Maria referred to my article on how site maps are a design cop-out. A
more reliable link is here: http://www.uie.com/articles/Sitemap/
As for Cindy's points, here's my opinions:
On Jan 19, 2009, at 8:25 AM, Cindy Lu wrote:
Thanks all for the reply to my question about site map. From the
messages
and articles I have read so far, the site map can be used in the
following
ways:
1. Some people are used to using a site map to find things
Actually, no. A better way to state this is they are used to using a
site map on sites that traditionally have poorly designed navigation
systems.
2. Some people may use the site map to find things if anything else is
failed
Actually, this would me more accurate if you said "ALL site map users
use it to find things if the site's navigation has otherwise failed."
3. The analytics of site map usage can help designers improve the
Home page
or navigation design, i.e. adding frequently used links to the home
page
Not really. It only tells you what links on the site map are better
designed than the links on the site map page. Poorly designed links on
a site map will obscure great content just like poorly designed links
anywhere else.
By the way, you seem to be implying that most use of the site map is
from the home page. I'm going to bet that, for many sites, this is not
the case. On those sites, the visitor will choose the site map when
they've hit a dead end in trying to follow the scent to their content.
(The same is true for Search, where we've found on most sites we've
studied, it's used from the home page only about 8% of the time.)
Looking at the analytics is interesting, but I'm not sure I'd make
important decisions from that datapoint alone. It t is a poor man's
research tool. Better off looking for other ways to tell what is
designed well and what is designed poorly.
4. Site map is useful for people who use a screen reader
Again, this is a behavior employed by screen reader users because the
first pages they encounter are *so* poorly designed. Design better
screen-reader navigation from those pages, and the site map becomes an
irrelevant tool.
5. Site map is needed for SEO
Blatantly false. Good links are needed for SEO. A well designed site
can have great SEO results without resorting to a site map. (Don't
confuse the site maps we create for our users with the Google SiteMap
tool: http://is.gd/gta5. It's a completely different beast.)
In summary, site map is needed for a public web site.
I disagree. I'd say it's needed for a poorly designed public web site.
Well designed web sites can do quite well without one.
My next question:
What are the best practices in designing a site map?
Focus on creating great information scent across the entire site and
then you won't have to worry about the site map.
That's my opinion. Worth what you paid for it.
Jared
Jared M. Spool
User Interface Engineering
510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845
e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561
http://uie.com Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks Twitter: jmspool
UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com
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