十大信息架构错误【原文翻译】

英文原文出处： http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ia-mistakes.html

Top 10 Information Architecture Mistakes

 

翻译： Hugh, Flyingruby

 

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十大信息架构错误

Summary:

摘要：

Structure and navigation must support each other and integrate with search and across subsites. 结构和导航必须相互支持，集成搜索并且关联到整个分站点。 Complexity, inconsistency, hidden options, and clumsy UI mechanics prevent users from finding what they need. 复杂性、不一致性、选项隐藏，和拙劣的界面都会成为用户寻找信息的障碍。

Bad information architecture causes the majority of outright user failures and isn't improving at the rate of other Web usability issues.

 

不良的信息架构是造成用户体验障碍的主要原因，并且不像网站其他的可用性问题那样能够及时被修正。为了找到其中的原因，为了找到愿意和为了为了为了 我找了十个长期存在的问题——它们每年造成网站数十亿美元的损失。

I divided the following list of worst IA mistakes into two parts, which corresponds to how we partition the materials across our 2-day IA course: structure on Day 1 and navigation on Day 2 .

 

我把信息架构错误中最严重的一些问题分成两组，与下面两天内信息架构课程中的两大块内容相对应： 第一天关于结构 ；第二天关于导航。 Of course, you need to get both right, but they're essentially two different design levels: The invisible way the site is structured and the visible way users understand and manage that structure. 您需要对这两方面都加以了解，但他们谈论的基本上是两个不同的设计层面：前者是抽象的网站建构方式；后者是具体的用户对于网站结构和理解和管理的方式。

Structure Mistakes

 

结构错误

1.

 

1. No Structure 无结构化

The most notable structural problem is when designers treat a site like one big swamp with no organizing principle for individual items. 最显着的结构性问题是，设计师对细节缺乏组织 ，把网站做的如同混乱的沼泽地。 Yes, users can fish the swamp using search or by following links from current promotions or outside sites. 诚然，用户可以通过搜索、推荐或其它网站的链接来浏览该网站内容。 But whatever they dredge up is it. 但无论他们选择以上哪一种方式，都 No opportunities for understanding the site's other offerings or locating related items. 没有机会了解该网站的其它产品或查找相关的项目。

This sin is common on news sites and catalog-based e-commerce sites, where each item (articles and products, respectively) is treated as a stand-alone unit without connections to related items.

 

这种错误在新闻网站和以目录为基础的电子商务网站中很普遍，在这些网站中每个项目（对前者而言是文章，后者是产品）被视为一个独立的单元，没有相关的项目链接。 No wonder users leave those sites so quickly. 无怪 用户必然对这些网站毫无留恋。

2.

 

2. Search and Structure Not Integrated 没有把搜索功能整合到结构中

We've long known that users often exhibit search-dominant behaviors . 我们知道用户喜欢用搜索功能浏览网站，但 This doesn't mean that search is all they need, however. 这并不意味着他们只需要搜索。利用 利用搜索到达一个页面就如同用乘降落伞的方式到达一个城市。 Hopefully, if you want to go to Paris, you'll land there rather than in Amsterdam, but in any case, you're unlikely to land on the doorstep of your favorite restaurant. 正如正如 如果您非常想去巴黎并且是用跳伞的方式去那，你会身处巴黎而非在阿姆斯特丹；但无论如何你也不可能直接落到您最喜爱的餐厅门口。 To get there, you'll need to walk or take a cab. 要到餐厅门口，您还需要步行或出租车。 Similarly, users often need to navigate the neighborhood around their search destination . 同样，用户往往需要在搜索目标附近设置局部导航方便链接到相关项目。

Of course, local navigation works only if the site has a structure to define its neighborhoods (see mistake #1).

