Comments on: Sites Without Menus: Do You Really Need a Main Nav?

By: links for 2009-04-07 « Mandarine

links for 2009-04-07 « Mandarine — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:09:53 +0000

[...] Sites Without Menus: Do You Really Need a Main Nav? That was a major paradigm shift for me. I always thought that the main navigation would be one of the most important elements of a website. I couldn’t believe it, so I set off to look for minimalist websites that didn’t use navigation. Sure enough, I found plenty. (tags: ia layout usability inspiration webdesign menus) [...]

By: Gab Monkey

Gab Monkey — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:38:45 +0000

Content as Navigation Steering the Course…

Picking up on the last posting, what exactly is content as navigation? To me it’s something we’re already seeing on sites like Amazon, but as more services open up that offer content streams and feeds, we need to start to think of ways to use this…

By: Stephan

Stephan — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:36:22 +0000

Maybe you don’t always need a main nav, but the big point fir me is that apparently you need to focus on designing content first, navigation later..

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:16:57 +0000

True, research shows that the navigation is often skipped (along with other ‘banner blindness’ elements) – and this is exactly what you want, people reading your content. But once they’ve finished reading it you want them to stay on your site. That’s why a heirarchical navigation is crucial, and why many sites these days are starting to include site maps in their footers – footers being the logical place the user ends up after reading the content.

I’d also argue that while you have removed a traditional main navigation list from this site, the navigation is still there – it’s just peppered around the page, which arguably makes it more confusing and harder to use.

I agree with others here that it’s all down to the type of site and the audience. I used to look after a local council website, and an obvious heirarchical navigation structure was absolutely essential. With a portfolio site with only a handful of pages, it may be less critical.

By: Christopher Bolton

Christopher Bolton — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:11:46 +0000

I agree to some extent, but how many of the web sites listed above are for the average web user? If you are making a website that might be targeted at a group that doesn’t spend their life on the Internet (like most of us), I think it would be difficult (on the majority of websites) to get away with not having a main navigation element.

By: Portland Web Design

Portland Web Design — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:56:01 +0000

I’m 50/50 on if a main nav is needed. For most sites, i would say yes, it is needed, unless the business is very trendy and the web site design equally so.

Normal business should probably stick to the proven strategy… night clubs, fashion, cars, alcohol, toys… go for new designs with no main nav.

By: Quakeulf

Quakeulf — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:18:19 +0000

Wow, you finally did this post!

Regarding menus, I have to go with some previous posters that says this’ll only be useful if the site only has one purpose. I have a hard time imagining my website without a menu because I have both a blog and a gallery and I would like to keep those two separated due to a lot of concerns.

If a menu is visible I will instantly think this site has more to it, and explore the menu if I am intrigued enough.

If a menu is not visible I will instantly think this is all this site has, even though I might be wrong, because I don’t want to spend time looking for links to other sections of the site.

The catch is that unless your site is a 100% one-page portfolio, you will have sections on your site, and you will need means to navigate there, and they will need to be easy to locate and use, and for that a menu is quite excellent.

Imagine going to a restaurant and not getting a menu, so you have to order your food based on the look and smell of what the other customers are currently eating. Then you will be dependant on other customers arriving before you to leech from their choices, but this again creates a new problem; what about the first customer of the day, what will that person order? Something based off the smell from the kitchen?

By: Victoria Blount

Victoria Blount — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:59:29 +0000

Interesting article, it depends on the function of the website and also audience. If the audience isn’t web savy, then having no clear navigation wouldn’t work, as functionality is important. But i do recognise that for the right client and audience altering the usual navigation bar, which can be restrictive from a design point of view, could be very effective.

By: Dustin Boston

Dustin Boston — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:28:17 +0000

@Amit – I don’t know about that one. I guess you have to start with the purpose. In the case of a shopping cart, the purpose is to sell a product. If you only have a few products, maybe 10 at most, why not put them all on the front page.

For more products you have to give them an intuitive way to navigate. Categories seem like the right approach. Search is probably the best. I am sure that is why Amazon has it featured so prominently.

By: Amit Samtani

Amit Samtani — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:21:50 +0000

Interesting article. I love sites that are as simple as can be.

How would someone implement a menu-less site for an e-commerce or online catalog site? Is it possible? If you have a link to such a site, would love to check it out.

By: Dean

Dean — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:40:45 +0000

I created my graphic design + illustration site with just one goal: for people to quickly look at my work. The feedback I get is that people want to see categories, and that Flash is evil. Evil. Evil. Evil. Should I make my site identical to all the web 2.0 sites like twitter.com?

@rivetrivet

By: Some Important Points to be Taken Care of Before Dealing With the Web Hosting Plans and Its Services?: Free Web Hosting Reviews & Rates

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:58:21 +0000

[...] Sites Without Menus: Do You Really Need a Main Nav? | Devlounge [...]