Sitemap

Working definition

A sitemap represents a structure of content or screens. It is an artifact: it makes a slice of decisions visible; it does not exhaust them.

It is not Information Architecture. IA defines what exists, how it is grouped, and how it relates; the sitemap usually draws a tree. Navigation is another representation, meant for moving through that structure.

Criterion

If the sitemap is tidy and people still cannot find things, the drawing was not the mental model. Revisit taxonomy and labels, not the thickness of the boxes.