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3 

Hybrid. Here there will be a mixture of organisation schemes, both exact and ambiguous. 

Rosenfeld and Morville (2002) point out that using different approaches is common on 

websites but this can lead to confusion, because the user is not clear what mental model 

is being followed. It is probably best to minimise the number of information organisation 

schemes.

Site navigation schemes

Devising a site that is easy to use is critically dependent on the design of the 

site navigation 

scheme

. Hoffman and Novak (1997) stress the importance of the concept of ‘

flow

’, which 

essentially describes how easy it is for the users to find the information they need as they 

move from one page of the site to the next, but also includes other interactions such as filling 

in on-screen forms. Rettie (2001) summarises the meaning of flow and gives guidelines on 

how this concept can be used to enhance the visitor experience. These statements describing 

flow were used originally by Csikszentmihalyi (1990) and more recently by Rettie’s research 

to test for a flow experience on a website:

 1 

My mind isn’t wandering. I am not thinking of something else. I am totally involved in 

what I am doing. My body feels good. I don’t seem to hear anything. The world seems 

to be cut off from me. I am less aware of myself and my problems.

 2 

My concentration is like breathing. I never think of it. I am really oblivious to my 

surroundings after I really get going. I think that the phone could ring, and the doorbell 

could ring, or the house burn down or something like that. When I start, I really do shut 

out the whole world. Once I stop, I can let it back in again.

 3 

I am so involved in what I am doing, I don’t see myself as separate from what I am 

doing.

Rettie (2001) suggests that the following factors limit flow: long download times, delays to 

download  plug-  ins, long registration forms, limited stimulation, boring sites, slow responses, 

sites which are not intuitive, navigation links that fail, challenge greater than skill, irrelevant 

advertising. Conversely, reversing these factors can improve flow: quick download times, 

alternative versions (e.g. text and graphics), automatic completion of forms, opportunities 

for interaction, rapid responses, navigation which creates choices, predictable navigation 

for control, segmentation by Internet experience. Most navigation systems are based upon 

a hierarchical site structure. When creating the structure, designers have to compromise 

between the two approaches shown in Figure 11.20. The