As part of my school project for Interaction Design,I had to analyze and reorganize the navigation system of Craigslist.org, an online community that facilitates the exchange of goods, services, and dialogue through posts and responses. In order to accomplish this goal, freelisting, card sorting and analysis were conducted to determine which items users generally buy and sell, and how they group like items together. The intended users for Craigslist.org are those looking to obtain something, give something away, or discuss a certain topic. The audience has a basic level of Internet browsing, especially if creating a post, and those responding to posts are comfortable contacting strangers on the Internet, who they may potentially meet. The participant pool consisted of users with these qualities, all of whom have previously bought or sold an item online. The “For Sale” Category was reorganized.
Craigslist(present design) Hierarchial Diagram
Craigslist’s navigation is hierarchical, divided into categories and subcategories. Once a user clicks on either a category or subcategory on the home page, he/she is directed to the list of posts in chronological order. The user must “pogostick” through the site, referring back to the main category before they may access a different subcategory. In the current organization scheme, information is sorted in an ambiguous fashion. There are nine core categories, eight of which contain sub-categories. Craigslist is considered to be “hyper local” as users can navigate to their specific locale or choose other regions or cities. While the existing alphabetical hierarchy is suitable as it ensures consistency across regions, many of the sub-categories lack clarity.
The site contains contextual links, which transport users to the sub-category page within the local region. The sub-category pages do not provide a listing of all available categories and sub-categories, which ultimately hinders navigability.
The site offers the ability to Search within the desired sub-category as well as search entire category sets from within a standard search function. It should be noted, however, that only several category sets are available for global searches from any page. These are presumably the most frequented sections of the entire site across all regions.
Craigslist(New design) Hierarchial Diagram
Craigslist(New design) Wireframe
The reorganization of the “For Sale” category:
- Hick’s Law: Reduced the number of navigation items so the information is easier to comprehend. Consolidated 37 items to 20 items (46% reduction)
- Reused nearly half of the old categories
- Removed confusing or overly vague categories (i.e., General, Materials, and Free)
- Items are listed in the alphabetical order, making it easier to find the items
The process flow diagrams for some of the typical tasks that can be carried out with the new design are shown below
