Evidence review
What to inspect before changing anything
Start with the delivered website and the real user journey. Record the current state so the team can distinguish an observed problem from an assumption and compare the same surface after deployment.
- 01List top-level destinations and overlapping labels
- 02Check current-page indication
- 03Compare desktop, mobile and keyboard behavior
Implementation
A practical improvement plan
Make the smallest coherent change that solves the observed problem. Keep normal code review, accessibility, security and product checks in the loop instead of optimizing for the scan alone.
- 01Name destinations by user intent
- 02Keep hierarchy shallow where possible
- 03Preserve context in mobile menus
Verification
How to verify the result
Verification should test the intended outcome and the most likely regression. Use the production delivery path whenever headers, caching, rendering or third-party services affect the result.
- 01Run task-based findability tests
- 02Navigate without a pointer
- 03Check deep links and browser history
Common pitfall
A shortcut to avoid
Hiding complex navigation behind a minimal menu icon does not make the information architecture simpler.
Further reading
Primary guidance and references
These sources provide standards, security guidance or the interpretation framework used to keep this guide bounded. Product-specific implementation still requires review in the actual codebase.