Okay, we admit, web design isn’t rocket science, but it seems so many people miss the simple, easy standards that have evolved on the web that we need to state them here.
LOGO Go Home
Every time you use your logo on the web site, it leads the user to your home page.
You May ADDRESS Me as Your Highness
Make sure you include your complete address and telephone information on every page. Very small type at the bottom as a footer is fine. You’d be surprised at the number of library pages that say “Woodland Public Library” but give the user no clue as to where in the country (or world!) the library is.
A Little LEFT of Center
Navigation bars belong on the left. Your navigation bar should always be visible no matter what page a user is on in your web site. Right hand navigation was an experiment that some trendy web sites tried a few years back. It didn’t work well. Across the top is okay, too, but most people look to the left.
Look UP in the Sky!
There’s a space across the top of a page that usually contains a banner. Don’t put important stuff up there because most people assume that’s advertising space! It’s a great place for pictures of your library or some stunning image.
3 Comments
October 4, 2007 at 9:02 am
Citing these as ‘hard and fast’ rules is just asking for trouble. They’re conventions, and can be broken while still providing a very workable interface.
October 4, 2007 at 9:58 am
Thanks for the comment, Andrew. They’re more like guidelines, actually (arggh). If you do choose to do something else, it’s wise to test it with users to make sure they don’t have to learn new behaviors. Some users will just go away forever if things don’t work like they expect them to. I’d argue having a library name and address on the web site, though, is a hard and fast rule!
October 4, 2007 at 1:56 pm
RE: A Little LEFT of Center – As of this writing, the navigation of this blog is on the top and the right. Yet another example of the Jakob-Neilsen-do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do school of “usability experts”.
The only usability experts needed are your users. Listen to them.