22 Principles of good website navigation and usability

Tips by Web Development Services

1. Distinctive

Visually separated and easy to find. Make navigation not the same color, font and size as your main text - navigation text should always stand out. Use high contrast colors and very readable text for menu buttons.

2. Simple

Do not puzzle, do not make it too extraordinary. Help your visitors quickly see what information is available and where to go to find what they are looking for on "autopilot". If they have to think very carefully about what they have to do, you have lost them!

Customers must be able to anticipate how your site works, without having to learn what to do!

3. Consistent

Use the same navigation model on all your pages. It is very important because a user without a consistent design can think that he is on another website. Be sure to use the same navigation model so that users can easily explore your website without being lost.

4. Trusted

Avoid unusual navigation types. If you have something that people already know, they are more comfortable with it.

5. Clear

Let your menu links do exactly what they say. Use simple, obvious and easy-to-understand terms. Do not let people solve a puzzle because they will not bother you. Keep your text short, descriptive and to the point.

If it takes more than a second to figure this out or if you click on a link to find out, it adds to a bad user experience for your visitors.

6. Descriptive

Avoid using general captions for all companies, such as 'Products' or 'Services'.

They do nothing to communicate with visitors. Do not shorten distances. Reminds a universal website template.

If navigation defines the most important products or services, your site communicates immediately.

Your audience is not looking for "products" and "services". Let them know in advance what it's all about.

Also, search engines prefer descriptive anchor texts, so it helps to arrange those pages.

7. Concise

You can add many links in a vertical navigation, so some people prefer it.

Too many items in the main menu spread the visitor's attention.

The removal of less important elements makes staying more prominent.

Focus users on the most important links.

8. Interactive

Feedback is essential for every interaction. When people click or hover on a menu item, you must provide an indication of the action. Always let the user know where he is. You can do this by changing the background of the link or the color of the page name or by placing the text in bold in the navigation menu to distinguish it from others.

9. Ordered

Place the most important items first in the navigation and the least important items in the middle.

People's attention is highest for things that appear at the beginning and at the end.

The default location for "Contact" is the end (far right in horizontal navigation of the highest level).

10. Stylized

Minimalism is still a trend in web design and many web designers simplify navigation to almost nothing.

A visual style that makes your menu look cool, adds a sense of physical detachment, and a realistic interaction can enhance the user experience, but make sure it matches the design of the entire site as a whole.

11. Structured

Plan your navigation together with the website information architecture. You have to find out which important functions the website offers, which is the most important and less important, which could be placed at lower levels in the information hierarchy.

Find the best way to organize your content and the navigation only reflects the structure. The URL structure also belongs to the information hierarchy and corresponds to the menu structure.

12. Accessible

Most CSS menus are technically accessible, but you must ensure that your navigation works:

13. Clickable

Create all clickable links of navigation elements. When you use multiple categorical sections in your navigation, all heading elements must be clickable links. This also applies to drop-down menus where clicks on a subcategory link can be the natural tendency of the visitor.

14. Quiet

Do not play sound every time an item in your navigation is rolled up with the mouse. People do not like such surprises. Even if you find the sound very interesting, it quickly becomes irritating.

15. Shallow

No page on your site can be further than three clicks away from another page. Of course, you can go to any level in drop-down menus with a single click. But moving the mouse to the submenu of the 4th level is not convenient anyway. Limit yourself better with 3 levels.

It is better to have many items in a submenu instead of deep nesting with many menu levels.

16. Visual

Our brains process visual information much faster than textual information. That's why it's a great idea to help your visitors with a number of easy-to-interpret visuals.

On Apple.com, the navigation menu is supported by realistic images to help visitors find what they are looking for.

More abstract icons or colors are ideal for returning visitors to remember a content category in which they were particularly interested.

Do not use icons or images alone, a short description makes it clear what the page is about.

17. Responsive

Mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones are becoming an increasingly popular way to connect to the internet. Responsive page is a good solution for this growing mobile traffic. Single page suitable for many different devices and screen sizes. Which ones also require a responsive solution for your navigation menu?

On the small screen it is more difficult to display the same content in a clear and useful way. You have to test the solution very well.

18. Seamless

A drop-down menu must appear seamlessly and without interruption. The menu must be loaded immediately. Do not make very heavy drop-down menus that need more than a moment to load on the hover.

19. Animated

Transition is another detail that your menu can look cool. Instead of simply appearing, try a swipe down, rotate or fade animation effects. The transition must be quick and not disturbing.

20. Sticky

Stick your menu in one place so that it does not disappear when the user scrolls the page down.

The live example is the main menu of our website.

According to various studies, users do not always notice the difference, but they feel it easier and faster to use.

To implement tacky navigation, you only need a few CSS rules.

21. Scalable

Make sure your menu is expandable. It should be easily scalable when you add more content to your site in the future.

22. Tested

Ask people to test your navigation menu.

Involve a third party. Test your navigation with someone who has used the internet before, but not with the design process. Keep in mind their preferences as they navigate through your site and analyze how long it takes to find the pages they are looking for.

Involve more people, collect the data and analyze it. You may get unexpected ideas and input that would otherwise go unnoticed without this test run.