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Archive for Navigation

Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother | The New Intel.com

By Kenna Dian · Comments (3)
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

2011 Intel.com Website Redesign Home PageThis week, we took the new Intel.com site for a spin. Let’s just say there’s more (and less) to this site than meets the eye.

Kenna Dian: Don’t Bother

Intel.com’s latest redesign is like buying an exotic car. It is visually striking, can be fun to drive, and has more bells and whistles than other cars on the road. But going exotic has tradeoffs. Choosing to pass on getting the full options package can leave the driving experience far less exciting than advertised. In fact, it may even break down–always in inconvenient locations. And the unique controls and design that seems edgy and innovative in the beginning quickly become confusing and irritating.

Read More→

Comments (3)
Categories : Design, Marketing, Navigation, POV (point of view), Search, Strategy, Usability, Website Launches
Tags : adobe.com, apple.com, Design, hp.com, intel.com, Navigation, UX

Visions of IBM.com’s grand redesign emerge

By Kenna Dian · Comments (0)
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

IBM.com Solutions Page 2011With some best practices and innovations in store.

Recently Marty Gruhn and I put IBM.com’s new mega-menu under the microscope and the results were…well…less than stellar. But a couple accidental slips of my cursor exposed some other new designs and approaches that are well worth taking a spin around the IBM.com site.

Navigation first, content second. If you click on one of the artfully hidden “all” links in IBM.com’s mega-menu (i.e. “all solutions” or “all services”) you will land on a page that is so simply designed and elegant that you will think you landed on a different site. You didn’t. This is the highest of the high levels of the new IBM.com. Sophisticated design aside, what is most notable is how the page is focused solely on navigating to the rest of the site. Broad, big-bucket links take visitors to more specific information, while the content only sets the context. Read More→

Comments (0)
Categories : Design, Navigation, Usability, Website Launches
Tags : best practice, cisco.com, Design, ibm.com, microsoft.com, Navigation, sap.com, Usability, website design

Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother | IBM.com’s Mega-menu Launch

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (1)
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

IBM.com's Home Page Mega-menu 2011In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we take IBM.com’s new mega-menu for a spin (or two).

Fair warning, this post is long!

IBM.com has launched revised home and solutions pages that feature the next major piece in its evolution: a new take on mega-menus. Not surprisingly, IBM.com has put its own spin on what is fast becoming an industry norm. In this Don’t Miss/Don’t Bother we weigh in on the pros and cons of IBM.com’s latest design. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Design, Navigation, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : cisco.com, Design, ibm.com, juniper.net, mega-menu, Navigation, Usability, website design

Cisco.com’s Support mega-menu raises the bar—again

By Kenna Dian · Comments (3)
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

How Cisco.com’s mega-menu merges form with function to deliver a best practice experience

Cisco.com Support Mega-Menu 2011When Cisco.com launched its mega-menu last year it set the best practice bar—and it was high. The mega-menu provided greater access into a large (and sometimes unwieldy) site. Its design was easy to scan and use. And, it was also attractive—which is no small feat in a small space. In the siteIQ blog Cisco launches drop down mega menus & fat footers, we applauded the design and architecture of its Product and Services menu. This post welcomes the Support menu into the best practice fold. Read More→

Comments (3)
Categories : Design, Navigation, Search, Support, Usability, Website Launches
Tags : best practice, cisco.com, Home Page, ibm.com, mega-menu, Navigation, Usability

SAP.com’s home page re-design re-defines Website architecture

By Kenna Dian · Comments (2)
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

SAP.com Home Page 2011Think you know how to design the perfect home page? Engineer the most efficient Website architecture? Think again. Because SAP.com has changed all the rules of the game.

What would you think if someone told you they could eliminate the first 3 layers of your site? The blizzard of landing pages. Semi-redundant content. Pesky page load times. All of it.

Sounds impossible?  It’s not. Read More→

Comments (2)
Categories : Design, Navigation, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : architecture, best practice, Design, Home Page, launch, Navigation, sap.com, UI, Usability, UX, website launches

siteIQ Case Study | Tips & Traps | The risk of implied navigation

By Kenna Dian · Comments (1)
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Intel.com Business Home PageWebsite teams are doing everything they can to simplify their navigation to align to the new “less is more” design trend. More white space, less content, fewer navigational options. But in the pursuit of the ultimate minimalist design, many sites are resorting to implied navigation—a risky proposition.

