Title :
Designing WWW site map systems
Author :
Pilgrim, C.J. ; Leung, Y.K.
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Inf. Technol., Swinburne Univ. of Technol., Hawthorn, Vic., Australia
Abstract :
Providing an alternative visualisation of the structure of a web site can alleviate many of the usability problems associated with WWW navigation. Whilst site maps are one of the most popular tools utilised by site designers to overcome such problems, little is known about how to design effective site maps. This paper examines some underlying design issues relating to web site maps and then presents an implementation of an experimental site map system demonstrating the application of these principles. This `SiteTree´ system displays a hierarchical abstraction of the site, which provides basic filtering and visualisation controls, including novel “landmark” functionality. This paper provides a basis for future development of WWW site maps tools by clarifying existing research and identifying important design issues
Keywords :
Internet; data visualisation; hypermedia; information resources; information retrieval; SiteTree system; WWW navigation; WWW site map systems design; basic filtering; hierarchical abstraction; landmark functionality; usability problems; visualisation controls; web site structure visualisation; Australia; Displays; Filtering; Hypertext systems; Information technology; Navigation; Usability; Visualization; Web page design; World Wide Web;
Conference_Titel :
Database and Expert Systems Applications, 1999. Proceedings. Tenth International Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Florence
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-0281-4
DOI :
10.1109/DEXA.1999.795174
