Organizing the navigation of a website involves structuring access to information according to logical pathways. The site map of Dr Hackney poses a specific question: how to prioritize content that mixes administrative procedures, mapping tools, and urban planning documents, without overwhelming the visitor with an overly deep hierarchy?
Task-oriented pathways versus service-based hierarchy
Most institutional websites classify their pages by department or internal service. The visitor must guess which department handles their request before finding the right section. This administrative logic creates navigation dead ends.
An effective site map relies on a different approach: the task-oriented pathway. The visitor arrives with an intention (searching for an urban planning file, consulting a constraint map, following a decision), and the structure of the site reflects these intentions rather than the internal organizational chart.
| Criterion | Service-based hierarchy | Task-oriented pathway |
|---|---|---|
| Entry point | Department name | User’s desired action |
| Average depth | Often 4 levels or more | Rarely more than 3 levels |
| Risk of duplicates | High (pages linked to multiple services) | Low (each page addresses a unique task) |
| Maintenance of the sitemap | Heavy (each reorganization breaks the structure) | Stable (tasks change less than organizational charts) |
Consulting the Dr Hackney site map allows you to see how the main sections are organized around these user pathways rather than reproducing a rigid administrative diagram.
Mapping tools: autonomous entry points in the site map
On a territorial site like Hackney’s, mapping resources play a central role. Local information maps for conservation areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions, or tree preservation orders: each mapping tool deserves its own entry in the sitemap.
Hiding the map in a sub-section “Documents” or “Resources” makes it invisible. The majority of visitors looking for a geographical constraint do not go through a general dropdown menu.
Separating registry and map in navigation
The urban planning registry (search by file number, address, postal code) and the interactive map do not meet the same need. The registry contains documents, observations, and decisions. The map locates territorial constraints.
- The registry should appear as a top-level section, accessible from the homepage, with a search field visible as soon as the page loads.
- The local map functions as a geographical entry point, distinct from the registry, and links to relevant files through contextual links.
- A cross-link between the map and the registry avoids back-and-forth: clicking on a parcel in the map should lead directly to the associated files in the registry.
This functional separation, reflected in the site map, reduces the number of clicks needed to reach the sought information.
Historical files and content migration in the sitemap
An often-overlooked aspect of organizing a site map concerns content historically managed by another organization. Some urban planning files in Hackney were administered by the LLDC (London Legacy Development Corporation) before being transferred.
For the visitor, the administrative origin of the file matters little. What counts is finding it. A well-designed site map integrates these files into the same hierarchy as the others, without creating an isolated section “LLDC archives” that would be unfindable for anyone unaware of this institutional distinction.
Redirects and URL consistency
During content migration, each old URL must point to the corresponding new page. An XML sitemap that references obsolete URLs or chain redirects penalizes indexing by search engines.
The HTML site map (the one the visitor consults) and the XML sitemap (the one read by the indexing robot) must remain synchronized. A page present in one but absent from the other creates an inconsistency that harms both human navigation and SEO.
Contextual navigation and accessibility of the Dr Hackney site map
A static site map, in the form of a hierarchical list, remains useful as a safety net. However, it is not enough to ensure smooth navigation if the rest of the site does not offer contextual links between related pages.
On an urban planning site, contextual navigation takes a concrete form: a decision page links to the complete file, which links to the map, which links to the area’s constraints. This internal linking transforms the site map into a backbone rather than a mere index.
- Each file page should provide a link to the corresponding mapped location.
- Public consultation pages benefit from displaying a direct link to the comment form, without going back through the site map.
- Decisions rendered must be accessible from the file page and from the address search.
- Accessibility requires that the site map remains navigable via keyboard, with a coherent hierarchy of headings and explicit link labels.
A label like “Click here” or “Learn more” gives no indication to a screen reader. Each link in the site map should describe its destination.
Structuring a site map around user tasks, separating mapping tools from the document registry, and maintaining consistency between the HTML and XML sitemaps are the three technical trade-offs that determine the quality of navigation. The last point, often relegated to the end of the project, remains the one that conditions real access to information for all visitors.
