Purpose: Structure content and navigation so users find tasks without hunting.
Harvest / review: 2026-05
Principles
| Principle |
Practice |
| Top tasks first |
Navigation reflects what 80% of visitors need |
| Shallow depth |
Critical paths in ≤3 clicks from home |
| Clear labels |
User language, not org jargon |
| One URL, one intent |
Avoid duplicate paths to same content |
Patterns
| Site type |
Typical top-level nav |
| Marketing |
Home · About · Services/Programs · Get involved · Contact |
| Nonprofit |
+ Donate · Volunteer · Events |
| E-commerce |
Shop · Cart · Account · Help |
- Footer repeats legal, contact, social, secondary links.
- Breadcrumbs on deep content sites (not always on single-page marketing).
Anti-patterns
| Avoid |
Why |
| Org-chart navigation |
Users don't care about internal departments |
| Mega-menus with 40 links |
Hick's Law overload |
| Hidden donate link |
Primary revenue path buried |
Pre-ship checklist
- [ ] Top 3 user tasks reachable from header
- [ ] Mobile nav includes same priorities
- [ ] 404 and empty search handled kindly
Sources