Digital Wayfinding Webinar

Am very interested in how people search and have created a new talk that explores how individuals "wayfind" in the physical world versus the digital one. Believe it or not, the same way we might navigate a very large commercial complex with mixed-use (retail, offices, restaurants etc.) is similar to how we would navigate a website. We are all looking for something, although admittedly some of us might have more of an idea than others, and we are doing so in one of two states: Relaxed or Anxious.

What most of us who publish to the web forget, is that search engines have created an Orientation issue. People are not popping in through the front door -- with its welcome mat and explanation of what the site is all about -- they are being dropped deep into the bowels to a specific piece of content. How does a person orient themselves from that page? Do you have enough clues that tell a person -- whether they are researcher, client, journalist, prospect where they are -- and what else they might find on your site? Does your site appeal more to the one who likes to ask for directions -- or to those who want to go it alone?

I'll be posting more on physical versus digital wayfinding.