The 3 Click Rule: Not Applicable?
Usability folks have been preaching the 3-click rule for years: if a user can’t get to a page within 3 clicks, then the navigation needs to be tweaked. Overall, I think this rule has proven to be effective. Sites like Apple.com and Google.com operate by this guideline and have wonderfully navigable user interfaces.
However, a more important element should be planned and executed before implementing the 3-click rule. Jared M. Spool, Christine Perfetti, and David Brittan published a report that in some ways debunks the 3-click concept. In Designing for the Scent of Information, they posit that what users expect is that every click they make gets them closer to the information they seek. As long as they have indicators that they are heading in the right direction, they won’t likely abandon the site.
So rather than applying a strict 3-click rule, site designers would do well to develop a significant indicator of where the user came from, where he or she is at, and where he or she is headed. This doesn’t necessarily mean creating fancy breadcrumbs, although such navigation trails are certainly userful. The overall design of the site, and of each page, ought to be clear enough that the user doesn’t have to squint or zoom in to decipher what’s going on and where elements are located.
Let me introduce an analogy that has helped me focus on the more important design points we’re talking about here. Take a look at Apple’s iPhone internet video. You’ll see a device that quite strikingly produces a clear, useful view of web pages. Now, on the iPhone, when the page first loads, only certain elements are visible without zooming in.
Design your site so that the user gets, in the screen size of an iPhone, (on the first instance) indicators of their navigation. A breadcrumb probably won’t work, now, will it? But your H1’s and H2’s will, as well as images and graphic elements.