So what is implied navigation? If you have used a Website you have encountered it. Links that use vague phrases or single words that, within the context of the current page, promises one thing, only to deliver something else. These links often deliver “general Intel.com Products Pagepurpose” pages that change topics, audiences, or make the visitor start over at the beginning. Let’s see it in action. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Design, Navigation
Tags : Design, intel.com, Navigation

Oracle.com & HP.com marketing content | It’s all about me

By Kenna Dian · Comments (1)
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

Why Oracle.com and HP.com have a tough road ahead in the age of visitor-focused content

Oracle.com ContentI don’t talk about Oracle.com much. In fact, I speak about them so little that one would be lead to believe that I hold a grudge against them. Sure, they unceremoniously erased one of the best enterprise systems sites from the Internet–Sun.com. But, I won’t hold that against them. No, I don’t write about them much for one reason:

My Mother taught me if you don’t have something nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.

There’s a litany of issues I have with Oracle.com ranging from design to innovation (or rather a lack thereof). But today, my rant is about Oracle.com’s content. Read More→

Comments (1)
Categories : Design, Marketing, POV (point of view), Social Media & Social Networks, Strategy
Tags : content, eSelling, hp.com, ibm software group, ibm.com, intel.com, Marketing, Navigation, oracle.com, product marketing, services marketing, Social Media, Strategy, sun.com

The New Cisco.com | Why Cisco.com’s Latest Redesign is a Stroke of Brilliance

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (20)
Friday, November 12th, 2010

Cisco.com's New Home PageThe devil is in the details

Last month Cisco released the latest evolution of Cisco.com, and the results are nothing short of amazing. Visitors taking a quick spin around top levels of the site will notice obvious improvements. The introduction of a more vibrant color palette. Updated page layouts. A new toolbar at the bottom of the page. And, some tweaks to its best-in-class mega-menu. But these enhancements, while nice, aren’t what make this redesign a step above the rest. The things that make the difference are far more subtle. Read More→

Comments (20)
Categories : Design, Marketing, Navigation, POV (point of view), Usability, Website Launches
Tags : cisco.com, Marketing, Navigation, Usability

Cisco.com launches drop down mega menus & fat footers

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (11)
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Cisco.com Mega Menus

Click on this graph to see a lightbox of all best practices

Innovative twists on an emerging trend

Cisco.com launched its new mega menu and fat footer designs this morning.

Its entry into these design arenas pushes both approaches well past the innovation point and on the way to becoming a competitive requirement. In other words, if mega and fat aren’t on your plan for next year, it’s time to get them on the list.

Of the two, fat footers are the closest to a tipping point, and are a great place to put all of those “must have but no room” links that stakeholders clamber to have on the home page. Mega menu adoption rates are slightly behind, but heading for a tipping point over the next 12 months. They are powerful navigation and marketing real estate for the companies that know how to use them. Read More→

Comments (11)
Categories : Design, Navigation, Website Launches
Tags : best practice, cisco.com, Design, launch, Navigation, Usability, website design

Mega and Fat Become the Fashions of the Day

By Marty Gruhn · Comments (4)
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Click on this graph to see a lightbox of all best practices in this post

Five Websites are setting the pace

It’s interesting how something starts to hit a tipping point on the IT Web. Mega-menus are one of these designs – and fat footers aren’t far behind them.

In the mega-menu race, there are two main strategies in play, and some good and best practices worth considering.

On the strategy side, we have two basic approaches in evidence these days: mega-menus targeted at straight navigation – and those that add product marketing, corporate marketing and call to action dimensions.  In every case, there are great examples of both approaches on the IT Web.  Here’s some places to start: Read More→

Comments (4)
Categories : Design, Navigation, Usability, Web 2.0
Tags : brocade.com, dell.com, Design, emc.com, fat footer, hp.com, insight.com, juniper.net, mega-menu, microsoft.com, Navigation, newegg.com, novell.com, Usability, Web 2.0
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Marty Gruhn on Twitter

  • New case study on the way: The IBM SWG Website team is executing its cult of personality strategy to perfection. http://t.co/YuBBODwr about 16 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • Smart moves. IBM uses "Connect" tab 2 drive visitors 2 high value social media venues & LinkedIn groups to start conversations with IBMers 05:20:29 PM January 13, 2012 from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
@siteIQMarty

Follow Kenna Dian on Twitter

  • Online communities your thing? The Online Communities Index report is hot off the presses for Library subscribers! http://t.co/EAAgG7bi about 15 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @SageNAmerica: Great quote from Larry Ritter RT @LCoates1: "If you don't like change, you'll really dislike being irrelevant." @ACTby ... about 15 hours ago from web ReplyRetweetFavorite
@siteIQKenna
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