 

当然，只有在网站的结构定义了相关内容时，局部导航才会起作用（见错误 1 ）。 But the design must also expose local options to users. 但设计还是必须提供用户本地选项，若 Even better if it indicates how relevant the neighboring options are to the user's current qu 能表明多少程度上回应用户的当前查询时，效果会更好。

 

如果每次搜索都准确表明目标在网站结构中的位置， SERP (search engine results page) usability increases when each search hit exposes its location within the site structure. SERP （搜索引擎结果页）的可用性将得到提高。 External search engines like Google can't always do this because they don't know the site's structure or which navigational dimensions are most relevant to common site tasks. 外部搜索引擎谷歌等并不总是这样做，是因为他们不知道该网站的结构或哪种导航维度最适合一般网站的需要。 But you do know your site's structure and should therefore include the info on your own SERPs. 但是你是知道你网站的结构的，因此应该把相关信息放到网站的 SERP 上。

 

不幸的 Sadly, search and navigation fail to support each other on many sites. 不幸不幸 是，在许多网站上搜索和导航不能互相支持。 This problem is exacerbated by another common mistake: navigation designs that don't indicate the user's current location . 另一个常见的错误加剧了这个问题：常有导航设计不标明用户的当前位置。 That is, after users click a search result, they can't determine where they are in the site — as when you're searching for pants and click on a pair, but then have no way to see more pants. 也就是说，在用户点击搜索结果之后，他们不能明确他们在网站中的位置——打个比方说，当您搜索裤子的时候，按了一条裤子的链接，随后却发现没有办法看到更多的裤子信息。

3.

 

3. 找不到分类登录页面

找不到 We recommend that sites have a series of categories that each link to their own landing page that gives users a section overview . 我们建议网站设置一系列的分类，每一个分类都能链接到独立的登陆页面，让用户能看到分类概述。 Sometimes, sites forego the overview page and simply offer links directly to individual pages within a section. 有时，网站不提供概述页，只是在栏目内提供具体网页的直接链接。 This might reduce the number of site pages, but when no page is clearly identified as a sub-topic page, users can misunderstand the site's scope and miss important details, products, and services. 这可能会减少网站的网页，但如果没有说明页面起到副标题的作用，用户会误解网站的范围，错过重要细节、产品和服务信息。

Category pages also help SEO because they're the most prominent landing place when people search for a type of product, service, or information.

 

分类页面 也有利于搜索引擎优化，因为当人们寻找某些产品、服务或信息时，分类页面是最明显的入口。这同时也是 They're also a way to overcome mistake #2 because they help users bump up a level or two in the site structure if search takes them to an overly detailed leaf node. 这 克服“错误 2 ”的一种办法，因为如果搜索结果把他们带到了一个过于细节的节点页面， 分类页面 可以 帮助用户上升到更高一级或两级的页面 ( Breadcrumbs facilitate users' ability to easily move up the leve （面包屑能够方便用户转移到不同层级页面） 。

4.

 

4. 网页层级过多

Extreme Polyhierarchy 网 Compared to the physical world, one of the online world's benefits is that items can live in multiple locations. 相比较于物质世界，网络世界的一个好处是，条目能够存在于多个位置。 Because websites can classify products and other content along multiple dimensions, they help users navigate locally to related items and provide faceted winnowing of a large product space into manageable shortlists that can satisfy the user's main requirements. 由于网站能将产品和其它内容从多个角度金星分类，它们能帮助用户从本地引导到相关条目，将大量的产品空间信息精简为多维度的方便管理的列表，来满足用户的主要需求。

This is all good, but polyhierarchy can easily become a crutch. 其他

 

其他都好，但过多的网页层级很容易成为一个拐杖。产品团队急于完成重要的过程，建立大量拙劣的产品分类，重复罗列产品， Rather than spend time upfront to develop several intuitive and logical top-level categories, teams rush through this important process, creating numerous weak categories and listing products multiple times within them. 而不是花时间前期开发一些直观的和逻辑性强的顶级分类。谈到对产品 The usability impact? 可用性的影响？ Users spend too much time agonizing over top-level categories and then get confused when they see items showing up in multiple places ("are these the same thing?"). 用户花许多时间几乎是痛苦地浏览这些的顶级分类页面，然后以为内看到相同物品出现在多个地方而感到困惑（心想： “ 这些是相同的东西吗？ ” ）。  

With too many classification options and too many structured dimensions, users are forced to think harder to move forward.

