Web navigation systems for information seeking (updated in Feb 2015)
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The document discusses web navigation systems for information seeking, emphasizing user experience, information architecture, and an evaluation framework for major navigation systems. It outlines the importance of navigation tactics like querying and browsing, as well as usability guidelines to enhance user engagement. A dual-dimensional framework is presented to categorize web navigation designs based on the structure they provide and accessibility for users.
Web navigation systems for information seeking (updated in Feb 2015)
- 1. WEB NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR INFORMATION SEEKING Jack Zheng An elective module for IT 6753 Advanced Web Concepts and Applications http://jackzheng.net/teaching/it6753/
- 2. Overview User experience, information architecture, and web navigation An evaluation framework to examine major web navigation systems from a human information behavior and user interface perspective. Advantages and weaknesses of major types of web navigation system.
- 3. User Experience (UX) Conception 3 By Jesse James Garrett • http://uxdesign.com/assets/Elements-of-User-Experience.pdf • http://www.jjg.net/elements/pdf/elements.pdf
- 4. Information Architecture What is IA? http://www.iainstitute.org/documents/learn/What_is_IA.pdf The structural design of shared information environments. The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability. An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape. Components http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596527341.do Organization system Labeling system Navigation system Search system http://www.flickr.com/groups/explainia/ 4
- 5. Practice of Information Architecture 5 How to Frame the Practice of IA v1.3, DSIA Research Initiative http://www.methodbrain.com/posters/how-to-frame-the-practice-of-information-architecture.pdf
- 6. Web Information Seeking Information seeking is the process or activity of attempting to obtain information in both human and technological contexts. Two generic tactics to seek information (Jul and Furnas 1997): Querying, or searching, is the process of “submitting a description of the object (for instance, keywords) to a search engine which will return relevant content or information.” Navigation, or browsing, is the action of “moving oneself sequentially around an environment, deciding at each step where to go next based on the task and the parts of the environment seen so far.” Users use these two tactics together to obtain information on the web. The choice of searching and browsing depends on factors like task type, user preference, and skill. 6 “Navigation is still a fundamental way, and even the “last mile”, of getting useful information.”
- 7. Usability Guideline on Navigation To relieve memory overload and avoid getting lost, web usability studies suggest several guidelines: 1) visualizing the structure of information space; 2) providing easy and flexible access to the navigational information; 3) providing context cues and navigation trace or history; 4) behaving consistently; 5) keeping the navigation system itself simple but meaningful. Based on the first two features, a 2 dimensional mapping framework is developed to categorize and assess major navigation systems.
- 8. A Framework to Characterize Web Navigation Systems (with some typical examples) (Zheng, 2015)
- 9. A Framework to Characterize Web Navigation Systems The framework is arranged as a two-dimensional positioning map with two axes representing the two features. The first dimension (horizontal axis) is how much structure information a navigation system provides to a user when he/she is visiting a particular site or page. On one end, the complete structure can be presented. A typical example is a sitemap (Pilgrim, 2007), which is like a detailed table of contents of a book. On the other end, only partial information is presented or no structure is presented at all, such as quick links or browsing history. The second dimension (vertical axis) is how easy a user accesses or views the navigation tool and information. On one end, it can stay in-sight all the time without extra computer operations to interact with. On the other end, it can be visually separated and stay out-of-sight, and needs additional actions to be presented. For example, a site map is usually designed in a separate webpage and linked from the homepage. So an HTML site map presents a complete structure but offers completely separate access.
- 10. Common Navigation Designs Navigation system Description and examples Structure Access Drop down menu ui-patterns.com/patterns/ VerticalDropdownMenu Provides complete hierarchical structure with mouse-over or click actions; have limited number of top level links. Not easy to access a deep level menu item; usually do not show items at all levels at the same time; cannot access peer level sections directly (must start from the top level links every time); provides minimum context cues. The consistency of interaction may be a problem; can easily be used with a fixed position design to make it stay in sight all the time. Fly-out menu ui-patterns.com/patterns/ HorizontalDropdownMenu Provides complete hierarchical structure with mouse-over or click actions; may have more top level links. Drop-up menu aplus.rs/adxmenu /examples/hbt/ An alternative to the drop down menu but is position at page bottom. Multi-level navigation bar or double tab welie.com/patterns/ showPattern.php? patternID=doubletab Provides complete hierarchical structure with mouse-over or click actions. Provides access to peer level links; can display items at all levels at the same time; easy to provide context cues; may support more complex interactions. Accordion menu ui-patterns.com/patterns/ AccordionMenu Usually provides two levels of a hierarchical structure. Tree menu treeview.net Provides the most complete hierarchical structure. Breadcrumb ui-patterns.com /patterns/Breadcrumbs Provides a complete structural trace and context cues. Can be used together with drop-downs to view peer items in any level; can be customized at a fixed position. Mega menu or fat menu www.sitepoint.com /mega-drop-down-menus/ (Buckler, 2009) designinginterfaces.com /patterns/fat-menus/ Like a dropdown menu, but it holds significantly more content of different levels and types (often in multiple columns), almost like a partial page. Like a dropdown menu, it needs mouse actions to show more structures; structures will hide when not used as it takes a large portion of the screen. Fat footer or sitemap footer ui-patterns.com /patterns/FatFooter designinginterfaces.com /patterns/sitemap-footer/ Provides more structure information but commonly used for secondary navigation. To compensate the large area it occupies, it is usually placed at the bottom of the page; has to scroll down to the page bottom to see the menu. HTML Sitemap webpage welie.com/patterns/ showPattern.php? patternID=sitemap Usually uses a complete page with sufficient viewing area to display the complete structure. On a separate sitemap web page; users need to navigate back and forth between the sitemap page and content pages; does not provide context cues.
- 11. References Zheng, G. (2015). Web Navigation Systems for Information Seeking. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Third Edition (pp. 7693-7701). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265685771_Web_Naviga tion_Systems_for_Information_Seeking http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/web-navigation-systems-for- information-seeking/112472 Jul, S., & Furnas, G. W. (1997). Navigation in Electronic Worlds: A CHI 97 Workshop Report. SIGCHI Bulletin, 29(4), 44–49. Morville, P., & Rosenfeld L. (2006). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media.
- 12. Selected Resources Kalbach, J. (2007). Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the User Experience. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media. Articles Miller, E. (2014). Five Rules of Effective Website Navigation Design. About.com Graphic Design. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/effectivewebsites/a/web_navigation.htm Dunn, Z. (2009, September 14). Principles of Effective Web Navigation. Build Internet. Retrieved from http://buildinternet.com/2009/09/principles-of-effective-web-navigation/ Hixon, J. (2012). Progressive And Responsive Navigation. Retrieved from http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2012/02/13/progressive-and-responsive-navigation/ Patterns and cases UI Patterns. (2014). Design patterns: Navigation. Retrieved from http://ui-patterns.com/patterns?category_id=1 The Smashing Editorial. (2012). Web Design Navigation Showcases. Retrieved from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/web-design-navigation-showcases/ Mesker, M. (2012). Scalable Navigation Patterns in Responsive Web Design. Retrieved from http://www.palantir.net/blog/scalable-navigation-patterns-responsive-web-design Frost, B. (2012). Responsive Navigation Patterns. Retrieved from http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/web/responsive- nav-patterns/ Frost, B. (2012). Complex Navigation Patterns for Responsive Design. Retrieved from http://bradfrostweb.com/blog/web/complex-navigation-patterns-for-responsive-design/ Quince. (2014). Navigation Patterns. Retrieved from http://quince.infragistics.com/#/Search$tag=Navigation 12