It doesn't matter here if we are talking about a public Web site, an Intranet, or an Extranet. What matters is that in addition to lots of relevant information, you're going to want to make it easy for people to find what matters to them.
For an idea of how that can work, look at two masters of this art form -- Yahoo and amazon.com.
Whatever you may think about the business plans of these companies, their Web sites are consistently among the most popular with Web users. There are a couple of reasons why.
Both Web sites have a good, clean design. No matter what purpose you've got in coming to the site, you can usually find several links that will get you started on the way to finding what you came for.
Look a little bit closer and youâll see that there are three basic ways that these sites handle the task of helping you find what you want.
First, and most prominent on both sites, is a little search engine with a box where folks can put in what we call key words. This little feature is so common on popular sites that we often miss the point that it's one of the things that helps make the site popular.
In usability research done by several different researchers, we found that a site-specific search engine where folks can look through the site for specific content, is one of the most popular features with visitors. They love being able to pop in a word or two and seeing what they get.
For some users, the search engine is the only way that they search. Other users, though, want to see some kind of category.
Again, check out the Amazon and Yahoo sites. Youâll see that each of them offers different kinds of categories in several different ways.
Sometimes they are spread around and listed on the face of the site. Yahoo does this the most. For Amazon, that technique is used, but Amazon is more likely to put categories in a pull-down menu or in a series of tabs across the top or side of the page.
What's the third thing you can learn from these two great sites? It's the fact that more links seem to be preferred by Web visitors rather than fewer links with the opportunity to drill down. Yahoo has been testing this pretty consistently since the site was first created. They found that a broader, shallower organization seems to work better for most users than a narrower, deeper form.
There are two other lessons about Web site design that you can learn from these two great sites; and, in this case, the lessons are different.
From Amazon, you can learn about constantly changing the site to make it better. Most of the time, the basic design remains the same, but Amazon is constantly adding features that help make its site more usable.
The big lesson from Yahoo is a bit different. Yahoo has barely changed its basic design since it existed as a volunteer project for Jerry Yang and David Filo, when they were students at Stanford. They found a basic design and format that works; and, with only minor modifications, they've stayed with it ever since.
Making It Work
Give folks a site-specific search engine to help them find things on your site.
Use clear, simple categories in your visitorsâ language to help those folks who prefer categories as a way to find things.
Especially on your main-entry page, and most times that you've got an option, consider a broad, shallow organization with lots of links-per-page instead of a narrow, deep organization with few links and longer pages.
Keep looking for and finding ways to improve your site, but don't change something that's working unless you've got a way that will make it work better for the user.
Created/Revised/Reviewed: 30 July 2002
This is only one Big Idea. You'll find more in Wally's book, What's the Big Idea? and in his Big Idea column. There's a complete list on the Main Big Idea page. You may also order the book by clicking here.
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