All websites should start with a good plan. Focussing on the design process first may be common for smaller sites. For larger sites, when user experience is paramount, creating an initial sitemap or user flow map is an effective way of working out how you want visitors to use and navigate around. UX is key to a successful site. And always remember the 5PS of planning a site – Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

There are many different methods for creating a sitemap, but we don’t want to get into all of those today as they are typically not the best thing to look at from a design perspective.

So we’re going to take a look at sitemaps that have truly taken design into consideration. Not the site design, but the actual design of the sitemap. So no post-its, no Sharpies, no whiteboards, no mind-mapping software, just a beautiful selection of carefully crafted sitemaps.

You might also like to take a look some inspirational UI style guides or even some examples of web design wireframe sketches.

Sitemap by Ed Moss

Information Architecture by Kellyn Loehr

User Flow'in by Bill S Kenney

User Flow by Eric Ressler

Sitemap For Student Guide by Janna Hagan

Simplified Checkout Process by Michael Pons

Site Flow by Angie Herrera

User Flow by Mackenzie Child

Sitemap for IntelliMap by AveA

Flowchart by Eric Miller

Website Flowcharts Stencil by Eric Miller

Website Flowcharts for Illustrator by Eric Miller

Sitemap/Flowchart for the Web by Jane Zhu

Mobile Flowchart for Illustrator by Eric Miller