Mallesons Stephen Jaques : Pinpointing content

A powerful demonstration of the importance to signposting of effective use of language.

The Site

Mallesons Stephen Jaques, an Australia-based international commercial law firm, uses direct one-word headings for the sub-sections in the Careers area of its website: Us, You, Alumni and Opportunities. Each of these in turn has a simply-worded menu of content headings. For example, Us includes Why Mallesons?, Where are we?, Practice areas, Our people, Learning & development, In the community and Contact us. Opportunities has a run-down by type; for example, Legal graduate, Experienced hires, Seasonal/vocational clerks.

The Takeaway

Mallesons’ Careers headings break one stereotype – the obfuscating lawyer – and reinforce another – the straight-talking Australian – while demonstrating how powerful the language of headings can be when carried off well.

Section and sub-section headings are a critical part of any site’s navigation because they are the primary signposts by which visitors assess content and find their way to it. And a crucial element of good signposting is effective use of language: the simpler, more direct and unambiguous is it, the quicker and more confident users can be about getting to where they want. So much is obvious, but making it work in practice is not so easy and many sites fall short of the degree of thought and user-focus required. Mallesons’ combination of short words, succinct phrasing and jobseeker concerns creates a real clarity of purpose.

First published on 09 May, 2006