Navigating Within a Web Site: the WebStep Model

Web navigation is a complex activity in which users interact with a system to achieve their goals. Current webnavigation models (Kitajima, Blackmon, & Polson, 2000; Miller & Remington, 2000; Pirolli & Fu, 2003) are based on the label-following strategy, which takes the semantic aspects of navigation elements as fundamental. We propose that goal-directed actions of users are supported by semantic and pragmatic cues embodied in all navigation elements. Semantic and pragmatic cues are related to context-independent and context-dependent aspects of element meaning, respectively. The intrinsic contents of icons and verbal labels provide semantic cues. Spatial features (position and distribution in the page), as well as structural features of verbal labels (shape and color), provide pragmatic cues. Here, we focus on the pragmatic cues that differentiate embedded links from navigation-bar options. As regards spatial features, embedded links are placed in the central area of the page while the navigation bar is placed at the top. As regards structural features, embedded links are intermixed with the embedding text and can be perceptually segregated because of shape dissimilarity (underline vs. normal) and color dissimilarity (blue vs. black); while the navigation bar includes only homologous elements, grouped by shape and color similarity, good continuation of button contours, and proximity.