The previous navigation system we prototyped fell short for a few reasons. While the idea of making so many choices readily available on every page seemed great, it actually was just bothersome when being used. There wasn’t enough of a cue when a new page was loaded—nearly half of the device screen was always identical (or near identical anyways).

I still think I want a good balance of “backwards” functionality, and easy access to some sort of global navigation system.

Thinking points:

• A literal “Back” button in the navigation seems like a bad idea. I’m assuming people understand their devices back button functionality similar to how they use the back button in a desktop browser.
• I want a “Home” button on pretty much every page. Seems even more important in mobile design that people have a way to ground themselves and reorient their location on a site.
• When visiting a page in a sub-section of the site, I want a button to quickly go to the root of that sub-section. IE: If I’m visiting a discussion thread of a forum, I want to quickly be able to travel to the default Forums view.
• Links in this header area have to really look like links or buttons.
• Trying a dropdown navigation that allows for quick traversing across the entire site (similar to our earlier idea). Less useful because you don’t see all the options without actually clicking it. More useful because it doesn’t take up nearly half a page, and still makes for quick navigation.

Will have to wait and see how right or wrong I am about any of these assumptions.