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URL-First Design

Define​

URLs should be designed in the early stages Of website development, as users must be able to read, guess and edit them, and it helps designers to define site structure

This principle advocates that URLs should be designed before creating the sitemap, wireframe, or code for any given website. This is because URLs are the 'one universal syntax' of the web (Kyle Neath, 2010), and remain the same across any browser. As users often attempt to memorise URLs and type them directly into a browser, users should be able to read, guess, and edit URLs. An example of a 'readable' URL is: http://www.amanmittal.me/.

URL-first design is an exercise which helps designers to explore potential ways to organize the information which is to be contained on the website. It ensures the site structure is defined with the content in mind. and duplication is avoided. This is better than letting the site structure define the URLs towards the end of the design process. This idea adheres to the 'Don't Repeat Yourself' (DRY) principle, which states that 'every piece of knowledge must have a singlet unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system'.

URLs should be:

  • Simple, avoiding mixed-case, using hyphens (-) between words where appropriate, and stripped of file extensions like ,html. .php & .aspx.
  • Understandable, as people attempt to 'read' them, and will use them to determine how useful the page is to them.
  • Linked to permanent, unique resources on the website.

Resources​