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We are currently thinking of a redesign of our corporate site: http://www.active.hu/en/introduction

I would like to replace the double tab navigation in the top, because it takes a huge amount of useful space.

Could you give me any creative idea how to replace it?

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OT - "successful solutions from a business point of view" - sounds to me like "the product failed, but someone got insanely rich." – peterchen Feb 22 '11 at 10:57
thank you... how would you say it rather? – Roland Pokornyik Feb 22 '11 at 14:34

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you can take a look at www.hp.com and see how they have used left menu to further categorize top level tabs.

you can do the same thing by converting second tab to left menu . check attached rough mockup.

enter image description here Side note:I have also reshuffled the tabs and making Products and Services tab first and second as I think putting them on the left gives more emphasis on the business you are offering..to the site visitor (potential client).

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it's a good idea to have main links and sub category links but you are breaking two rules here. 1: Don't put links on the right side of the page since users will focus on the left top side first. Right signals a "less direct" side, e.g. put search, chat, help, login/logout etc. there. 2: You lack the feeling that main and sub category belongs together when they aren't near each other. Rules can be broken, but you should know what you are doing and be able to present a good reason if you do. – Henrik Ekblom Feb 22 '11 at 16:23
I know that there are other things on the page that can be changed. i.e. search text box should be on the top right corner (ref: Don't Make Me Think). but I just answered @Roland 's question related to double navigation so for simplicity i just changed that and kept everything as-is. I agree with both of your points. – N30 Feb 22 '11 at 18:46
I have the same questions in my mind, and the only answer seems for me to put the top right navigation under the logo, and maybe have a secondary tab navigation or a left side menu which you just showed. – Roland Pokornyik Feb 23 '11 at 7:47
up vote 2 down vote

I agree with @peterchen that the present solution is not that bad, and also that a Hierarchical menu is a good alternative. Also, the second level could be right below the main tabs (basically a horizontal hierarchical menu, somewhat like this: http://www.tufin.com/solutions_overview.php).

A different minor issue - it's pretty unusual that choosing a tab changes the title above the tab. The title above normally refers to the whole tab control, and clicking a tab only affects what's inside it.

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First, I don't think it takes up a "huge amount of space". The standard of web design has changed a bit in the last couple of years. Nowadays the blogg layout with more vertical scrolling than before has become accepted, and it's not uncommon for the top header image to take up as much as 20-30% of the screen.

Second, this question is to vague to answer. You should show two or more suggestions and ask for comments on them rather than asking for "a nice webpage layout"...

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i agree with you very much on the width of Header. And sometimes it can be even more than that. – sushil bharwani Feb 22 '11 at 9:57
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It's actually one of the better "two-level tab navs" I've seen. They are clearly apart, and from the titles the scope of change is usually clear. Also, the space is good, it doesn't look crammed, which is a big plus.

Minor issue: The "master on right, slave on left" collides with my (western RTL) reading order.

Do you already have any ideas for alternatives?

Alternatives:

  • a classic Hierarchical menu.
  • I could imagine "Menu breadcrumbs" a la MSDN (with a bit better styling), but they might not be suitable for casual users.
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