Trent Sherrell's List: Navigation

• A left navigation is faster and more efficient for users to scan. In just three visual fixations, users scan six items in the left navigation compared to the three items scanned in the top navigation.
• Items in a top navigation do not have equal weight. The leftmost items carry more visual weight than other items because of its placement in the primary optical area (top left).
• The items in a left navigation, however, do have equal weight because they are all placed on the left with no other items in its opposing direction on the right.
• Top navigation items are more visible because they are always above the fold and are easier to find.
• Top navigations are also easier to find because they are usually accompanied by the header and logo, both of which are visually dominant objects on a web page.

  • Because of this, top navigation should be used as the main navigation for a site.
• the type of navigation that is best suited for your site is dependent on the type of content your site has.
• Top navigation is usually the best choice and the one that works best for most sites. However, you have to keep in mind of other large sites without specific niches that provide content to a variety of users with a wide-range of interests. WIth those sites, left navigation works better than top navigation.

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