Hi all -- My manager (not an IA) feels strongly that every page should have a left-navigation scheme that reflects the hierarchy of that section of the website. Currently we have our site broken up into business segments, which we understand may be problematic from a user-perspective, however, that is how it will be for a while. That is reflected in a horizontal 'global' navigation (6 total 'tabs' with drop-down menus, the contents of which were determined through discussions and agreements with the businesses). I know, I know... not ideal in the least, but it was done before I came on board and I am the sole UX person providing IA/ID/Design/ etc. So, I'm having to do a lot of digging to support the ideas I have...
That said, back to this left navigation... A) I'm not sure that the entry pages for each business unit (main global nav tab) need to have a left-navigation, as it's essentially a micro-homepage, and B) Regardless of having or not a left nav on any/all pages, I'm trying to discover what the contents of it should be, especially considering the global nav drop-downs links are not necessarily reflective of the architecture of the site. My initial thought was that I would duplicate what's in the drop-down menu off the tab in the global nav so that it's immediately accessible to users (so not have to constantly rollover the global tab to access the links). But, seeing as the section may actually have a different structure... I'm just stuck. So, there are the two questions: is it ridiculous to have both a global and left nav once a user gets past the homepage? (I understand there is also the concept of 'local nav'?); and, once a left-nav (or, right... whatever position it is), what are some thoughts on what to populate that navigation with? Thanks, in advance - Jennifer ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
