How to Structure Categories That Improve Navigation and User Experience

Categories are one of the most important elements of your Interactive Map. They power the sidebar filter experience, helping users quickly scan, filter, and find the locations they need.

In higher education, your map serves several audiences at once: prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, parents, visitors, and event guests. When categories are structured well, they:

• Make large campuses easier to navigate
• Reduce confusion and search time for users under pressure (a parent on move-in day, a visitor on game day)
• Surface critical resources like parking, student services, and accessibility features
• Improve overall engagement and time-on-map, especially for admissions audiences

This article outlines the categories most commonly used across successful Concept3D maps, along with the best practices that make them work. Treat the recommendations as a menu, not a mandate: start with the categories your users already ask about, then grow from there.

Recommended Categories

The table below is your quick-reference guide to the 12 categories most consistently used on successful customer maps. Alternate names reflect labels other customers have tried. Pick one per category and use it consistently. Suggested subcategories show where to nest related content instead of adding more top-level entries.

Category Best Practices

The categories you choose matter. How you structure, name, and connect them matters just as much. The six practices below have the biggest impact on user experience.

Top-Level Categories vs. Subcategories

Not every category belongs at the top level of your sidebar. A category belongs at the top level when users open the map looking for it as its own thing. A category belongs as a subcategory when users only think about it in relation to something broader.

• Top-level: Parking, Accessibility, Health & Safety, Transportation
• Subcategory: AEDs (under Health & Safety), Elevators (under Accessibility), EV Charging (under Parking or Transportation), Visitor Parking (under Parking)

Context matters. On a sustainability-focused map, EV Charging Stations might warrant top-level placement. When in doubt, ask: would a first-time visitor look for this directly, or reach it through a broader category?

Quick rule: If users would reach the category through a broader parent, make it a subcategory.

The Accessibility Category Family

Accessibility is most effective as a coordinated family rather than a single catch-all. Users planning an accessible visit need to answer several questions: where to park, how to enter, how to move between floors, and what amenities are available.

• Core members: Accessible Parking, ADA Accessibility, Accessible Entrances, Elevators, Lactation Rooms, All Gender Restrooms, Accessible Restrooms
• Pair each with rich location detail (hours, door type, keycard access, floor access)
• Publishing several together offers a noticeably more complete experience than publishing one in isolation

Quick rule: Accessibility is a family, not a single category. Ship at least three members together.

Cross-Listing Locations

A single location can belong to more than one category, and in most cases it should. Cross-listing meets users where they expect to find something rather than where it is filed.

• A Visitor Parking lot with ADA spaces should also appear under Accessible Parking
• An accessible entrance should appear in both Accessibility and the parent building's category
• A dining location inside a student center should appear in both Dining and Points of Interest

Quick rule: If a location serves more than one user need, assign it more than one category.

Category Count and Sidebar Structure

Aim for roughly 10 to 15 top-level categories. Beyond that, the sidebar becomes harder to scan and users start missing what they need.

• Use subcategories under a single parent instead of adding more top-level entries
• Cross-list locations across existing categories rather than creating new ones
• Use location detail fields (hours, audience, amenities) to surface variation within a category
• Archive or remove categories with fewer than three locations

Quick rule: If you are about to add a 16th top-level category, find a subcategory or cross-list instead.

Category Hygiene and Naming

The most common categories show significant naming variation across customer maps. For an individual map, the guidance is direct:

• Pick one clear name per category and avoid minor variants (capitalization, punctuation, abbreviations)
• Use function-based names, not internal department names. A prospective student will not search for "Office of Undergraduate Success"
• Resist over-fragmenting by lot code, wing letter, or building number. Use location detail to surface those specifics

Quick rule: If a new student or visitor would not recognize the category name, rename it.

Seasonal and Time-Sensitive Categories

Some categories are only useful during a specific window of the year. Commencement peaks in May and December. Construction shifts with capital projects. Move-in resources matter most in August. Homecoming and major events come and go. When these categories stay visible year-round, they clutter the sidebar without serving users.

• Use the CMS's scheduled visibility to set start and end dates for time-sensitive categories, or manually toggle visibility around peak windows
• Hide rather than delete. Seasonal categories retain their locations and detail between peak windows, so you do not have to rebuild them each year
• Common candidates: Commencement, Move-In, Homecoming, Admissions Events, and some Construction entries

Quick rule: Time-sensitive categories should be visible when useful and hidden when noise.

Honorable Mentions

These categories are common on customer maps and worth considering depending on campus size, audience, and institutional priorities. Several are best used as subcategories under a top-level parent rather than standalone.

Buildings and academic

• Academic: Use only when splitting from Administrative. Otherwise, use the combined Academic & Administrative category above.
• Administrative: Administrative buildings and offices when separated from Academic.
• Buildings: Generic building category. Consider a more descriptive name (Academic, Administrative, Residence Halls) to help users parse the sidebar faster.
• Libraries: Main library and branch libraries; often warrants its own category on academic and research-focused maps.

Parking subcategories

• Faculty/Staff Parking: Subcategory under Parking. One of the most common parking subcategories across customer maps.
• Student Parking: Subcategory under Parking. Pair with location detail for permit colors or zones rather than creating additional categories.

Transportation

• Transportation: Top-level category on maps where transit and mobility are a featured user need. Natural parent for shuttle stops, bus stops, and bike infrastructure.
• Bus Stops and Shuttle Stops: Subcategories under Transportation.
• Bike Racks: Subcategory under Transportation; useful on sustainability-focused campuses.
• EV Charging Stations: Best as a subcategory under Parking or Transportation, unless sustainability is a featured priority.

Health and safety subcategories

• AEDs: Subcategory under Health & Safety.
• Emergency Phones: Subcategory under Health & Safety.

Accessibility subcategories

• Elevators: Subcategory under Accessibility rather than standalone.
• Accessible Entrances: Subcategory under Accessibility.
• Lactation Rooms: Subcategory under Accessibility; a high-impact, low-effort inclusion.
• All Gender Restrooms: Subcategory under Accessibility or Restrooms.

Seasonal and event-based

• Commencement: Enable during graduation season; disable or hide during the rest of the year. See "Seasonal and Time-Sensitive Categories" in Best Practices.

Other common categories

• Restrooms: General restroom locations.
• Art & Performance Venues: Galleries, theaters, concert halls, and museums.
• Sustainability: Sustainability initiatives, gardens, and recycling points.
• ATMs: Cash access locations across campus.

Tips for Success

• Start with real demand. Admissions, parking services, facilities, and student life are strong sources of categories your users already ask about.
• Split parking by audience, not by lot. Use visitor, student, faculty/staff, and accessible as subcategories. Surface lot-level specifics through location detail or search.
• Audit once per academic year. Remove or archive any category with fewer than three locations, or that your users do not filter on based on analytics.
• Test labels with real users. If a new student or visitor hesitates over a category name, the label needs refinement.
• Republish after category changes. Updates appear on the live map only after republishing.