Creating a site that delivers a large amount of content is both a blessing and a curse. As an interface designer you must be careful not to overwhelm the layout and keep a clear path to help steer users to the information they are most interested in. Having a lot of content can be a good thing though. It gives you assets to keep the site interesting and creates that stickiness so people will repeat visit.

You don’t have to use everything at once though. Remember that your user is intelligent and they will scroll and navigate the site. Welcome your user, let them know there is more to see and give them an easy way to explore what they are most interested in. This way you engage the user and set them off on the right path. Check out the BBC’s home page to get a great picture of managing large amounts of content but also allowing the user to choose what they are most interested in.

Ensure that there is an easy way to get an idea of all that the site has to offer. This, in most cases, can be handled with a clearly stated site map. People like to know what areas are available and if they may have missed anything that might hold more interest to them. Waitrose do this extremely well with the site map acting as a functional footer. Its big, huge even but its a constant through the site and is a quick way to navigate.

So to summarise. Provide clear navigation, allow room to explore and keep the site interesting round every corner. But don’t overload the layout, complicate the message or lose focus on what the user is actually interested in.