Web Standards - Why, How
Tue
8
JAN
2002
Site Maps: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Jakob Nielsen’s latest Alertbox article is Site Map Usability. His summary:
"Most site maps fail to convey multiple levels of the site’s information architecture. In usability tests, users often overlook site maps or can’t find them. Complexity is also a problem: a map should be a map, not a navigational challenge of its own."
He cites some interesting examples and makes good points about usability and keeping them simple. Some I’ve seen have truly been a maze, while others that are simple don’t begin to tell me anything helpful. Finding a good balance is key. Nielsen suggests them being no more than 2-1/2 times the window size.
Some people say that if a site has good information architecture that a site map isn’t needed. While I understand that, I also find well done sitemaps are a user-friendly addition to sites. Another good reason to have sitemaps is for search engines, in which case a text sitemap is first choice.
06:02 pm, pst
8 January, 2002 Comments, Trackbacks ·
Categories: Usability
