Jakob Nielsen – Site Map Usability

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Summary

• Site Map Usability:28 design guidelines based on usability studies with people using site mapsUsers go to site maps if they are lost, frustrated, or looking for specific details on a crowded site.

• A site map’s main benefit is to give users an overview of the site’s areas in a single glance by dedicating an entire page to a visualization of the information architecture.

• If designed well, this overview can include several levels of hierarchy, and yet not get so big that users lose their ability to grasp the map as a whole.This report is based on usability research with real users and the way they use real site maps.

• It contains 28 design guidelines that will make site maps easier to use and make websites and intranets easier to navigate.The guidelines are based on usability tests of the following sites and their site maps: CDNOW, Documentum, Interwoven, Mercedes Benz USA, Museum of Modern Art, New Jersey Transit, Novell, Salon, Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corporation, and the United States Treasury Department.The report also contains examples, screenshots, and user comments for 13 additional site maps that the test participants encountered in their own web browsing, but which were not studied as systematically as the sites listed above.Richly illustrated with 56 color screenshots of site maps and design elements that worked and didn’t work.

• The report also contains drawings made by the test users to visualize their understanding of the information architectures after using the site maps.Table of Contents105-page report by Amy Stover Schade, Kara Pernice Coyne, and Jakob NielsenExecutive SummaryCurrent State of AffairsRecommendations: Site Specific ExamplesDesign GuidelinesSite Map Link: Name and Placement 6 design guidelinesSite Map Navigation 6 design guidelinesRelationship of the Site Map to the Site 4 design guidelinesDesign 7 design guidelinesContent 2 design guidelinesAlphabetical Indices 3 design guidelinesHow People Say They Use Site Maps Why people use site mapsWhy people don’t use site mapsParticipants’ definitions of site mapsParticipants’ Site DiagramsOther Sites Participants VisitedAbout the Sites StudiedAbout ParticipantsMethodologyAbout Using This MethodologyWhat You GetChecklist of 28 specific design recommendations: review your website and its site map for these 28 items, and you will discover several things that need improvement.