When a person is wayfinding, they seem to either navigate spatially, based on a conceptual model of the structure, or linearly, based on signs or landmarks. Though people may have a personal preference, they will switch modes if given strong clues that they should do so (Passini 1992). To support linear wayfinding, signs should be installed in a large structure.
Similarly, navigation of a hypertext can change depending on the reader's focus. When focusing primarily on the text, we tend to consider one link at a time in a sign-based approach. However, when critically evaluating the structure of a site, it becomes much easier to note the organizational scheme. However, this does divert some attention from simply enjoying the text.
With respect to hypertext, tangled webs may best represent the conceptual connections between the lexia. However, the experience of that web is a linear one for the reader, wandering from one node to another, attempting to form a mental model over time. The author, who already has a working model of the text, can provide some navigational clues to the reader about the best paths to take through this web. At the very least, the author can clearly show the reader her options at each point.
When installing such navigation guides, signs come in three forms: directional, identifying, and reassuring (Passini 1992). Directional signs, found at a point where multiple routes are possible, point towards specific destinations. Identifiying signs identify the current location. Reassuring signs provide information about the current path when there is no option to change that path--they just let the wayfinder know they are going the right way.
Since hypertext paths have no length, there is usually little chance for reassuring signs. Roll-overs or pop-ups could provide some reassurance when a user is considering a link, much in the same way as landmark navigation can be provided. Since links are often highlighted text, there is much opportunity for directional signs, as each link can describe its destination. Identifying signs--page titles, headings, etc.--can serve as part of a page's content.
Twisting, confusing, unmaked spaces can be pleasurable. People often choose to wander funhouses, hedge mazes and labyrinths. However, labyrinths can also quickly become irritating or downright frightening, even if they started out fun. Designers may want to keep in mind that not all wayfinders are content to recreationally wander, but may resolutely seek some goal (Passini 1992).
When simply reading These Waves, it is quite easy to get "lost". We have seen that identifying the current location--whether within a subsite, thread, or page--can be difficult due to the use of frames.
The directional aspect of some of links is also misleading. From the text of the link, it is often very difficult to determine where the link leads, possibly resulting in confusion when we reach a new lexia that fails to match our expectations. For instance, from salmon sandwich school lunches, the link "I wasn't sent to eat lunch alone in the field house, either" leads to the lexia about Tammy Stevens at school, which has no mention of eating lunch or a field house.
Another example is from a discussion of cruelty, the link "Fay Devlin and I" leads to Neil going through the security glass. The only seeming connection might be that "Fay Devlin and I" were playing spin-the-bottle, which has a connection to glass. But "Fay" is the link, not "bottle". Later in the Neil thread, Fay appears very briefly (with a link back to playing spin-the-bottle). But this appearance is four lexia further along the thread, discovered only with a diligent search.
It seems to be a distinguishing feature of hypertext (as well as complex built environments) that confusion plagues only the newcomers. Once we are intimately familiar with the work, it becomes easier to recognize the structure. However, it is exactly the features of navigational signs to provide guidance to those who have not yet grasped the organizing scheme. This is particularly true for These Waves--confusing at first, but clearer upon careful reflection.
Cover → Introduction → Structure → Connections → Imageability → Navigation → Conclusion → Works Cited