I think what we are trying to address is the classic dilemma of  "Is
navigation Data Ink or Chartjunk ?" . My approach is to have a higher
percentage of content (and less of navigation tools) in less diversified
websites with very cohesive content topics (say an example would be
photo.net ) and a higher percentage of navigational support in more
diversified ones (as yahoo is) . The navigation in any case should not lead
to further navigation completely. Right from the first page content
percentage should be reasonable. The user should have an option to reach
content with one click from any page.(By doing this she would be able to
experiment with "some" content if the navigation proves to be a strain.)