Fusce eu ante odio. Praesent metus velit, rutrum sit amet commodo molestie, luctus vel libero. Aenean arcu mi, sodales porttitor aliquet eget, gravida vitae dolor. Duis eget purus odio, at tincidunt risus. Nam quis mi enim, vitae porta lacus. Phasellus libero erat, aliquet et dignissim sed, tincidunt nec erat. Pellentesque lacinia, enim in porta semper, velit odio consequat orci, vel placerat ligula eros vitae lorem. In volutpat nulla sed erat feugiat luctus. Quisque nec lacus eget libero scelerisque lobortis. Mauris ut ipsum eu leo placerat tempus. Nam pulvinar ipsum non sem condimentum pharetra. Aliquam erat volutpat. Suspendisse et turpis mi, ut porta felis. Integer lacinia nunc hendrerit tellus ultrices vitae aliquam tortor tincidunt. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam id ornare lacus.

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Use the same navigation elements in the same or similar position on all pages within the website. Studies show users ignore the navigation and scan for fresh content when landing on a new page. Therefore, consistency is super important for the user experience. Users should always be able to quickly learn the navigation and adapt to the interface.

Therefore, remember to keep the navigation simple and constant throughout the website to avoid any confusion. Your users will thank you. The navigation is not the part of the site you want to get too clever with.

2. Use clear names or icons for menu items

Always use intuitive, clear and easy to understand text or icons in menus. Keep users from guessing what buttons, text or icons mean. If they need to click on a menu item and load the page to find out what the page is about, you’re not doing it right. Users who do not understand a certain part of a web page will most probably ignore it and continue to scan the page, or leave.

Make things simple and intuitive. Leave complexity to family dynamics, relationships, and puzzles. The things you create should be easy to use, easy to learn, easy to find, and easy to adapt.

http://uxmag.com/design/guiding-principles-for-ux-designers

3. Highlight the current page

Usability guru Jakob Nielsen says you must tell your users where they can go, where they are and where they’ve been. This particular tip is about where the user is. This sort of feedback is crucial if you want to show your users where they are within your site.

Highlighting the current page is a simple trick with great benefits, but many fail to use it. Take a look at the menu bar of Smashing Magazine:

4. Provide a search form

Users often scan for the search form to help them find what they’re looking for. If they get lost or they think they will find what they’re looking for more quickly, they will use the search form.

Note that very small sites may not need the search feature, but any bigger site should have it.

Just this morning, I wanted to get more information on a feature my phone company introduced. I was very thankful the search form on their site was not only available in the header, but it worked just as I anticipated. It took me only one click, typing of a search query and hitting the enter key to get to the information I needed. Awesome. If the search form was not available at all, it would take me a whole lot of clicking through their rather complex navigation system. Or I would leave the site and tried a Google site-specific search (with site:).

5. Don’t link pages to themselves

Omit the link that points to the current page. This will only confuse your visitors and many will end up clicking on links that will lead them to the page they are on already.

This is another aspect which many, many sites could improve, including Smashing Magazine.

Derek Powazek wrote a great article for ALA which talks about this issue. Here’s a great quote from that article:

The other day I was driving on the freeway. I was on the 120, going north, dutifully following my Mapquest directions, which said to get off on 120, and then turn right on 120. Say what? I thought I was on the 120 already. Am I lost?

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whereami

Do provide clear instructions for your users and don’t allow them to spin around in circles.

6. Don’t add mailto, Twitter or iTunes links or links to other sites to your main nav

This was my main inspiration for writing this article. I don’t know about you, but I am treading very carefully when I am clicking through menu items on practically any new website I visit. You often see these menu items before you: Blog, Portfolio, About, Contact. Before clicking on Contact, my eyes go all the way down to the left bottom corner of my Safari and check where the link is pointed to. If the link is a mailto one, which is often the case, I won’t click it. I was not expecting a mailto link, but a page with contact info.

7. Don’t use lengthy animations or transition effects

Animations and transition effects can be appealing, if used sparingly. No-one wants to hover over a menu item and then wait for the animation to finish. Users want information and they want it instantly. Animations, if done well, are attractive, and you do want eye candy every now and then. But not at the expense of good usability. You want the users to focus on the content, not distract them.

Do you have some tips of your own to add to my list? I’d love to hear your thoughts.   Email Me

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How to leverage Social Media

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