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Poor navigation makes us think. Better navigation makes us think less. Great navigation is so obvious we don't have to think at all.

This is such an important conce

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

pt that Web usability author, Steve Krug, titled his book, Don't Make Me Think. That is the bottom line answer to every question about Web site navigation

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

How much thinking do we not want to do?

If someone who's been living in a cave since the Web took off, can get online and figure out what a site

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

is all about without help, that is just about the right amount of thinking.

That may be a silly example, but worrying about PageRank and not worrying about usabil

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ty, is a waste of time, effort and finances. Yes, get visitors to the site, but don't let them sit staring at the page, trying to figure out what to do next, or wh

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ere to go, or how to find what they're looking for. If the back button to the search results is the only thing that's easy to find and use on the page, guess what.

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

That's the button that will be used.

Today, in about ten minutes on the Web, I came across two common examples of poor navigation:

On the site of a major

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

software company a link that goes like this:

Main nav link: PRODUCTS > Sub link: CopyDesk > Sub link: undefined (doesn't link to anything)

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

the site of a national printing company: three links to "business cards" in three different navigation bars all on the same page. Only after waiting

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

for all three to load do I learn that they all go to the same place: an order form. None of the three gives me more information.

The solution.<

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

strong>

Solutions to navigation problems are not always easy. Large, complex sites may have no choice but to offer multiple navigation. Sites with lots of pages a

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

d lots of links may need additional work to address these challenges. And then there's all the juggling to include search engine optimization. Some compromises may

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

have to be made. Yet, keeping the user in mind, clarifying choices and eliminating confusion whenever possible, not only makes for happier site visitors, it offer

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

the bonus of also helping search engines.

Navigation that makes us think:

Multiple navigation with duplicate or conflicting links.

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

Vague links or links that don't go anywhere.

Current page is not indicated.

No navigation on page, forcing use of back button to

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

get out.
Active links to the current page.

Not linking directly to the item named.

Navigation that reflects the company's struc

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ture rather than division or classification meaningful to content and user goals.

Navigation that doesn't make us think:

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

ll pages have at least basic site navigation.
The navigation indicates the current page.

Meaning of link text is clear and each is unique.<

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

/li>
All links go somewhere specific and unique.

Categories related to product or service offered, not company organization.

Repetitiv

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

links, if absolutely necessary, are clearly indicated as repetitive.

If something is hard to use it doesn't get used very much.

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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