Slides for Write the Docs Portland presentation on doc navigation best practices
Here’s the description:
Building navigation for your doc site: 5 best practices
Although users typically arrive at doc websites in a confused and impatient state, not sure of where to find what they’re looking for, good navigation can guide them to the right answer. Good navigation anticipates users’ needs, provides links in commonly viewed places, and brings the right topic into the foreground amid hundreds of other topics.
As you build out the navigation for your doc site, follow these 5 design principles:
-
Entry point. Design the entry point to your system to orient users and allow them to easily get started.
-
Hierarchy. Create a hierarchical outline of the content to help users both understand and visualize the body of information.
-
Modularity. Break up content into independent topics that can be viewed, understood, and updated independent of the whole.
-
Progressive disclosure. Layer the information so that you don’t present everything at once but rather make some content available only at secondary or tertiary levels.
-
Wayfinding. Provide navigational signposts — such as breadcrumbs and workflow maps — to help orient users as to where they are in a larger system.
Sponsored content
Note that I’m working on a narrative version of this presentation. I’ll let you know the details when I finish. Also, Write the Docs records all the speakers, so I’ll be sure to update this post with the recording when it becomes available.
About Tom Johnson
I'm a technical writer / API doc specialist based in the Seattle area. In this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, visual communication, information architecture, writing techniques, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out simplifying complexity and API documentation for some deep dives into these topics. If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the field, be sure to subscribe to email updates. You can also learn more about me or contact me.