Navigation Menus: Trends and Examples

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Navigation Menus: Trends and Examples

来源-视觉中国
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发表时间-2008-02-28 16:57:04
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原文地址：http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/02/26/navigation-menus-trends-and-examples/

中文摘要：导航可以说是网站设计最重要的部分，一个清晰明确又美观的导航无疑是网站成功的关键，而网站作为一种传播手段，也是讲求一定的潮流，要做出既流行实效又方便可用的优秀网站，就一定要关注网站设计的流行趋势，下面像大家列举的，是一些优秀的导航实例，希望能帮助大家在这里学习到导航的设计重点和潮流走向。

Navigation is the most significant element in web design. Since web-layouts don’t have any physical representation a user can stick to, consistent navigation menu is one of the few design elements which provide users with some sense of orientation and guide them through the site. Users should be able to rely on it which is why designers shouldn’t mess around with it.

That’s why in most cases it’s where simple, intuitive and conventional solutions are usually the best option. However, it doesn’t mean that they need to be boring. One year ago we’ve presented modern approaches of navigation design. Let’s take a look at what’s different now, which trends one can observe and what ideas you can develop further in your projects.

This article presents recent trends, examples and innovative solutions for design of modern navigation menus. All images are clickable and lead to the sites from which they’ve been taken. We’ve missed something? Definitely! Let us know in the comments!

1. Trend toward “speaking” block navigation

The most significant task a navigation menu has to fulfill is to unambiguously guide the visitors through the different sections of the site. However, often it’s quite hard to communicate the content of a site section within one or two single keywords, particularly if horizontal navigation is in use. That’s why often navigation options aren’t simply listed one after each other using some appropriate keyword (”silent” navigation); instead, designers attempt to concretely explain which options are available and what the visitor should expect from site sections once clicking on corresponding links.

In fact, over the last months we’ve observed a strong trend toward exactly this navigation scheme; and since designers try to initiate a more effective dialogue with visitors we prefer to call it “speaking” navigation — contrary to “silent” navigation based upon the listing of keywords.

To make the perception of information easier, the navigation is often structured by using blocks of the same height and width; large icons are used quite often, but in most cases the decision whether they are appropriate or not depends on the content of the site and the overall layout. “Soft” hover-effects often support the navigation design by making the browsing more pleasant.