Navigation, Signpost, and

Wayfinding

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 Understanding Navigation
• The purpose of navigation in user experience (UX)
• Methods to promote wayfinding in your software
• Different types of navigation
• How to design navigation
• Patterns of navigation that can be useful
The Information and Task Space
Navigation helps users know the space they are in:
• The information and tools that are available in terms
of subject and scope
• How the content and functionality are structured
• Where I am now
• Where I can go
• Where I came from and how to go back or how to
back up
 Let’s break it up!
For large website and apps it helps to break up
large bodies of information into sizable easy to
digest areas to help users navigate without
getting overwhelmed. Portion control 101.
Break it up into:
Sections, subsections, specialized tools, pages,
windows, wizards to help users navigate.
 Features that help
the user navigate
Common Signposts to help the user find their next
step and the way back. Helpful reassuring visual
indicators.
• Page, window titles, logos (always takes you back to the home
page), tabs, selection indicators. Patterns using global and local
navigation links. For example: Progress Indicators, Breadcrumbs,
and Annotated Scroll Bars which are all visual indicators that let
the user know their location within the site.
 Wayfinding
Specialists from cognitive science,
environmental design, and website design have
studied it. These common-sense features help
users with wayfinding:
Good signage – Clear entry points pattern, links
that standout.
Environmental clues
Maps