the story of two children lost in the forest dropping pieces of bread to find their way.

Tabbed browsing
The tabs are navigation tools useful to distinguish sections in a website and easily switch from one to another. Color codes can also be used to strengthen the differentiation between categories.

Site Map
A site map allows users to grasp the site in its entirety in a single glance. An item “you are here” may also allow the user to locate the site.

Navigation arrows
The presence of navigation arrows (following previous chapter back to back to the home page) provides intuitive navigation to the user.

Importance of content
The visitors usually come on a site for its content, rather than for its design. The main factor in assessing a web site is primarily editorial content. Thus, a simple site with interesting content is potentially far more hollow visited a site graphic treatment.

Qualification information
Any content item must be qualified. The elements include:

• An explicit title, which will appear in the title bar of your browser.
• The author’s name.
• The date of last modification.
• The copyright associated with the page and in particular the terms of distribution.
• Possible sources of information.

Style
The style of a site must be adapted to the profile of readers who will view it. The “editorial line” of the site is the policy of writing articles. A clear editorial line ensures consistency of all articles, and a special suitability of the content in the heart of the target site. In most cases, given the plurality of readership led to read your content, it is desirable to adopt a style similar to that of the journalist, ie including the following few rules:

• Do not use the first person singular (“I”).
• Avoid the impersonal pronoun “we”.
• Use a neutral tone.

The language used should be as close as possible to that drive, without being familiar. Thus, the content will be preferentially composed of simple, clear, precise and concise.

Calibration
The term “calibration” means determining the length of the article. Studies have shown that reading on screen was on average 25% slower than reading on paper. Given the difficult playing on the screen, you are strongly advised to write concise.