Ultimately, the architecture should balance
between deep and flat. Waves of decreasingly substantial navigation can lead users into
labyrinths of content, while too many choices on a global level can be overwhelming.
There is quite a bit of research on the topic of ???breadth vs. depth.??? There is no right
answer. Everyone seems to vaguely agree that creating a deep structure is a bad way to
build a website, so avoiding narrow, linear paths of navigation is preferable.
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Many information architects argue that the number of top-level navigation links should
not exceed seven, referencing the widely read article ???The Magical Number Seven, Plus or
Minus Two,??? by George A. Miller.3 This article makes a case that people can remember up
to seven (plus or minus two) chunks of useful, relevant information. However, just as many
professionals debunk this article as support it, pointing to later studies claiming that users
actually find their information faster when initially presented with a broad selection of categories,
rather than a hierarchy.4
On top of all this, keep in mind that a website??™s native navigation is a complement to the
user agent??™s functionality.
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