Information Hierarchy in Web Design

by Ellen Foster
Web Design School Review Columnist

The human brain is twice as fascinating as any Web design—even amid the most nonsensical information structures, it tries to create order. That’s how visitors process new Web sites—they gather information in order to make a mental model of where they expect to find what they seek. Web design schools train Web designers to structure and organize a site logically and consistently to meet users’ expectations.

The Role of Information Hierarchy in Web Design

A good Web designer must consider her own objectives and the visitor’s needs, and do all of this within the limitations of the Web medium—all of this while carefully considering information distribution. How does the menu relate to the home page, or the home page to content pages? The answer to both questions should be: logically. By building a hierarchy of directive menus and content pages, the visitor can navigate intuitively.

Web Design: Getting it Just Right

With information hierarchy, it can be tempting and all too easy to err on the side of extremity, using a Web design that’s either too shallow or too deep. If you create some major menu pages, they can turn into laundry lists of information whose interrelation is foggy at best. This shallow information structure won’t help the visitor. On the other hand, a structure that’s too deep—with information buried layer upon layer can so annoy visitors that they will give up and go elsewhere.

Gain an Understanding of Information Hierarchy through Web Design School

If you’re trying to decide whether Web design school is for you, know that it’s a great place to gain a solid understanding of design’s most essential concepts. If “information hierarchy” sounds like gobbledy-gook—perhaps compelling gobbledy-gook—it might be time to familiarize yourself with Web design concepts at an accredited web design school.

About the Author

Ellen Foster is a freelance writer and teacher. She has worked with students of all ages

Source(s):

“Site Design,” Web Style Guide

Posted at 12:22 PM on June 11, 2007

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