Orientation & Wayfinding: A quick overview

This collaborative article covers two foundational IA concepts and why getting them right is structural work, not a design flourish.

These two concepts are orientation (how users understand where they are) and wayfinding (how they choose where to go next). Because search engines make any page a potential entry point, every page needs to orient users from scratch.

The article covers proximity navigation, breadcrumbs, consistent page layouts, and the navigation planning process — including a set of dos and don'ts that cut against the common mistake of building navigation around an org chart instead of user goals.

The underlying principle: navigation isn't decoration. It's the foundation everything else sits on.

This group article was originally published on Lullabot.com with Megh Plunkett, Erin Schroeder and Frances Duncan.