Navigation
Navigation is HARD: we have too much information and too little time. But clear thinking at the start, good editing of material and intelligent designing of the website are sure to make the visitors return to the site. Making a fast, usable web site brings people and goals together.

Three reasons for visiting websites
    * Surfing - Entertainment
    * Finding things online - News and information
    * Doing things - Web applications

While designing the layout, the following principles should be kept in mind:
 
  

Website navigation principles
  • People will not / don't memorise your navigation scheme:- People are not concerned with the site design but with information. If all the information hooks on one page, the users will find what they want. The users keep searching until they find what they want or until they loose the scent of information. If the journey takes too long, people will leave and try to find the information elsewhere. BUTdoes this mean our navigation should be designed without logic? The answer is NO for one major reason: a percentage of the visitors will be regulars who will have time to learn the interface. So there is no need to build elaborate structure and a simple navigation design works better than anything.
  • Vertical vs Horizontal navigation bars:- The website should not look like a spiderweb of boxes. Bars make things messy. Aesthetically, to get noticed in the crowd, don't put a bar on the left side of the page as most website developers do.
  • Navigating within a page:- Vertical scrolling on a Web page is not something to avoid. But to help users navigate through a page, navigation anchors that help visitors jump to a sub-title or section within a page should be made.
  • Ask questions on every page in the website:- Put yourself in the user's shoes and ask questions like Where am I? How did I get here? How do I get back? Providing the user with landmarks to help orient them to their location within the Web site is extremely important.
 
Website structure principles
  • Break a large website into mini- websites with similar identities:- Mini-sites are easy to use and easy to navigate. Segment the contents so that it is easier for the user to look for his choice and navigate easily.
  • Have few vertical levels in a website:- For information-based sites it is better to have pages spread horizontally than to add vertical levels to the hierarchy. If at all possible, the vertical levels should be kept at two or three levels.
 
Web Site Information Principles
  • Push content to the top of a Web site:- You have mere seconds before the user moves out of the site. Make your work catchy.
  • Edit, edit and edit:- Reduce redundancy. Crisp, clear messages make websites appealing and easier to use. 
  • White space: sometimes it is good, sometimes it isn't:- White space makes sense in print while working with the text and pictures to direct the eyes. But on a Web page, white space slows a user's access to information. The fewer words on the page, means more pages across the site. But it is good for building a marketing Web site, a place where people should slow down and take their time.
  • Page size guidelines:- To achieve fast pages, use few GIFs and JPEGs and use HTML for navigation. Driven by the limitations of bandwidth, the new design ethic is minimalism.
  • Columns keep text lines short:- Use columns for readability. Text flows better when it s broken into shorter lengths. 
  • Cell coloring "chunks" information:- Cell coloring is a powerful tool for "chunking" information. Cell color separates information: the reader scans, seeing immediately each information area. Good use of colour speeds navigation. BUT There is a danger to cell coloring: misuse of color can make text unreadable and the page unusable. The recommend four colors for cell coloring: light blue, light green, light yellow and light gray.
  • Choose scrolling over more Web pages:- When you have to choose between the two, always opt for scrolling. To reduce frustration put more on a page and reduce the number of pages in the site: the fewer the pages, the easier the navigation becomes.
Hypertext > Navigation