Tencent Designer to help you master task-based navigation design

Students who have used Windows Control Panel should have realized that they can't find the target, open the feeling of a direct Meng, because this kind of mission-guided products, requires designers to product users and user tasks a very clear understanding, today, Tencent students from the enterprise QQ in the actual practice summed up a lot of experience, For this kind of small audience but very likely to use the knowledge, suggest a collection yo.

For the different platform navigation interactive form and the visual style, already has many articles to introduce and the summary. This article introduces the navigation planning ideas, a relatively small area, task-based navigation.

At present, the product mainly uses the object based navigation and the task-based navigation. In contrast, pure object-based navigation is more common, but there are few products for purely task-based navigation. Many business complex products will consider mixing the two kinds of navigation, the main combination to cover the user's use of the scene as much as possible.

　　How do you differentiate the way navigation is organized?

The simplest distinction is to focus on how navigation labels are named. Object based navigation, usually using nouns as a navigation tag, the label pointing to the object; task-based navigation, usually using verbs, verb-object phrases as navigation tags, and labels pointing to action behavior.

　　Object-based navigation

Such interfaces are more common in everyday life, with nouns as the dominant navigation tag.

　　Task-based navigation

You can focus on the naming of navigation tags in the interface, focusing on verbs and verb-object phrases, and focus on the execution of the transaction. Task-based navigation is often used in tools-applied products.

At&t Account Management page, navigation according to the task as the Division and guidance.

Main navigation

Other auxiliary navigation

This is FedEx's official website, the interface navigation basically is based on the task division and the dismantling.

Navigation details

The use of mission-guided products, designers have a higher demand for the product involved users and user tasks to have a very clear understanding. The core of the product navigation is based on the task, then task analysis is particularly important.

　　Tools and methods of task analysis

For a single task analysis, focus on the task's own elements and impact factors.

1, decision table. The conditions and behaviors in the activity are differentiated, and the corresponding relationship of different behaviors is presented in tabular form according to different conditions.

2, flow chart. Demonstrate the operational elements and direction of the task in the form of an activity flowchart.

For multiple task analysis, focus on the relationship between tasks, especially for those logical, sequential fuzzy tasks.

3, statement description. Demonstrate the elements, relationships, and implementation requirements of a task through language organization.

4, Time series. The priority and relationship of each task in the course of the whole activity is demonstrated by the length and sequence of the execution of the action.

5. List of tasks. The activities of all the tasks listed, and identify the sequence, importance, frequency and so on. The difficulty with to-do lists is the completeness of the list, and many of the associated tasks and feeder tasks are easily missed in the process of grooming.

　　When do you consider using task-based navigation?

1, clear user's primary goal. For the purpose of finding or exploring things, it is suitable to use object-oriented navigation as the main object, and it is suitable to use task-based navigation as the target.

2, clear product positioning and function. website, blog and other display class products suitable for object-based navigation. Management of applications such as backend products suitable for task-based navigation.

For different subject objects to provide the same function-oriented products, suitable for object-based navigation, for the same subject object to provide different features of the product, suitable for task-based navigation.

3, consider the mixed use of object navigation and task navigation.

In the process of application, not rigidly adhere to the pure object navigation is also a task navigation. Flexible use of primary and secondary hybrid navigation, make full use of their own in the use of the user's cognitive advantages, and improve the overall product navigation.

　　Inspiration from practical cases

Windows Control Panel, if we view the control Panel as an independent application.

When the user first opens the Control Panel, the interface is as follows:

This is an interface design using a hybrid navigation model with objects as the cognitive mainline and user tasks as a behavioral guideline. The green link is primarily a noun or noun phrase, which is an object-based navigation design. The blue link is the verb-object phrase (Operation + objects), which is based on the task navigation design.

However, this is a controversial interface, and many people complain that this page is not easy to use. Users are often unable to find the required functionality, and prefer to switch to the large icon/Small icon view for functional indexing.

　　What caused the user to complain?

Recall the use of the control panel scene, the user is usually a clear use of the target, the use of low frequency characteristics.

These features, the formation of the use expected to be able to quickly find and use the settings function. The point of reducing the efficiency of use will cause users to complain.

1, rely on the level of reading. From the interface design to infer, then the designer may want the user through the green text fast reading for range positioning, and then according to the blue text to operate the positioning. Designers try to reduce the amount of information in each interface by grouping clustering, after all, there are many sets of items. But more people, in the use of this interface is the use of sequential reading, in a short time to face different dimensions of navigation guidelines, easy to cause cognitive confusion.

2, the task of the phrase text is lengthy, resulting in the reduction of core information acquisition efficiency. Although the label's copy appears to be more natural and intimate, it is not available until the message of the phrase needs to be read.

3, the number of tasks is much larger than the number of objects, virtually increased the cost of retrieval.

　　My experience.

1, to examine the user's understanding of the task

Different products have great differences in the interpretation of user tasks. Due to the task-based navigation, the user's cognition, the coverage of the scene has a high demand, improper use is easy to reduce usability.

The user cognition is disassembled into these dimensions to investigate: the target strength, the frequency of task execution, and the number of core tasks.

2. Re-organizing tasks and objects

For display-oriented products, we recommend the use of object-based navigation.

For commonly used service-type, functional-type products, users tend to be more familiar with the services that can be provided by the products, or have real life mapping. If the scene can be split into a few well-defined child scenarios, you can consider the use of mission-oriented navigation, object navigation supplemented by the model.

For service-type and functional products with low frequency, we can consider using object-oriented navigation and task navigation as auxiliary mode. object is easy to identify and recognize, through the advantages of object navigation can enhance the user's knowledge of the product, especially for new users. Through the Auxiliary series of task navigation, the function is set up and the usage efficiency is improved.

　　The attempt in the project

Enterprise QQ, a company for all employees of the Office IM Management software. In addition to the daily use of the IM terminal, there is a management system for managers.

We first look at the characteristics of management tasks. Managers for the management of content and the purpose of the task is relatively strong, the use of low frequency. When enumerating the tasks, it is easy to find that the task types and quantities are very many, there are more related tasks, in the scene division, it is difficult to divide the clear boundaries of the child scene.

So we try to use the main object navigation, task navigation supplemented by the model. Using task-based navigation to make up for the regrets existing in object navigation, the correlation function/scene is strung up. The associated function, which turns the task latitude can be a similar task or a branch task.

As a niche area, there is little discussion about this in the field of domestic interaction design, but less in product practice. There are many foreign products in this field for practical applications. Screenshots of the interface, but also more from this. The interface style listed in this article may be outdated, but the design idea behind it can be learned and understood continuously.