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Once you organize content into groups, how do you label them? Labeling information provides the context users need to understand how your website or app is organized. Choosing labels that make sense and appeal to your users will be important to the success of your website or app.
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Human beings love to organize things.
0:00
We need to, because it helps us
make sense of the world around us.
0:02
But organizing content on our websites and
0:06
apps is just the first step
in making sense of things.
0:08
Once you group your content together,
0:12
you'll still need to know
what those groups represent.
0:13
You need a label, a clear and obvious
term like a name or a symbol that tells
0:16
you immediately what the group contains,
or what's common about every item in it.
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Consider this scenario, you are moving
from one apartment to another.
0:27
You pack everything you own into
generic looking boxes and containers.
0:31
And when get you get to your new place,
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you have to figure out
where everything is.
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If you've ever moved before,
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you'll know the key to surviving this
moving process is to label your boxes, so
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you understand where all your stuff is and
where it should go.
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A box labeled clothes doesn't
really help anyone, who's clothes?
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Which bedroom should it go in?
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Is it winter clothes or summer clothes?
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But labeling the box Mike's t-shirts,
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master bedroom, makes the content
within the container very clear.
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So if you can accurately and
clearly label the content within all your
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website containers, your users will be
able to find what they need immediately,
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accomplish their goals and
will enjoy the experience.
1:17
If you don't label the information on
your website or do a lousy job of it,
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you're taking a lot of risks.
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Users may get frustrated if
they can't find what they want.
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They may get lost clicking
around from place to place.
1:32
And if they can't accomplish their goals,
they may leave and never come back.
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Labels are the signals users
need to find their way.
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So it's your job to
provide clear signs and
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checkpoints, so
they can continue their journey.
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So what kind of things need
labeling on a website?
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Navigation menus absolutely need clear and
accurate labels.
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We'll dig deeper into navigation in
the next video, but the labels you use for
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the links in your menus are vitally
important for usability and
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the user experience.
2:08
The best way to label your menu links is
to consider the user's point of view.
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What information would they look for if
they were a new user or a returning user?
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What tasks are they trying to complete
by using your app or visiting your site?
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What links would they look for
if they wanted to buy something,
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fix something or download something?
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These terms should be clear and easy to
understand, and the shorter the better.
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For example,
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this website about autism research
has a simple looking menu at the top.
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But while Research and
Newsletter seem straightforward enough,
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Discover leaves you wondering,
discover what exactly?
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Using different tests, we could evaluate
the effectiveness of that label
2:54
to see if users understand what
they'd find if they click the link.
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It's actually their blog.
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So maybe a label that just said
blog would make more sense here.
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Page headers are another
aspect of the website and
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user experience that need
to be labeled effectively.
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Just by looking at the top of a page users
should know what they'll find there.
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So don't try to be too clever,
make it obvious.
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When you look at this
science project page,
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it's clear what you're looking at and
what the page will cover.
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But page headers do more than
just tell you what's on the page,
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they help establish trust.
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Many times when you click a link,
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the link says what's on the page
you're going to, right?
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So if you arrive at the page and
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it's called something else, you're gonna
wonder if you're in the right place.
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Consistency between the link label and
the page label builds confidence.
3:51
When you look at an HR solutions website,
like Insperity, for example,
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you'll see that when you click any of
the links under their Individual Solutions
4:01
menu, the corresponding page
matches the link you chose.
4:06
You can't help but feel confident
in the organization of a site
4:10
when the page header matches the link.
4:13
Now, another element that needs
strong labels are page sections.
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These labels help signal to users
what they can find within a page.
4:20
They communicate
the structure of the page,
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helping to put things in a logical order.
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They could be in order of importance or
in a specific sequence,
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like a page with instructions on
how to set up Christmas lights.
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Clearly labeling each section means users
will be able to follow along without
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frustration, and if necessary quickly
locate a specific piece of information
4:40
simply by skimming section headers or
outlines.
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Our biggest goal with labels should
be to make them clear and obvious.
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There's another great quote I
wanna share from Steve Krug,
4:54
author of Don't Make Me Think,
on the topic of links and labels.
4:57
He says, It doesn't matter how
many times I have to click,
5:00
as long as each click is a mindless,
unambiguous choice.
5:04
So whether you're grouping content within
sections on a website or on a page,
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the labels you use to identify everything
should be clear, obvious, and helpful.
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Remember, these label are guides, so
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don't make your users think
about which path to take.
5:24
The simplest approach
almost always works best.
5:28
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