Tabs are everywhere, but do you use them properly? Distinguish between types of tabs, design them for visual clarity, and structure their content for usability.
Information architecture is the practice of structuring and organizing content on your site. Sitemaps are visualization tools used predominantly for planning.
Vague call-to-action verbs, unnecessary parallel language, and conversational tone of voice used in links and navigation labels are confusing. Use labels with strong information scent instead.
A taxonomy is a backstage structure that complements the visible navigation. Taxonomies support consistent information retrieval by creating formal metadata rules.
Vertical navigation is a good fit for broad or growing IAs, but takes up more space than horizontal navigation. Ensure that it is left-aligned, keyword front-loaded, and visible.
With repeated practice, users develop imprecise memory of objects and content in a UI, but still need additional visual and textual signals to help them find a specific item.
To decide whether to visit a page, people take into account how much relevant information they are likely to find on that page relative to the effort involved in extracting that info.
In addition to a site-wide store-locator link, location-finder links in key areas anticipate users’ needs and make it easy to find a physical location within the context of their task.