The selection of a connective topology that shapes how actors move between destinations, balancing freedom of movement against orientation cost. Each model determines which navigation behaviours are possible and how agency is distributed. The choice starts one step before topology: the shape of what is being navigated decides whether there is a topology to choose at all.

Models

One continuous space — movement is viewport control, not link-following:

• Pan and zoom — continuous spatial navigation through large single spaces

A prescribed sequence — movement is ordered progression:

• Step by step — prescribed sequences with back/next controls
• Pyramid — hub lists sequence, actors can navigate sequentially or jump to any item

One collection, browsed item by item — movement collapses into focus propagation between coupled views:

• Overview and detail — collection and current item coupled across two views

Heterogeneous sections — destinations differ in kind:

• Hub and spoke — central hub lists all sections, actors return to hub for cross-section navigation
• Fully connected — every page links to all others through global navigation
• Multilevel tree — hierarchical structure with global navigation for main pages, local navigation for subpages
• Flat navigation — minimal navigation, all functions accessible in one place
• Hybrid patterns — combinations of multiple models

Decision tree

Refining by behaviour

• Navigate to known locations → Fully connected, tree
• Browse and discover → Pyramid, pan and zoom
• Complete focused tasks → Step by step, flat
• Monitor multiple areas → Hub and spoke structures the sections; the monitoring view itself is purpose-keyed view

Refining by agency

• Maximum control → Fully connected, pan and zoom, flat
• Balanced guidance → Pyramid, tree
• System-guided → Hub and spoke, step by step

Refining by scale

• Small (< 10) → Fully connected
• Medium (10-50) → Hub (mobile), tree (desktop), pyramid (sequences)
• Large (50+) → Hybrid patterns

Hybrid combinations

When single models don’t fit:

• Hub + fully connected — hub feels constraining, cross-section workflows frequent
• Tree + fully connected — large volume with clear sections, cross-section relationships
• Step by step + pyramid — logical sequence but flexible ordering, varying expertise
• Fully connected + pan and zoom — mix discrete and spatial content
• Hub + flat — multiple independent workspaces, each feature-rich
• Pyramid + tree — many sequences requiring category organisation
• Pyramid + filtering — large collections that need both sequence and narrowing

Malleable Routing

In a malleable system, the target of a link is not a fixed location. Users can choose how they want to open a resource, affecting the composition of their workspace:

• Standard: Navigate to new page (Replace current context).
• Split: Open side-by-side (Compare contexts).
• Peek: Open in overlay/modal (Temporary reference).
• Background: Open in background tab (Queue for later).

Navigation becomes a tool for composition.

Implementation considerations

Universal navigation features

All models benefit from:

• Deep linking for addressability
• Searching for direct access
• Breadcrumbs for context
• Command menu for power users

UI design independence

Models can be rendered in various ways:

• Tabs, menus, sidebar trees for fully connected or tree
• Cards, lists, grids for hub and spoke
• Progress indicators, stepper components, or next/previous for step by step

To-do

• Capture navigation model ↔ navigation-behaviour relationships. Each model supports or constrains specific behaviours. Likely needs the behaviours to become graph-addressable first.

Resources & references

Tidwell, Brewer, Valencia (2020) Designing Interfaces, 3rd ed.