Who decided that things should be listed alphabetically?

There are some instances where it's the right approach. Bookstores and libraries are probably good examples of where alphabetical order is useful but it's worth noting that even in these situations the books are grouped into categories first.

I suggest that if you stop and think about other applications you won't find too many. Do I hear you saying Contact Lists? While they are traditionally listed alphabetically we don't really find it that handy. We want them sorted by recency or frequency. Have you ever put an "a" or "_" at the start of a contact's name to force it to the top of the list?

So think carefully when you're organising your website content. I could list so many examples of sites that need to be changed but let me just give one bad example and one good one.

I came across this menu on a waterskiing shop site. You won't be suprised to learn that the major products of interest in this industry all start with "W" i.e. waterskis, wakeboards. But look how far you have to go down the list to click on them.

Compare that to a travel site that lists locations within Australia. You'll notice how they have listed the most frequently selected locations first and then provided the rest in alphabetical order.

Alphabetical order should be left for when no other ordering makes sense. Image if Google listed results in alphabetical order. Similarly, your visitors want things ordered by relevance.

Take a few minutes to critique your website and see if your order is in order.

PC 

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Posted in: General, Strategy