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I think there is a serious navigation problem on the website I am working on. I have four kinds of users (people working in fashion, interested in fashion, people that buy fashion, and people that are socially connected through their sense of style)

Here is what the website's navigation looks like:

main top navigation

Do you think this navigation is really working for these users OR is it overcrowded and confusing to a first time visitor? I don't want first time visitors to confused about what they can do next when they arrive at the home page of this website.

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    Why do you think you have a problem? Are people complaining they can't find what they want? Are you getting high bounce-rates? Currently this question is quite localised to your own site and you're just asking us to review/make general improvements. What is it that you're having a problem with?
    – JonW
    Jun 21, 2012 at 7:35
  • Good Question @JonW. Here is what I supect, and I am hunting down the metrics to prove it: 1. There are two separate actions that are happening on the website: a) Browsing fashion collections and b) learning about fashion and c) reading a blog 2. Bounce rate is 56 percent. 3. The problems that I see are that the navigation has unrelated items and gives a confusing picture of what the site is about to a first time visitor. I am sure returning visitors will be able to find information just fine. Jun 21, 2012 at 7:39
  • I am asking for a review - yes. I want to know if I am right about the above analysis. Jun 21, 2012 at 7:42
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    We can't really do user-reviews here, such questions are too localized to be of use to anyone other than yourself. However I've edited the question so it's more relevant to a wider audience.
    – JonW
    Jun 21, 2012 at 8:29

1 Answer 1

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Navigation should reflect available options, but it doesn't mean that one should present all the options at once.

There always is some way, allowing to define and present the importance. I would consider:

  • key path scenarios of primary personas (allowing the primary personas to achieve most frequent or most important goals)
  • key path scenarios of secondary personas,
  • key path variant scenarios (allowing to achieve the goals, but in an alternate way),
  • necessary features (that must be there, but are not even secondary or are performed rarely)

In order to have a useful navigation you can define a content that is prioritized (for example using Niehaus wireframes) and quickly reachable / readable (for example remembering the classic article).

As a user I had a problem in relating "Catwalk yourself" with "Fashion Articles Site". "Something yourself" sounds like DYI with tutorials or tips, at the same time there is a little of such content on your site. I didn't buy a theme also, but I grumble too much, don't care about fashion and visited your site for a couple of minutes.

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  • Bartosz, you have nailed it for me, my friend with that last observation. Thank you so much. Jun 21, 2012 at 17:34

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