Navigating navigation: How to create systems that are modern and intuitive.

As website structures continue to grow and encompass more information and resources, our clients rely on us to create systems where their content is accessible and structurally intuitive at any screen size. In this session, we’ll discuss a variety of factors that determine what ensures a successful navigation system to suit each client's unique needs.

• Who is your audience? From hidden hamburger menus to exposed mega-menus and sticky navigations, we use the audience to determine what systems will best suit their needs.

• How much flexibility do you need?
  Most clients need some level of flexibility within their site structure. We’ll discuss what options we have and how to create flexible systems without sacrificing quality. We’ll also discuss how designers and developers can work together to ensure the flexibility doesn’t break the design.

• Multiple pathways
  Site visitors should be able to find information organically. We want to encourage navigating the site structure while reviewing content, yet still allow users to come back and find key information later within the menu. We’ll discuss how we leveraged modules to accommodate multiple pathways in Drupal 7 and are implementing new solutions in Drupal 8. We’ll also address how to approach multiple pathways from the admin experience.

• Creating a system to accommodate different actions.
  While the core navigation should introduce your main structure and feel easy to engage with, sites with more complex content or multiple end goals often need multiple navigation systems. We’ll discuss how we use non-menu solutions like views or entity relationships to create a system that feels unified and cohesive.