Common Navigation Menus
Having covered some of the basics lets take a look at various type of menus seen on the web today.
Tabbed Interface
Is there anyone who is not familiar with the tabbed menus made famous by Amazon.com?
Advantages:
- Just about everyone understands the concept of tabs using the folder analogy which makes them self-evident.
- They are obvious.
- They suggest a physical space.
- They load quickly - amazon .
- Strong visual clue about where you are or where you want to be.
- They are color coded to section.
Disadvantages:
Most visitors who sees them thinks "Amazon" not necessarily your site. That doesn't mean you can't use them or make a tab based menu uniquely yours.
Variations:
quicken.com likes tabs so much they use variations
on different sections
While this is probably the single most common type of menu on the web today it is not the only type. Other across the top menus are frequently used.