Working out the site navigation

Question

I've been tasked with a corporate website re-design. The first thing I did was a content audit. A column in my audit was 'content type' I went through every page of the website and recorded the different content types found. I then thought a good way of working out how the content should be structured would be to look at the different audience segments and align the content types with tasks they would perform. I'm starting to doubt my process a little not sure if I've gone about this the right way because unfortunately I cannot conduct a card sort..

My question is: How does looking at the tasks your users perform help you to structure a better website? and when the content applies to several audiences how do you know where to put this content?

Answer 1

It's helpful to map out a list of goals each persona may encounter and create a workflow for that persona.

For example:

New users would most likely want to understand what your company does. If your company provides a very specific service, perhaps a "how it works" type page would be needed.

More advanced users may need a quicker way to log into their account, find answers for specific questions, etc.

This will assist you in placing content afterwards. Knowing that your users need to go from point A to B gives you a starting position for your design. (Perhaps, a header with a video introduction would help new users, etc)

Tracking your user's tasks can only benefit your design. This will reveal how your users are interacting with the site and which functionalities are being used the most (vice-versa).

For example: For all you know, the primary navigation may not be used as much as your search functionality. This may indicate your top level structure is confusing and will need to be re-designed.

Perhaps, the users seeking help clicks on "Contact Us" instead of "FAQ". This may indicate either your FAQ page isn't very helpful or FAQ is hard to find. It could be as simple as the word FAQ isn't as understandable as "Support" or "Need Help?".

However, you would not be able to make any of these assumptions without tracking the performance of your users.