 

太多的分类选项和太复杂的结构维度，使用户在浏览过程中步履维艰。过多 The profusion of options also makes people question the information s 多 选择也使人们对提供的信息线索产生质疑。 This lack of confidence early in the site experience extends throughout their visit and can negatively impact the end result (by thwarting a purchase, for example). 这种对网站缺乏信任的感受会从早期浏览网站的经验一直贯穿整个网站的访问过程，并对最终结果产生负面影响（例如会打击用户的购买行为） 。

5.

 

5. 没有将子网站 / 微型网站和主站紧密整合 Subsites/Microsites Poorly Integrated with Main Site 主                                

现有 Abandoned microsites litter the Web as the detritus of old marketing campaigns. 网络已经 网络已经将微型网站视为旧式营销战的残留物而将其抛弃。在 在当时如果你在发布新产品的同时建立一个微型网站可能是个不错的主意。但是到第二年你会发现这一举动正慢慢破坏你的网络营销策略，减弱你在网络上的影响力。

Web design is design for the ages.

 

网页设计取决于当时的需求。 Think about how anything you do will feel in 5 years. 想象一下五年后你会对现在的所作所为有何感想。

It's typically best to forego independent microsites and place new information on subsites within the main site. 最好的 最好的做法是放弃独立的微型网站，并在主站的附属子网站中添加信息。 But you still need to integrate these subsites within the overall site structure. 但你仍然需要在整体网站结构中把这些子站整合进来。

For example, on both microsites and subsites, we often see product-specific pages that fail to link to information about the company or organization behind the offering.

 

例如，在微型网站和子网站中，我们常常发现特定产品网页 无法链接到提供产品支持的公司或组织 的网站信息。 Further, many sites poorly represent their subsites in the main site search — which often ignores microsites altogether. 此外，在主站的搜索中，许多网站没有把他们的子网站标示出来—更不用说微型网站了。

Navigation Mistakes

 

 

导航错误

6.

6. Invisible Navigation Options 不可见的导航选项

The very worst mistake might be to have no navigation, but that's so rare that I'm not going to discuss it. 最严重的错误可能是没有导航，但这很少出现，我不想讨论这个问题。 Still, any feature that users can't see might as well not exist; invisible navigation is thus nearly as bad as no navigation. 然而，任何功能，如果用户看不到，还不如不存在；因此，看不见的导航选项几乎就像没有导航一样糟糕。

Uncovering navigation shouldn't be a major task: Make it permanently visible on the page. Small children like minesweeping (passing the mouse around the screen to see what's hidden), but teenagers don't like it, and adults hate it.

 

在屏幕上显示导航应该不会是一项主要的任务，只要让导航在页面上永远可见即可。 小孩子喜欢扫雷 （通过鼠标在屏幕上看到隐藏的东西），但 青少年 不喜欢，成人甚至还厌恶它。

Similarly, you should avoid banner blindness bleed , when either the navigation itself looks like a banner or you place it next to elements that look like advertising and thus users screen it out .

 

同样，你应该避免横幅盲点效应 ，无论是导航本身看起来像横幅，或者您把它放在广告旁边，用户都有可能把导航过滤掉。 Even if it's on the screen, your navigation might as well be invisible if users don't look at it. 即使是出现在屏幕上，如果用户不去看导航，它就等于不存在。

7.

 

7. Uncontrollable Navigation Elements 不可控制的导航元素

Typically, anything that moves and bounces detracts from Web usability; when navigation moves while users are trying to find their way, it's deadly. 通常情况下，任何移动和反弹效果都会损害网络的可用性 ; 当用户试图通过导航找到相应路径而导航却在移动时，将会是致命的。 Users should focus on the higher-level problem of where to go, not the lower-level problem of how to manipulate the GUI. 用户关注的是浏览什么内容这种高层次问题，而不是如何操作用户界面这种低层次的问题。

 

有些过度敏感的鼠标滑动效果会让网页内容弹出或阻止内容的弹出，还有是一些网页元素会自动移动、旋转，这两种常见现象会困扰用户。 Two common offenders here are overly sensitive rollovers that launch and block content, and elements that move, spin, or rotate of their own accord. 过度民有些过度 Users routinely complain about these types of elements. 用户反复抱怨这些类型的元素。在网站中放入这些不好设计的 Designers and programmers who include them in websites severely underestimate the business impact of user frustration . 设计师和程序员严重低估了用户在浏览网站时的挫折感对商业产生的不好的影响。

8.

