Labeling Consistently

Designing consistent labels will take you a long way in creating a consistent user experience. There’s more to consistent labels than visual presentation factors like fonts, colors and white space. Syntax is a key issue to consider. Here’s a list of some types of label syntax from Morville & Rosenfeld’s awesome book, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web:

1. Verb-based labels – “grooming your dog”

2. Noun-based labels – “diets for dogs”

3. Question-based labels – “how do you paper-train your dog”

Morville and Rosenfeld recommend choosing a single syntactical approach and sticking with it.

In addition to using consistent syntax, consider these areas when creating consistent lables: Style, Presentation,  Granularity, Comprehensiveness and audience.