信息组织架构 信息组织架构 19uxmatters-Index Pages Unsuspected Project-Profitability Killers(2).docxVIP

Designing Index Pages “Web site navigation usually comprises two kinds of active links: directory category links and content page links.” In this article, we’ll look at the design of a company Web site. On corporate Web sites, it’s common practice to create index pages for the main categories of information. This established practice is usually a good choice because, at the top level of a Web site or section, users need to take just few seconds for a quick visual scan before deciding whether they want to engage with your Web site or don’t think they’ll get what they want there. Most Web sites have no strong real-world metaphor. Therefore, from their prior experience on the Web, users generally expect the content in the main content area of a Web page to change when they click a category link. In fact, changes to the content on a page provide the most visible feedback a site gives to users that something new has happened in response to a user interaction. As a consequence, Web site navigation usually comprises two kinds of active links: directory category links and content page links. In Figure 4, a user has clicked the directory category link Products Services on the primary navigation bar, highlighting it and displaying the corresponding index page in the main content area, as expected. Unfortunately,Products Services also appears highlighted on the secondary navigation bar, where it appears to be one item in the category, though it’s not. In Figure 5, a user has clicked the content page link Applianceson the secondary navigation bar, displaying the corresponding content page in the content area and highlighting Appliances on the secondary navigation bar. Figure 4—Index page that appears when a user clicks a directory category link Figure 5—Content page displayed by clicking a content page link Let’s analyze this user interface: All items in a category are grouped under a category label. Clicking a category label displays an index page. The content on this index