Background
In February 2008, we rechecked our proposed global navigation categories to ensure this was the right set for our beta launch. The category names already had been evaluated through card sorting and usability testing but needed a final check. To evaluate the category names, we conducted another open and closed card sort.

A usability analyst reviewed the data and shared findings with the entire Web team.

What We Learned
Overall, the top navigation, as planned, is a solid set of categories and labels for launch and further testing with live-site visitors. The open sort revealed some content that we should consider putting on the home page. The closed sort validated our proposed navigation set, as well as key cross-linking to facilitate navigation.

Here are a few top findings:

• Top Navigation Open Sort
  We found that participants organized items in ways that are similar to the proposed categories used in the closed sort. This was to some degree expected, as the proposed categories are the result of several iterations of user feedback. In addition, we learned that the foundations' areas of focus (topics), featured stories, slideshows, mission and values, general announcements, and speeches would be popular content for the home page.
  
  
• Top Navigation Closed Sort
  Participants sorted items into the proposed categories and headings with a high degree of agreement. In cases where there was inconsistency (or disagreement), we note important cross-links for each section to include in the page level information design and navigation.
  • An example of important cross-links for grants include:
    • Grant details - grantee, amount funded, time period, goal, strategy, beneficiaries
    • Approach to funding
    • Related case studies and progress reports
    • Web site about the specific grant and work being done
    • Grantee web sites who are working on the grant
    • How to apply (where appropriate)

Our Next Steps
We will implement the global navigation resulting from this study and continue to evaluate its effectiveness in helping Web site users find information quickly and easily.

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