Problem summary

The user needs to go back to a safe start location of the site.

Example

Usage

• Use when the user often enters the website through a page other than the start site. The user needs to be able to easily find his way to the starting point or front page of the website.

Solution

• Create a link to the starting point or front page of the website on the site’s logo on every single page on the website.
• If the site does not have a logo, then link the to the front page of the website with the text ‘Home’.
• The link and/or linked images should always be in the same location on all pages.
• If the website has more than one home, then be sure to make the distinction in linking between the root home and the local home.

Rationale

It has become a standard in webdesign, that the site’s logo is always linked to a safe start location for the user. Normally, this is the front page of the site, but it could also be the front page of a section in the site, or some other safe start location for the user.

3 Comments

• 1
  

  koji

  18 Jun, 2009

  I don’t know if this a local problem, but i applied some usability tests on logo link to home page. Only hardusers are able to predict the link. Regular users still trying to search a “home” link with text. :( Not so great for a clean design…

• 2
  

  David

  14 Jul, 2010

  My experience with users confirms koji’s comment. An important % of users do not consider naturally the logo as the home page. Definitively i would recommend always a specific home page link next to the main navigation items

• 3
  

  Sydney Smith

  6 Apr, 2011

  It is amazing that users that define themselves as saavy do not know this standard. Instead of giving it such prominence on the main navigation, I place it in the utility links (upper right hand corner.)

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