[Sigia-l] Navbar dilemma

[Berna_Tural at ibi.com]

Hi Everybody, 

I am in the middle of a deep argument about a web navigation issue we're
having. 

Let's say that we're talking about Company A's website. There's a consistent
navbar on the top of the site, which links to Company Info, Support, News,
Customers, Products etc. This navbar remains the same no matter where you go
in the site except for Support. The reason for this is not too clear, but
(of course no project goes without politics) none of the decision makers are
even willing to think about changing it. 

The client is planning on adding a new service (let's say a store) from the
site that will be accessible through the main website and also through the
Support section. Some users have the Support site bookmarked and they never
see the homepage to get there. The argument is this:

The navbar for this section should be:
a - The same as the Main navbar (for the corporate site)
b- The same as the Support navbar
c- Different from both, should list the features available in the store only
but have a link to both the homepage and the support page. 

Oh and by the way, the navbars on both sites have drop down options (hidden
navbars ;)). When you rollover Products you have a selection of Products
that you can go to. 

Do you have any suggestions or comments? 

Thanks, 

Berna Tural
User Interaction Designer - Usability Specialist