Chapter 4: Interface Design

Navigation and Wayfinding
Wayfinding is used as a metaphor to describe web navigation with four main components orientation, route decision, mental mapping, and closure. The chapter details the web interface and its relation to web navigation.

Interface Design
This chapter outlines the ways in which web navigation can manifest on sites, along with tips on the do’s and don’ts when it comes to interface design.

Information Design
In information design, every web page needs the following elements: an informative title, creator’s identity, creation/revision date, copyright statements and any statement of ownership to protect intellectual property, at least one link to a home page/menu, home page URL. Including these elements, plus a few others from the chapter, will take you most of the way in giving users an understandable user interface.

The Enterprise Interface
Suppose an enterprise web site’s user interface, information architecture, and graphic design do not consistently promote a purpose and shared identity. In that case, it will fail to have a framework of any power or cohesion.

My Response
I have never heard of wayfinding, but its comparison to web navigation made it more understandable to me; the description sounded like maps or a GPS which makes sense. The only thing for me with that comparison is that it is not a definitive map like a physical one would be, that there isn’t really a drive there if you will; your destination is at the tip of your fingers when it comes to the internet.