design-a-navigation-system

name	design-a-navigation-system
category	design
description	Design findable navigation from user tasks, content relationships, and context. Use when a site or product needs stable labels, hierarchy, search, orientation, responsive behavior, and governed growth.

design-a-navigation-system

Procedure

1. Define users, top tasks, content inventory, product boundaries, devices, and access rules.
2. Map objects, tasks, relationships, entry points, and journeys from evidence.
3. Separate global, local, contextual, utility, account, and footer navigation jobs.
4. Develop hierarchy and labels in audience language with explicit scope.
5. Add current location, breadcrumbs, back behavior, search, and recovery from dead ends.
6. Specify responsive and keyboard behavior without hiding critical actions.
7. Test card sorting or tree tasks where useful, then test a working prototype.
8. Include long labels, localization, permissions, empty sections, deep links, and changed content.
9. Measure task success and confusion, not clicks alone.
10. Document ownership, change criteria, and content-model dependencies.

Guardrails

• Do not reorganize solely around the internal org chart.
• Never expose restricted destinations through navigation metadata.
• Avoid ambiguous icon-only primary navigation.

Done

• A navigation specification maps tasks, labels, hierarchy, context, and responsive behavior
• Representative findability and keyboard tests pass
• Access, localization, edge cases, and ownership are verified