Documents that define Navigational Structure of Website

In this lesson you will learn how to put the Navigational Brief and requirements definition to use. These two key documents communicate your plan for how users will experience the site. They also lay out how the site will be integrated with an organization's business and other requirements.

Question: What is the purpose of Navigational Briefs?
A Navigational Brief is a document that outlines the design and organization of the navigation system for a website or application. The purpose of a Navigational Brief is to provide a clear and concise overview of how users will move through the site, including the menu structure, breadcrumb trails, and other navigational elements.
The Navigational Brief serves several important purposes, including:

1. Defining the Site Structure: The Navigational Brief defines the structure of the site, including the organization of content into categories and subcategories, and the relationships between different sections and pages.
2. Improving User Experience: The Navigational Brief helps to improve the user experience by ensuring that the navigation system is clear, intuitive, and easy to use. This makes it easier for users to find the information they need and reduces frustration and confusion.
3. Facilitating Communication: The Navigational Brief facilitates communication between designers, developers, and stakeholders by providing a clear and detailed overview of the navigation system. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the navigation system meets the goals and requirements of the project.
4. Establishing Guidelines: The Navigational Brief establishes guidelines for the navigation system, including the placement of elements, the use of color and typography, and the labeling of sections and pages.
5. Supporting Analytics: The Navigational Brief can also support analytics by defining the metrics that will be used to measure the success of the navigation system, including the types of data that will be collected and how it will be used to improve the user experience.

In conclusion, the Navigational Brief is an important tool for outlining the design and organization of the navigation system for a website or application, and serves several important purposes, including defining the site structure, improving the user experience, facilitating communication, establishing guidelines, and supporting analytics.

The Navigational Brief is the initial document that outlines the navigational and information architecture structure of a site.
The Navigational Brief explains how the structure of the site will appear to the user, and ways that the user will move around the site. For example, the Navigational Brief for our web site is made up of four sections:

1. Content Organization,
2. Navigation Guidelines,
3. Navigation System Types, and
4. HCI Requirements.

These sections cover the primary content categories of the site (such as the Home page and About Us), ideas that guide the development of navigation (who will use the site, styles, and more), architectural recommendations, and particular HCI guidelines. The Navigational Brief for the Asteron Web site can be found on the Course Resources Page.

The Requirements Definition is a key document for helping relate the business objectives of the site to specific functionality, including navigational and architectural components. For example, if one of the requirements is to provide a site that is easy for children to use, the site navigation and architecture are likely to be quite different than for a site directed to astrophysicists.

The primary objective of a Requirements Definition is to describe the Web product in sufficient detail to gain approval from key stakeholders. To do so, the Requirements Definition must describe the business objectives that call for a Web solution, and how the Web product will meet those objectives. As such, the Requirements Definition includes a description of the navigational elements and architectural structure of the site and how they relate to specific business objectives.
The sample Requirements Definition for the website includes the following sections:

1. Executive Summary,
2. Business Objectives,
3. Solution Requirements, and
4. Acceptance.

This document goes into more detail on topics of the business itself and your client's objectives; audience information and expectations; success metrics; and various technical and solution requirements.

Question: What is the difference between the Navigational Brief and the Requirements Definition document?
Answer: The Navigational Brief comes first and is in less detail. After it is approved, you will flesh out the ideas more fully in the Requirements Definition document.
You will learn about the process of modeling information architecture in the next lesson.