 

8. 前后矛盾的导航 Inconsistent Navigation 前

Navigation exists to help users, not to be a puzzle in its own right. 导航存在的目的是帮助用户，而不是困惑用户。 Users should be able to understand it immediately, and apply that understanding throughout the site. 用户应当能够很快理解导航，并用它来帮助理解整个网站。 Sadly, lots of sites change their navigation features as users move around. 可悲的是，当用户浏览许多网站时，却发现导航前后不一致。 Options come and go, making users feel a loss of control. How do I get that menu choice back? 选项来来去去，使用户感到失控。如何让我的菜单选项回来？ I saw it just a few pages 几个页面之前我还看到过它。

Although global navigation is not a site's most popular element, its persistence serves a key purpose: it's a beacon that helps users understand both where they are and how they can easily maneuver back to the top of the site if they lose their way.

 

虽然全局导航 不是网站上最常使用的元素，但它有一个关键作用：就像一个灯塔，全局导航能帮助用户了解到他们身处网站的何处；当用户在网站中迷失时，它能轻松帮助用户返回顶层页面。

9.

 

9. Too Many Navigation Techniques 太多的导航技术

Our full-day seminar on navigation design covers 25 different website navigation techniques . 我们全天的导航设计研讨会上会涉及 25 个不同的网站导航技术 。 Each approach has its own usability advantages and potential downsides, leading to the seminar's focus on design trade-offs — that is, when to use what form of navigation. 每种方法都有自己的可用性优势和潜在缺点，而研讨会的重点就是设计的平衡 — 也就是说，何时选择何种形式的导航。

One thing is clear: each navigation technique has its place on certain types of websites and intranets.

 

有一点是清楚的：每种导航技术都有其适合的特定类型的网站和内联网。 But, if you use them all, you don't get the sum of each technique's benefits. 但如果您同时使用这些技术，不但不会获得所有技术的优点，反而会使网站一团糟。 You get a mess  

Competing for users' attention. 通过 Too many places to look. 过 太多 Overwhelmi 技术来争夺用户的注意力，只会让用户感到窒息，是行不通的 Don't. 。

10.

 

10. “ Made-Up Menu Options 原创”的菜单选项

In the past, this mistake would have ranked higher, but luckily it's less predominant today than it used to be. 这个错误在过去更加致命，幸运的是现在人们不再那么关注它。 Still, too many sites continue to make up their own terminology for labels and other navigation choices. 然而，太多网站仍然在标签和其他导航选项中使用“原创”的术语。

In addition to perplexing users, made-up navigation terms also hurt search; users can't find something if they don't know what it's called.

 

除了使用户感到困惑之外，“原创”的术语还影响到搜索的功能；用户不知道名字就没法找到。 Even if you provide synonyms, the main navigation terms carry extra SEO weight and it's a waste to optimize for a query that nobody will issue. 即使提供同义词搜索，优化搜索引擎也会造成额外的负担；如果你优化的查询无人问津更是一种浪费。

Old words are better .

 

老话说的好， When users understand their choices, they're more likely to pick the right one. 当使用者了解他们有什么选择时，他们才更能做出正确的选择。 Speak plainly and speak simply. 坦率并简单地讲， If users don't understand a menu item, they're less likely to click on it. 如果用户不理解菜单项，他们是不太可能点击的。 Paradoxically, companies are particularly prone to making up fancy terms for their newest and most important offerings, thus shooting themselves in the foot with a double-barreled rifle. 奇怪的是，一些公司特别喜欢在网站上为他们最新最重要的产品和服务取一些奇怪的名字，从而搬起石头砸自己的脚。

 

英文原文出处： http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ia-mistakes.html

 

欢迎大家指正翻译错误 …..