"Scent" of information

The first time I heard that expression, I thought this must be one of these crazy ideas from a consultant wanting to attract attention. However, the concept is very important. It refutes the famous, age-old 3-click rule. The belief was that all your site pages must be reached within 3 clicks from the home page. For years, I thought this was a very difficult challenge, especially because the sites I managed where very deep by nature. I was relieved to discover the concept of "scent of information." It simply states that users do not mind to click on more then 3 clicks, as long as they receive enough clues that indicate they are getting closer to the information they need. A good example is the support section of a software company site. The site visitor will be asked a few questions before being to able to offer the support needed. This will certainly take more then 3 clicks, yet users do not mind that. My feeling is that the lesser the amount of clicks, the better, as a general rule of thumb. However, your site content may require a complex hierarchy, and as long as users are given enough clues, they will keep on going until they get to what they need.

Note: You can find more about the "scent of information" at the User Interface Engineer's Web site: http://www.uie.com