Simple sitemaps 'best for usability'

Category: Usability

September 3rd 08, 09:01

Web designers would do well to ensure they create simple, easy-to-use sitemaps to enhance the user experience, it has been advised.

According to usability expert Jakob Nielsen, new studies have suggested that sitemaps are becoming easier to utilise and that users still have a need to refer to them when browsing the web.

He warned against creating interactive sitemaps where users have to click on links to reveal more of the website's pages, as this goes against the point of providing an overall map of the site structure.

Instead, the sitemap should simply list all of the website's pages in list format, preferably structured in a multi-column layout, Mr Nielsen stated.

"Multi-column sitemaps worked better [in the studies] because users needed less scrolling to get an overview of the site's structure," he explained.

"People were more likely to become lost within long, scrolling sitemaps."

According to Jared Spool of consultancy User Interface Engineering, if a significant proportion of website visitors have to click on the sitemap first to find the information they are looking for, there may be problems with the overall structure of the site itself.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.

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