[Sigia-l] "meta-"navigation

[Patrick Grizzard]

Whether a specific item (e.g. - "Contact") is grouped in the main 
navigation, as a part of a local sub-nav, or in a utility header or 
footer is, as Ziya indicates, largely a matter of context, i.e. - how 
that particular item relates to business goals and strategy. But I 
would object to the characterization of these distinctions as "inane." 
They may be somewhat loose or artificially imposed, but without 
defining terms, how do we know that we're referring to the same thing 
(or the complete opposite)? I don't intend to inscribe in stone what 
MUST go in the utility nav vs. global vs. local vs. footer, etc., but 
being able to refer to those types of navigation sure makes life a lot 
simpler when communicating with clients, other team members, etc., no? 
Or am I missing something?

:Patrick


On Jun 3, 2005, at 2:29 AM, Listera wrote:

> Eric Scheid:
>
>> Depends on what kind of site it is... a site whose main purpose is to
>> promote the organisation (such as most small consultancy sites) vs a 
>> site
>> whose main purpose is to provide access to content (such as shopping 
>> sites).
>>
>> In the former case the pages for 'about' and 'contact' are integral 
>> to the
>> purpose of the site, while in the latter case they are mostly not.
>
> Just an anecdote to highlight the inanity of some these thoroughly
> artificial distinctions:
>
> Several months ago I was reviewing the range of usability issues with 
> one of
> the top travel sites on the web. Among the few we specifically 
> discussed in
> a meeting was the "Contact" item. One faction in the company wanted to 
> bury
> it 3-4 levels down (the toll-free number and the service behind it 
> cost too
> much) and another faction wanted to highlight and integrate it 
> everywhere
> (so they could differentiate their "human touch" and "24x7 handholding"
> against competitors). You're telling me "Contact" is not "integral to 
> the
> purpose of the [commercial/transactional] site"?
>
> I wonder WJWD?
>
> Ziya
> Nullius in Verba
>
>
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