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Organize the Contents of Your Site into a Table or Grid
If you can't reduce the contents of your site to a simple sequence, try to map it onto a grid of rows and columns. The
table is a familiar organizing structure in Western culture. A command reference manual--UNIX man pages for
example--map conveniently onto a grid: each command has sections titled Name, Synopsis, Description, Options, and
so on.
Define the Contents of Your Site as a Hierarchy
Your site may be conceptualized as a hierarchy. The hierarchy is a common and powerful way of organizing
information and people. Research has shown that users prefer a hierarchical to a linear organization of menus. They
make fewer errors in a hierarchical structure, and hierarchical structures result in clearer mental maps. Finally, technical
users especially prefer hierarchical organizations [Horton 1994]. Examples of hierarchy diagrams include tree diagrams,
flow charts, and the star configuration.
Create a Picture of Your Site as a Web
If all of the preceding ways to simplify the organization of your site escape you, create a picture of it as a web. To start,
cut up some sheets of colored paper into rectangular cards. Each card represents a document. Write the file names of the
documents on the cards. Use the different colors of paper to organize the documents into related groups.
Use string to represent the links between your documents and connect the cards. Don't try to represent all of the links
between your files, just indicate the most important relationships. Determine which files belong together, then decide
which ones make sense at the beginning of a group and which ones make sense at the end of a group. Determine how
the groups relate to each other.
If you still can't make sense of your site's organization, your users have no chance!
After graphically representing your site as a web, start mapping it onto the simpler structures. Now can you draw a
picture of it as a hierarchy, or a grid, or a sequence?
A diagram of a web is unlikely to help users recognize and remember the organization of your site; I only recommend
that you design navigation tools based on the simpler models. You can also use the colored-card strategy to structure
your documents according to any of the other models.
Break Through to a Fresh Viewpoint
If you have seriously attempted to create a simple model of your site but are still having trouble, it's time for you to
refresh yourself by taking a break. Consider this analogy: if you shine a bright light on a three-dimensional object, it
casts a two-dimensional shadow. The shadow is a simplified projection of the physical object: it is just an outline. A
simple model of your web site is also an outline!
Let's say our three-dimensional object is an ordinary pair of scissors. Now consider this: if you close the scissors and
point its tip directly at the light, the shadow will not reveal much information about the shape or the size of the scissors.
In fact, most people who see only the shadow probably won't even recognize what kind of object is casting it. But if you
open the scissors and shine the light at it broadside, its shadow will be immediately recognizable to almost any observer.
So bear in mind that some simplified models of your site will be more revealing than others. You can dramatically
improve a model just by using a different perspective. This is how a team of people with diverse viewpoints can help
you model your website. Some models should include more detail than others. And the individual differences between
users will give them contrasting preferences, so it is best to develop more than one model.
Create a Suite of Navigation Tools from Your Models
The difficult work is now complete. All you need to do now is select the models that work best for your site and your
users, render those models as text and/or graphics, then install the links in the navigation tools, and install the links to