The essential Krug-or what should be on a web page!

As a prelude to stating the final assignment I wanted to get down the essentials of Krug's Don't make me think. I found it very useful in getting my thinking started as to what will be on the home page and the type of navigation I might use.

Krug Summary
Essentials of a page:
1/LOGO: something that identifies that you are still on the same web site, unifies the site.
2/ TAGLINES: 6-8 words, right below, above or next to the site ID.
2/ TITLE: every page needs a name, prominent, in right place, needs to match what I clicked, left or right location better than center!
3/ SECTIONS: Primary navigation, be consistent across the site, use conventions, simple is better, some exceptions do occur but should always have a way home, site id etc
4/ UTILITIES: Search, Home, How to buy . Use conventions don’t try to reinvent and confuse the audience.
5/ Obvious click regions
6/ Clear visual hierarchy-the more important a thing is the more prominent.
- things that are related logically are also related visually (usually)
- nesting visually to show what’s part of what.
7/ Each page should be self evident-what it is and how to use it.
8/ Navigation: can you answer the question where am I?
9/ Breadcrumbs: You Are Here: home>…>here I am
-Put at the top
-Use > greater than signs
-Include words YOU ARE HERE:
-Boldface last item

Trunk Test
Q/What site is this? A/ Site ID
Q/ What page am I on? A/ Page name
Q/What are the major sections? A/ Sections
Q/What are my options at this level? A/ Local navigation
Q/ Where am I in the scheme of things? A/ You are here
Q/ How can I search? A/ Search box

Other Krug
Scan ability – what you see at a glance, users only scan pages

TABS
Krug prefers tabs to drop down menus
-self evident
-hard to miss
-slick
-suggest a physical space
-color coded
-show a tab selected when I enter the site.