Introduction
Signposts in the real world are used to point one in the right direction. The signpost is usually a big and conspicuous sign that has a particular destination as well as an arrow pointing towards that destination. Website creators can utilize the signpost concept to direct the segmented website visitors efficiently and quickly towards a section of the website that is appealing to them or that they wants them to visit. Together with mapping, digital signposts are part of the spatial metaphors as described by Salvo and Rosinksi that are currently being adopted by information designers and technical writers to create exquisite elements in the virtual space. In my efforts to understand this concept better, I decided to explore the internet to see if I would come across some websites using signpost or mapping to aid visitors to navigate through. I came across three sites that were utilizing signposts.
This website supports two major products; e-Quip PM and e-Quip AM. Most of this site’s visitors arrive seeking for support for either of the two products. The visitor may not necessarily know how to navigate the site to find out more about their preferred type of product. However, the designers of the e-Quip website have made it their duty to simplify this. To help the site’s visitors realize that they are indeed in the right place and to help them identify which routine to use, the site uses two very large signposts that actually fit the full width of the website’s home page. These signposts take e-Quip website visitors to the specific part of the website that they wish to get to, that is the part focusing on their preferred product.
This is an example of a signpost that is used to segment traffic.
Problem Bathing Website
This is a site promoting a company specializing in bathroom design. It is extremely vital that the home page of every website have elements that encourage a casual visitor of the site to take an extra or the next step. This is usually referred to as “call to action”. A call to action tells visitors what they need to do, which for instance could be as simple as picking up a phone and calling via a provided phone number. This is where a signpost comes in handy and the “Problem Bathing” website has brilliantly utilized this. This website uses a very bold signpost on its home page that comprises phone numbers written on opposite ends of the page. The longer a visitor dwells on the website, the more this signpost will embed into their subconscious and they will inadvertently be forced to pick up the phone at the end and call the company.
Embodied Living Website
This website uses signposts to provide visual clues to the visitors about the main menu. Many websites usually utilize a top menu, which is not very effective to the layman because of its relative complexity. However, a visual side menu in form of signposts can help any casual visitor to find information or data pertinent to them. This method can particularly work very well for the visitors who have accessed the site after entering a generic search term. This is an example of a digital signpost that simplifies a visitor’s navigation process. In this case, the main role of this signpost is to support a website’s main menu.
The signposts discussed above are indeed very easy and any website designer can adopt them to increase the effectiveness of his or her website. Just like Salvo and Rosinksi suggest, “Signposting encourages greater awareness of the user’s space within the larger information structure as well as greater awareness of how readers move through, or perhaps more importantly, become lost in virtual information space”.
Works Cited
Salvo, Michael and Rosisnki Paul. “Information Design: From Authoring Text to Architecting Virtual Space”. Digital Literacy for Technical Communication: 21st Century Theory and Practice. Spilka, Rachel. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print
