A Project of |
Guidelines | Rants | Patterns | Poems | Services | Classes | Press | Blog | Resources | About Us | Site Map |
Home > Guidelines > 6. Make meaningful menus!. > 6d. Write and display several levels at once. |
|
6d. Write and display several levels at once.
|
|
Diagram
One solution: Put the 1st Level menu on the left side, and when the user chooses a topic, open that topic’s 2nd-Level menu on the right. In this way, you encourage browsing, during which the user can learn how you have structured the material. Such casually acquired knowledge helps speed access.
Here, the user has chosen Graphic Software.
At that point, the second column appears. The user then selects Monet
Look, and Composition, unfolding the other levels in new
columns. |
|
BackgroundIt may very well be that the depth versus breadth tradeoff issue is really misplaced and that the transcending issue is that of effectively revealing menu organization to users, while reducing the number of frames and responses required to locate target items. —Norman (1991) The pedagogic vector also means that menus must be complete, offering a full selection of the actions and facilities available in the program. … Using every spatial and visual hint at our disposal, we should arrange the menus from left to right in some meaningful order. —Cooper (1995) To help users’ short-term memory, menus should not require users to remember information from a previous menu or screen in order to make a selection on the current menu. If that information is needed, the system should present the information wherever it is needed, not just on the original screen. —Mandel (1997) See bibliography: Cooper (1995), Mandel (1997), Norman (1991), Tognazzini (1992). |
Other ways to make your menus meaningful: 6a. Think of a heading as an object you reuse many times. 6b. Write each menu so it offers a meaningful structure. 6c. Offer multiple routes to the same information. 6e. When users arrive at the target, make it obvious. 6f. Confirm the location by showing its position in the hierarchy. Resources on menus |
Before After
The site puts the first level menu on the left side, and when the users choose a topic, opens that topic's second-level menu on the right. Clicking an item in the second menu opens the third menu. Clicking an item in the third menu opens the fourth. Clicking an item in the fourth menu takes users to the description of a painting. In this way, you encourage
browsing, during which the user can learn how you have structured the
material. Such knowledge helps speed access. Because the background does
not change from click to click, the user receives the illusion of staying
put. |
|
|
Don't make me take an ax to your menu!
Home |
Guidelines |
Rants |
Patterns |
Poems |
Services |
Classes |
Press |
Blog | Web
Writing that Works!
|