Navigation in E-Business Web Sites

Abstract

Two of the most important keys to successful Web sites, including e-business sites, are content and usability (Nielsen, 1999). Yet, many of these sites still suffer from flawed content organization and navigation support. In this chapter, we discuss existing problems and point out a series of important user and task characteristics that need to be considered when designing an online store. We focus on usability issues of content organization and navigation which are inherently intertwined. We will also discuss the checkout process, an important element of many e-business, whose design requires not only the usual usability guidelines but also trust issues.