The navigation menu of a website is the most important indicator for users who want to learn more about other parts of the website after they have read the page, and it is crucial to retain users. There are many ways to design a navigation menu, and every website must have its own navigation menu. In order to create a good navigation menu, designers have to go beyond traditional limitations to show their creativity. Navigation is one of the main factors in determining the usability of a site, and if visitors can easily and effortlessly find what they are looking for, they are more likely to stay on your site rather than close the page and leave. Effective navigation can help a site drive traffic, improve the user experience, and even increase sales and profits.
Tip: Common prototyping tools for navigation bar menus: Axure, Mockplus, UXPin, Sketch
Designing a good navigation menu is not that difficult, but there are still some key points to grasp:
1. Easy to find
Visually distinguishable and easy for users to find at a glance, navigation text and your body text do not use the same color, font and size. Navigation text should stand out and stand out. For menu buttons, use high-contrast colors and clear text. The navigation area should be small enough for users to find. Use conventional navigation positions, such as top of the page, left, etc.
2. Simple
Make it easy to use and help your users quickly see what information is available and where to find what they are looking for. Users need to be able to predict how your site works without learning how to do it! If they need to think about what to do, then you’ve lost them! Avoid having users click on a small inverted triangle and then expand the secondary menu, where they may not find it at all.
3. Click
Make sure all navigation elements are clickable. When you use multiple categories in your navigation, all title elements should be clickable links. Even with drop-down menus, clicking on sub-category links can be a natural tendency for visitors. Don’t be ridiculous with this one, I’ve often found that navigation on websites doesn’t work when clicked.
4. The consistency
It is very important to try to use the same navigation mode on all pages, because without a consistent design, the user may think he is on another site. Be sure to use the same navigation mode so that users can easily access your site without losing it.
5. Clear
Your menu text should be clear, use simple terminology, don’t make the user think about what the text means, and keep your text short, descriptive, and to the point. If it takes more than five seconds to think about the meaning of the text before clicking on the link, it will make for a poor user experience.
6. Keep it simple
You can add more items in the vertical navigation, but you don’t need too many items in the main menu to distract the user. Generally, it is best not to exceed 8 items.
7. Interactive
Feedback is critical to any interaction. When people click or hover over menu items, be sure to provide instructions for what to do next. Giving users immediate feedback on any action makes them more likely to click on the navigation. You can make links different from other content by changing the text color, background color, or making them bold.
Sort 8.
It is necessary to determine the main functions provided by the website, what is the most important, and put the most important items in the main navigation according to the importance degree, while the secondary items can be placed in the secondary navigation.
Style of 9.
Minimalism is still the trend in web design. A unique visual style will make your menu look cool, but make sure it matches the overall design of your site.
10. Barrier-free
Accessibility is always an important measure of the quality of a website, make sure you are handicap friendly, and if you want to use lots of cool CSS technologies, consider compatibility with screen reading technologies, etc.
Here is a checklist for navigation design that you can use to check your navigation menu:
1. The navigation position is easy to find on the page
2. You only need to use the mouse to slide over and click the mouse to operate the entire navigation menu
3. Each menu item can be clicked and jump to normally
4. Keep the navigation text short and clear
5. Use only one navigation menu throughout the site
6. When you move the mouse pointer to the corresponding menu item, the corresponding menu item is highlighted
7. The navigation menu contains no more than eight items
8. Navigation menu items are sorted by importance
9. Keep the navigation style consistent with the overall site style
10. Navigation menu items can be correctly recognized by screen readers
We will present 6 different sites with beautiful navigation menus, each with different styles and design methods, hoping that you can get some inspiration to design your own navigation menus. Tip: Click on each of the navigation menus below to see how they work in the browser.
Prototyping tools used include: Axure, Mockplus, UXPin, Sketch.
