This link has been bookmarked by 48 people . It was first bookmarked on 23 Mar 2009, by John Keyes.
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Zach Harkey> Big, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
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Big, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
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Indeed, one particular navigation design — the mega drop-down menu — tested well enough that I want to encourage its wider use.
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Thomas BuyleBig, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
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Matt LisleAlternative to our existing drop down menus?
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Dave JefferyBig, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
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For bigger sites with many features, regular drop-down menus typically hide most of the user's options. Yes, you can scroll, but (a) it's a pain and (b) scrolling down hides the initial options. As a result, you can't visually compare all your choices; you have to rely on short-term memory. People have enough on their minds, and messing with short-term memory reduces their ability to accomplish their tasks on your site. Mega drop-downs show everything at a glance, so users can see rather than try to remember.
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Mark BlairSummary:
Big, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
To prepare for our upcoming Navigation Design seminar, we've been running user studies of various navigation features. As always, some test poorly. Also as always, the more faddish features — such as tag clouds — exhibit major usability problems.
Luckily, other Web trends fare well in user testing because they have inherently good usability and match user behaviors and goals. Indeed, one particular navigation design — the mega drop-down menu — tested well enough that I want to encourage its wider use.
Given that regular drop-down menus are rife with usability problems, it takes a lot for me to recommend a new form of drop-down. But, as our testing videos show, mega drop-downs overcome the downsides of regular drop-downs. Thus, I can recommend one while warning against the other. -
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Mega Drop-Down Navigation Menus Work Well
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- Big, two-dimensional panels divided into groups of navigation options
- Navigation choices structured through layout, typography, and (sometimes) icons
- Everything visible at once — no scrolling
- Vertical or horizontal form factors when activated from top navigation bars; when activated from left-hand navigation, they might appear as mega fly-outs
mega drop-downs have the following characteristics:
- Big, two-dimensional panels divided into groups of navigation options
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Stefan WobbenBig, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
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heavyweight interaction area
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Keytips are an alternative to access keys
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Christy TuckerRecommendations for drop-down navigation menus with big menus grouped with structure
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- Big, two-dimensional panels divided into groups of navigation options
- Navigation choices structured through layout, typography, and (sometimes) icons
- Everything visible at once — no scrolling
- Vertical or horizontal form factors when activated from top navigation bars; when activated from left-hand navigation, they might appear as mega fly-outs (not shown).
As the following screenshots show, mega drop-downs have the following characteristics: - Big, two-dimensional panels divided into groups of navigation options
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Mega drop-downs show everything at a glance, so users can see rather than try to remember.
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sam cheunglarge drop down windows work
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wolf hessemost practical advice!
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Ana Lopesmenus dropdown k funcionam bem segundo jakon nielsen
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Frederik Van ZandeBig, two-dimensional drop-down panels group navigation options to eliminate scrolling and use typography, icons, and tooltips to explain the user's choices.
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Given that regular drop-down menus are rife with usability problems, it takes a lot for me to recommend a new form of drop-down. But, as our testing videos show, mega drop-downs overcome the downsides of regular drop-downs. Thus, I can recommend one while warning against the other.
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mega drop-downs overcome the downsides of regular drop-downs
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a new form of drop-down
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John KeyesJakob Nielsen talks __Mega Drop-Downs__.
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