Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
the appropriate asset from your content list. In the last exercise we took a
general approach to listing information. Now, we will manipulate our informa-
tion into a more precise structure.
To create the content outline you must first list out your main navigation header
categories — refer to the concept statement for your previous ideas (I used
about/portfolio/design lab in my concept statement). Under each header
category, you will place appropriate sub headers and then list items from your
content list. Place the appropriate item under the main or sub-navigation
header.
Here is an example of how to start:
About —
main navigation
Photo of me
Curriculum Vitae
— sub-navigation
CV in PDF format
Contact —
e-mail link
Notice how about, is main navigation. This means that about it at that of the
hierarchical structure. Curriculum Vitae and contact are sub navigation. You
want use this structure to develop the content list fully so that it reflects all the
components of your Web portfolio.
Once you have the headers filled in, put a number next to each header to signify
its importance in the hierarchy of your site. For example, if you think that your
biography is most important, make it number 1 (my sequence is about-1-,
portfolio-2-, design lab-3). If you feel contact is the least important, make it the
last number in your sequence, or make it a sub-navigation if it sits below a
category in structure. I did this by making “About”
a main navigation and
contact a sub-navigation component sitting under “About”. The Web portfolio
is built to be nonlinear in design. This means that the user can pretty much go
anywhere in the site from no more than two pages deep. Rather than a linear
site that requires the user to go through the site in a predetermined sequence.
Your navigation will be nonlinear, but it still needs order to be represented
consistently throughout the Web site. The numerical order will help you to
establish a perceived order for you to follow and will create a consistent point
of view and navigation order. What is of paramount importance is that
categories (headers) are clearly defined so they do not have any overlap which