One thing to consider when defining the navigational structure is the different target groups.
The other important thing is the stages of the customer life cycle.

What do I mean by this? Let’s go on the customer journey:

1) The first time visitor
The customer visits your site. He wants information about your products, prices, service and so on. He needs all this at his finger tips. Try to imagine all the potential questions a customer might have and make sure to answer them – and that those answers are easily accessible.

2) You are lucky
Your potential client has done all his online research and you are the lucky winner – that is why he is back. This usually happens not within the same day. So make sure that the returning customer is able to find the product again fast. In some instances it makes sense to offer a wish list or basket functionality.

3) The unlucky one
The product unfortunately did not get delivered properly. Or in the case of an insurance company - your client had an accident. So this is still the same website user but he again has totally different needs. He is rather likely upset right now and needs help and support fast. Make sure he can access it directly. And yes – in case the answer is a phone call – offering a real voice, without long waiting lines can increase the customer satisfaction and therefore the perception of your brand in many ways.

A good exampe offers Norwich Union. It is very easy to receive a free quote. In addition they offer the button “Existing Customers” on the upper right hand side where clients can “Make a claim”, “Manage their policy online” and much more.

Read the entire series:

Part 1: How to structure content
Part 2: How many navigation points
Part 3: Dynamic or static navigation
Part 4: Navigation and the customer life cycle
Part 5: Global Navigation

For all of you who are not sure what the difference is, let me explain briefly:

A static navigation is always visible and when you click on the first level navigation the items of the second level navigation appear and stay visible.

A dynamic navigation only appears when you hover over it with the mouse and then disappears again.

There are also combinations of the two on the market.

Static navigation:
The advantage is that after the user has clicked on the first level entry all the second level entries stay visible and the user has always the overview of all the other navigation points in that category. So if you assume that your users wish to browse within that category it is advisable that you give the user the overview.

Dynamic navigation:
The dynamic navigation has the benefit that you have not to give up any screen real estate for placing the navigation so you can full the entire website with content. As long as only one drop down opens it is usually easy to navigate. The user can also “preview” the content of all subnavigation items without clicking on them which can be very convenient. However, as soon as you have several sublevel menus it becomes more difficult to control the navigation with the mouse.

Combination of dynamic and static navigation:
An excellent example for a combination of the two is the website of John Lewis. The drop down navigation is even grouped in categories and after the user has chosen an item a static left hand navigation menu appears with further details.

Read the entire series:
Part 1: How to structure content?
Part 2: How many navigation points?
Part 3: Dynamic or static navigation
Part 4: Navigation and the customer life cycle
Part 5: Global navigation

The UK Usability market will grow by an estimated 20% in 2008 to a value of £214 million, according to research published last week by E-consultancy. They write:

The continued growth of this sector is the result of a growing commitment within organisations towards usability and user experience.

E-consultancy’s Head of Research Linus Gregoriadis said: “The growth of this market reflects the on-going buoyancy of the digital sector and the strategic importance of this channel within businesses. The agencies and consultancies profiled in this report continue to report high levels of demand for their services while companies recruit and expand their own in-house teams.”

Gregoriadis added: “A growing desire for more usable websites from public and private organisations is not the only source of growth for the industry. Many usability experts are transferring their skills to non-web activities and are already finding them to be a significant source of income.”

Headline market trends:

-) Increased competition in digital marketing drives investment.
-) Awareness of the importance of usability moves beyond the web.
-) More organisations embrace user-centred design.
-) Accessibility becomes ‘hygiene factor’ rather than separate discipline.