An elevator that lies (and what that has to do with your navigation)

Want to go to the third floor? You press the button and when the doors open, you are there. I have never heard of anyone having to think much about using an elevator. On the contrary, I mostly observe people who, while typing more important things on their phone, press the floor button almost in passing. Intuitively. 

A bit of science fiction 

Now imagine an almost identical situation. You press the button for the third floor, the elevator rises, and after a while the doors open. You step out—and realize you are standing in a completely different building. At the other end of the city. Perhaps the country. Or the world. You are indeed on the third floor, but at this point that is no longer the least bit important. 

You are not just confused. You are probably also a little angry at the elevator and its panel with numbers, which has … deceived you. 

Elevators, except perhaps in some science-fiction film or book, of course do not do such things. Their 'user interface' has withstood decades of real-world testing, and we, the users, have completely internalized it. 

Just as we have internalized the menu on your website or in your application. 

Navigation 

The definition of a website usually says: it is a set of pages under the same umbrella domain, with a shared identifier (typically a logo at the top left), a unified visual identity, and navigation. The list of content a user can access is romantically called the 'menu', more technically the navigation. 

And it is navigation—just as in a forest or on the open sea—that ensures the user does not get lost. 

When we select one of the options in the navigation, we expect something very similar to the elevator: you press the button for the third floor and you arrive at the third floor. That is, to a subpage with the same or at least a related title to the one the link carries. But beware—within the same website. 

You can think of a website as a building, and the navigation as the panel with buttons. Because navigation is hierarchically subordinate to the identifier (the logo), the user rightly understands that they are already inside a specific building. Navigation is therefore an internal—not external—wayfinding system. 

And where is the problem? 

All too often the navigation of a website contains links to completely different websites—and not only on (semi)amateur projects. This highly frustrating error tends to appear even on large, sometimes global services. 

We call links that lead elsewhere external links. When they appear in the navigation, they are downright harmful to the user experience. 

Why? Because when clicking a link in the main menu (or anywhere they would intuitively expect internal navigation), the user does not expect to end up elsewhere. They expect to stay on the same website. To be accompanied by the same navigation. And to be able to click the logo to always go 'home'. 

As with the elevator, they expect consistency here too. Regardless of which floor you enter on, the elevator presents the same panel with the same buttons.

It is no better if you take the user to a 'friendly' website, say a separate site for your other brand. Ironically, it can even be worse: because of a similar visual identity, the user may not immediately notice they are elsewhere. And the confusion is even greater. 

A usability slip. And a big one. 

What should we do? 

There is nothing wrong with external links per se. We do, however, need to follow two basic guidelines: 

• external links do not belong in the website’s navigation, 

• we must make it clear and timely—before they click—that they are external. 

This gives them a sense of safety. Above all, a clear message: 'With this click you are leaving this website. You will land elsewhere. The navigation will be different. 'Home' will not be the same either.'  

Never in the navigation. Even if it costs you a subpage. 

Sometimes external links end up in the navigation simply because there is no other place for them. There is no subpage where they could be placed. 

The solution? A new subpage. 

True, this requires a bit more work, as you also need to prepare appropriate content. You probably do not want a page with a single button, but that is precisely the price of a good user experience.

For the user it is significantly friendlier to receive the basic information (say about your product) on the website they are currently on. And only then, if they are truly interested, continue via the external link. 

As with the elevator, the navigation must first take you to a destination within the same building. Only then can you consciously head elsewhere.