Affording Fluid Navigation Flashcards
global (or top-level) navigation bar
will include broad category titles that navigate the user directly to the associated content when clicked.
Why Choose a Top-Level Navigation Design Pattern?
the vast majority of users will know how to interact with this user interface design pattern—in order to navigate freely through the contents of the design—without the need for instruction or eye-catching visuals to draw their attention to this facility.
Secondly, when you are dealing with a group of categories that are unlikely to change and are easily represented with a short title or label, top-level navigation bars can accommodate as many as twelve categories (the recommended maximum number) without occupying too much of the user interface.
What is the maximum recommended categories for a navigation bar?
12
How to Implement Global Navigation
- Establish your groups of content
- Assign each of the groups of content a fitting title
- Arrange these category titles in a logical order
- Implement the same top-level navigation bar in all regions of the user interface.
- Inform the users of their current position
- Include a number of other small touches to help the user identify this functionality.
Users might overlook top-level navigation bars due to their use of a cognitive heuristic (rule of thumb) referred to as…?
Satisficing
breadcrumbs represent _____ not the actual steps taken
the hierarchy of a website or application.
How do you implement breadcrumbs?
- Assign a label to each of the individual pages within the hierarchy.
- Arrange the breadcrumbs in the order they appear
- Separate each of these breadcrumbs with a greater than sign > or some other symbol that helps space the links.
- Hyperlink all of the breadcrumb labels
- The users current position should always be represented as the last breadcrumb
- Provide users with the facility to navigate between the different breadcrumbs with the tab key
breadcrumb labels must clearly describe the _____ of a page.
contents
Why might the term ‘breadcrumbs’ be misleading for the type of navigation afforded by this particular user interface design pattern?
Because the pattern indicates the user’s location within the hierarchy rather than the user’s previous navigational steps
Search box
graphical user interface design element, one which allows the user to enter letters, words, and terms in a web search engine, database, website, archive, or list of options.
How to implement search boxes
- Outline the input field and make sure the internal color of the box contrasts with the surrounding color.
- Position search boxes at the highest point on a page
- Automatically place the cursor within the search box
- The search term should still appear above the results or contents
- Include a word to show the user the search field is editable
- Visualize previous search terms in a dropdown menu from the search box
- provide the user with a clearly visible ‘submit’ button
- display them in order of relevance to the term
What is the most appropriate location within a webpage for a search box, to maximize findability?
The global navigation bar
How could you improve the user experience of a search box on a website where users return often to find information on related issues?
By suggesting search terms while the user is typing.
T or F: Since users don’t want to pause, you should make search boxes very obvious to them.
True
What is a tag cloud?
Are visual representations of keyword data from a website to allow users to identify important terms.
How to implement a tag cloud.
- Decide on tag cloud placement and size
- Choose whether to use font size, color, or a combination of the two to represent importance
- Decide how the tags will be arranged
- Define the weighting of tags