Building navigation
for your doc site

5 best practices

Created by Tom Johnson / @tomjohnson
idratherbewriting.com

Write the Docs Portland 2017
May 15, 2017

Keyboard Shortcuts

Next slide Space bar
Full screen F
Index Esc

Note: Slides can also move down, such as when I'm exploring a design principle in depth.
If so, the arrow on the lower-right indicates the vertical direction. Test it out now.

Slides move down to drill into the same principle with more detail. Headings also become orange. Slides move right when moving on to another principle.

First realizations of a problem

New company ... same problem

How do you increase the user's ability to find answers in docs?

Design principles to tackle the problem

  • Hierarchy
  • Progressive Disclosure
  • Immersion
  • Desire Line
  • Modularity
  • Wayfinding

Action 1: Group topics in product sidebars

Design principle: Hierarchy

"Hierarchical organization is the simplest structure for visualizing and understanding complexity."
Universal Principles of Design

Hierarchy example: Google

Hierarchies break down complexity

Hierarchies give idea of "whole"

Deep hierarchies don't relay "whole"

Hierarchies show what's in the neighborhood

Action 2: Navigate from doc set to doc set

Design principle: Progressive disclosure

"A strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time."

Universal Principles of Design

Layer information at different levels

Doc home example: Azure

Doc home example: AWS

Prod. home example: Harvest

Action 3: Allow navigation within content

Design principle: Immersion

"A state of mental focus so intense that awareness of the 'real' world is lost, generally resulting a feeling of joy and satisfaction."
Universal Principles of Design

Even in help, users want to stay inline

Bottom-up navigation

  • If you tell me I can do something, link to how to do that something.
  • If you tell me I can use something, link to a description of that something.
  • If you mention a concept or an idea, link to a description of that concept or idea.
— Mark Baker

Immersion example: Wikipedia

Action 4: Make popular topics easy to access

Design principle: Desire Line

"Traces of use or wear that indicate preferred methods of interaction with an object or environment." — Universal Principles of Design

Desire line example: Twitter

Action 5: Reduce information fragmentation

Design principle: Modularity

"A method of managing system complexity that involves dividing large systems into multiple, smaller self-contained systems."
Universal Principles of Design

Users read non-sequentially

You can just read the sections about the tasks you want to do.
— John Carroll, The Nurnberg Funnel

Create self-contained "articles"

Building blocks presentation

Action 6: Hang signposts along the way

Design principle: Wayfinding

"The process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination."
Universal Principles of Design

Provide context before

Provide context after

Breadcrumbs (Facebook)

Discussion Question

With your own documentation in mind, how are you incorporating some of the following design principles?

  • Hierarchy
  • Progressive Disclosure
  • Immersion
  • Desire Line
  • Modularity
  • Wayfinding

Thanks!

Tom Johnson
idratherbewriting.com
@tomjohnson
[email protected]