Clearly signed
We create a logical, intuitive and familiar environment, making it easy for you to find what you need quickly. And we’ll clearly signpost to other useful content that you might not know about.
Clear and concise
Our navigation and signposts are logical and intuitive.
- Reduce the number of places to go
- Be clear and upfront about what’s happening and why
- Keep the number of controls in any one screen focussed on the primary objective
- Minimise interaction cost, introducing clicks only where they’re appropriate and add value
- Support sideways and upward journeys
- Give succinct, straightforward and helpful labelling and instructional copy
Recognisable
Our users recognise exactly what to do - they don't have to think twice about their actions.
- Give users excellent visibility – so it’s obvious which action to take
- Give them affordance – so it’s obvious how to take that action
- Give feedback – so users know that the action they’ve taken has done what they expected it to do
- Match the words you use to the user’s natural language
- Follow a user’s mental model for information architecture – not an organisational hierarchy
- Make sure navigation paths match the users’ expectations of the steps they’ll need to take to reach their goal
- Use familiar cues like language and on-brand treatments, so users always know they’re looking at a Which? site
- Make the logged-in or logged-out status clear
Consistent not uniform
Our users can move effortlessly between different products and different devices.
- Be consistent in your placement of signposts and navigational metaphors
- Follow patterns and standards across all touchpoints – it’s fine for products to have their own identity, but we should always present a consistent Which? experience
- Follow navigation best practices according to device and platform
Context aware
We support pathfinding with engaging content, giving users the right content at the right time.
- Use hyperlinks that make sense out of context, for instance, replace ‘read more’ with ‘What is Smart TV’
- Give rich, contextually relevant content that encourages consumers to take onward journeys
- Design for maximum visibility in search engine results
Context aware navigation: 'The masthead provides relevant sideways journeys and the ability to move up the website hierarchy when users navigate deep into the site'