12-07-2006, 11:49 PM
A simple and helpful article.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whereami
Quote:It seems strange to be talking about something as basic as navigation 11 years into the web era. And yet, if youre a web designer, chances are youve made some mistakes in this fundamental area. I know I have. So lets go back to basics.
On a website, navigation doesnt mean just links. Navigation is, like most elements of a website, about communicating with the user. Good navigation tells a story, and good stories have a beginning, middle, and end.
Navigation also has three parts, which are used to communicate to the user about their past, present, and future. Any good global navigation scheme should, at a glance, answer the top three questions every user has at the back of their mind on any page:
1. Where am I? (Present)
2. Where can I go? (Future)
3. Where have I been? (Past)
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whereami