Ecommerce Navigation

[ttigner]

Hello, I'm redesigning a website for a client. They're an army/navy store with a very outdated design. We're only in preliminary stages so I haven't created any drafts yet, but my client expects me to create a top navigation menu with drop-down categories and then REPEAT the same nav in a sidebar on the left. My initial sketches only had a side nav with css menus for sub-categories.

She keeps telling me studies have shown this to be the most effective but I do this for a living and I cannot understand where she is getting this from. She will not listen to anything I say either. I've told she has to decide on one or the other. Or have main categories at the top and sub-categories on the side. Having both with the same structure is a bad idea and turn customers away.

She showed me examples from two sites (www.rei.com (http://www.rei.com) and www.altrec.com (http://www.altrec.com)). These sites have it just like I explained to her before, the top bar is used for main categories and the sidebar is used to display sub-categories and search refinement options.

I'd like to get your take on proper navigation, and your opinion on what I should about it.
1. What is the best trend when it comes to navigation structure for an ecom site?
2. Should I just do what she wants even though it's not a good idea (which reflects back on me) or should I keep fighting?

This is my first serious project since I started freelancing so I am a noob.

Thanks for your help!

[tZ]

There isn't a solid answer. It will depend on the amount of nesting that is needed. I tend to lean toward drop downs for less complex relationships with small amounts of information (no one wants a 30 item dropdown). At the same time it seems like a waste of space to use a full left column for only a small amount of relationships. At the end of the day it comes down to usability and accessibility. Do what you think will provide the most accessible, usable and easy to navigate/understand for the end user. there isn't a make ready solution. You could also experiment with getting creative with your navigation. Not that a left column hierarchy or drop down isn't creative/can't be…

However, it might be worth a shot. It may even result in a better end user experience. However, (contradicting myself) people find comfort in what they are accustom to. So becoming to "creative" (if there is such a thing) might be a worse approach than a following everyone else. None the less putting the navigation aside the most important aspect is how to break up and create a hierarchy of the information throughout the site. Once you arrive at that solution than your interface should only aid communication of that hierarchy.

[Uselessinfo]

One argument to add to your arsenal: In the interest of search engine optimization, it is better to not have repeat content on the same page. By repeating the menu, google and other search engines see a large quantity of links repeated twice on the page, it is not going to do you any favors in your rankings. If you can't win on the design/usability front, I have found that it's always best to suggest the potential problems that poor design can cause in other areas. What platform are you building the site on?

[ttigner]

They have a ton of products and quite a few categories. They all will not fit on top nav. so she wants like 5-6 categories repeated up there, and the rest on the side. I've told her from an SEO point of view she will get penalized by google for have so many repeat links but she swears she knows more. Why did she hire me in the first place?

The platform is ASP on some backend provided by Granite commerce. I'm not sure of the actual cart software. Personally I don't know ASP. I'm familiar with PHP but my scope is to only provide a design in HTML/CSS. I have a feeling that will change without my consent. I will try to make my case again. I'm going to show examples of what she is talking about from successful retailers to show her that it is not common practice to repeat your nav on the top and side.

Anyone else have advice for me? What have you guys found to be more common, side or top navs? For this client, a side nav is definitely better because of the sheer number of categories they have.

[natenation]

Well I think... bottom line is that the customer is always right, if they are really adamant on screwing up their page and you have done your best to make your case just do it their way and get paid. I have to ignore my better judgement all the time as a designer, it used to bug me but not really anymore.

As far as navigation I tend to keep a general breakdown up top ex (Home Products Contact About etc.) and have a larger list on the left. The Asp TreeView Control in Visual Web Developer works pretty nice for this.

[xc-runner]

You could use drop downs for the top nav and a tree or other type of dynamic menu for the side. This sounds like the client half knows what she wants, but you need to hold her hand and explain the rest. if she's done research, go do twice as much and explain exactly why or why not what she wants will or won't work.

Sometimes going with a gut instinct is good, but proof and research is better.