[Sigia-l] Findability

[Boniface Lau]

> From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org]On
> Behalf Of Laura Norvig
>  
[...]

> On some of our sites we use "pre-searched topics". The user doesn't 
> have to struggle to guess what keywords we assign to items. 

I am not sure what you meant by "pre-searched topics" and how they
eliminate keyword guess. Could you please elaborate? May be give us an
URL of one such site?


[...]
> We present them under broad categories all on one page, so user also
> does not have to navigate a "maze".

Being able to present *all* categories of *all* levels on one page
helps a lot. It is like looking down on a maze to figure out a
path. Much easier than confronting a maze at eye level.


> 
> But I do think choice of the word "maze" shows bias. 

I see a similarity between maze navigation and category navigation.
When navigating categories you don't know what is at the next level
until you get down to that level - same with maze navigation.


> For *some* types of content (discrete and with unambiguous labels)
> nested hierarchies CAN work without leaving the user feeling lost.

Yes.


Boniface