chapter4

Chapter Four Response
Chapter 4 - Getting There: Pathway Pages

Team 2: Kris Costello and Rob Spielman


 * Rob's Post:** Usually, I prescribe to the notion that people who are visiting my site do not want to hunt for information, they want to go from the home page directly to the information they desire. This belief comes from the fact that I have not developed any sites (besides small personal sites) that have been exposed to the internet or to internet search engines. Therefore, the pathway pages I have included in my sites are mostly void of any site specific links (besides links to information pages) and do not provide links back to the home page. A learning I drew from the chapter reading was that I should always provide links backwards and forwards on the pathway pages to avoid ‘dead ends'. Even in my small internal sites, dead ends should not exist.

Another concept provided in the chapter that will help me change my pathway pages is that those pages need to have the most important information on top. I never really considered this when designing pages. For example, I work on an internal website at work for the audit department. On a pathway page named "Web Applications" I have the top link set to "MWTS", which is a page that is very rarely used by the auditors. Thinking about the page after reading the chapter, I should have the top link be set to "Help Desk", as this is the link most commonly used by the auditors. I shouldn't assume that users are going to scan down the list of links to find the one they need. I also should not assume that users should know what "MWTS" stands for, so I should either make the link the full phrase or add a short description after the link.

In my experience with testing websites, I've come across situations where site developers have done both a good and bad job of constructing pathway pages. Specifically, in a contract job I had at American Express, I tested their first attempt at an online brokerage site back in 2000. Looking back, the pathway pages on this site were not constructed to the specifications that the author laid out in our book. The pathway page from the home page link "Research Equities" took the user to a pathway page full of paragraphs of market research information that held links that were named "Large Cap" and "Blend" without ever explaining to the viewer what those words meant or why they would want to learn more about those concepts. Conversely, when I looked at the AMEX site today and went to a similar pathway page, I saw that the site designers had done away with the paragraph formatting and made the page more of a table of contents.

At another position where I tested a secret shopper web application, the designers did a good job of not making the user think too much on the pathway pages. They accomplished this by keeping the names of the links very clear and providing short descriptions to the user about exactly where and why this link existed. For example, one of the links was called "Shopper Registration". It was not an inline link which I have seen in some pathway pages. For example, "To register as a [|shopper], please be sure to have..." is a common form of vague link structure I have seen in other pathway pages. There is quite a distinctive difference to the user about where they are supposed to register.

All of these concepts have given me a better idea on how to incorporate and structure pathway pages.
 * Kris's post:** As a web user, there is nothing more frustrating than getting lost among the jumbled mess of a site that has poor navigation features. I was on a health care web site recently and thoroughly engrained in deep into the site, when suddenly I wasn't at the right place. The Back button didn't do the trick, so I clicked Home expecting to get back to the site's main page. Instead, the site logged me out sent me all the way back to the sign-in page! Talk about a time waster.

In my response to Chapter 3, I talk about the nice web site of [|www.rei.com] and [|www.cnn.com]. both have great pathway pages. I can find immediately what I'm looking for. They use short descriptions and little advertising, so pages are streamlined and easy on the eyes. It's easy to skim and scan these sites, and no matter how far embedded you are in the site, finding your way back is easy with their navigation features.

For the web site that I'm working on as part of an internship this semester ([|www.jupiterpto.com]), I am trying to incorporate the information that Redish gives regarding pathway pages and how better utilizing them on this already established web site could serve users better.

The Jupiter PTO web site is used mainly by parents, volunteers (or those thinking of volunteering), teachers and school administrators. It isn't a very extensive web site at the moment - all the links and tabs at the top remain stationery, including the Home button. However, soon I need to add more information to the site that will also require adding more pathway pages (meeting minutes, PTO bylaws, budgetary statements, etc.). I think the descriptions need to stay short, since Redish explains how people don't like to read much when hunting for information (I know this about myself, as well).

Rob brought up key points about keeping the important links at the top, never letting pages be dead ends, and doing away with paragraph formatting. I need to keep in mind all these crucial concepts while I revamp the PTO's site.

My Response:

Rob points out a very important fact to keep in mind when creating a page in your web site. A clearly understood link will let your user coast through your website straight to the information they are seeking. A poorly worded link only brings about frustration, and is likely to lead to the user going to another web site. One of the biggest problems I have with sites is that I don’t know if the links I see will take me where I need to go. I have been on some sites and tried links in vain, searching for a seemingly elusive piece of information. On these occasions I only stuck it out because I had no other choice. If I could, I would have gone in search of another site instead of wasting time.

Kris also raises important things to keep in mind when creating a site. First, most people tend to look at the top for a bar with links. It’s a mainstay in most websites and an addition that will make a user feel right at home on your site. The second is avoiding dead ends. Nothing frustrates me more than going to a site time and time again, and the same pages are under construction. In my experience, I find that leaving such things too long reflects poorly on your site as a whole, and could seriously affect the number of users on your site. I think it’s best to keep some kind of schedule when updating or adding to your website so such instances are avoided.