A menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer system
29
votes
4answers
2k views
Don't hide or disable menu items?
In 2008, Joel Spolsky wrote:
A long time ago, it became fashionable, even recommended, to disable
menu items when they could not be used.
Don't do this. Users see the disabled menu item ...
40
votes
7answers
4k views
What's the best way to view a deep hierarchy?
I've been pondering the best way to show a deep hierarchy for a desktop application I'm working on. Here are some alternative designs I'm considering...
Mac OSX Finder:
If you understand what ...
29
votes
1answer
2k views
What is the significance of the three dots “…” on menus and buttons and how to use them right?
Adding three dots after the title of items in a dropdown menu seems to be a common practice (as you can see on the picture of a drop down menu in Google Chrome). They generaly mean that there is ...
13
votes
7answers
747 views
Are hover menus in headers easy to use?
Do users find it easy to use headers/menus like the one displayed below?
27
votes
8answers
4k views
Is 'Home' button still a must?
I was wondering if the 'Home' button is still a must on a website menu, or are users already used to clicking on the Logo?
There is a qustion on ux.stackexchange.com about this topic - Home button vs ...
17
votes
4answers
1k views
How to explain to director that a multilevel dropdown menu isn't a good idea
My director and designer want to make a big drop-down menu on our site. Multilevel menu :
| MENU 1 | MENU 2 | MENU 3 | MENU 4 |
...
17
votes
5answers
4k views
What is this side menu called that can be found in many multi-touch apps, and where does it originate from?
It can be found for example in the YouTube and Facebook app.
18
votes
6answers
1k views
Why is there a convention on the web for dropdown menus on hover instead of on click?
This is something I've always wondered. On all major operating systems, application menus (File/Edit/View etc) only appear on click. However, nearly every web site that uses a drop-down menu ...
13
votes
4answers
490 views
What are good rules for naming menu items? [closed]
I'm establishing some style guidance for naming items which are accessed from my application's menu bar.
What are the commonly accepted rules for naming menu items?
When should the names of the ...
29
votes
12answers
1k views
Hover over a disabled item to know why it's disabled. What do you think?
How many times did you use a desktop app or an online page and you come across one or more menu items which are disabled and you have no idea why its disabled. Using help or documentation is of no ...
10
votes
6answers
874 views
User Profile, My Account, or just Settings?
I am writing a little webapp, and am stuck on a UI hangup. I have a global menu bar at the top of the screen, that when the user is signed in consists of:
Signed in as Joe User (with username as ...
12
votes
8answers
1k views
Which side of a web page should a side menu go on?
Many websites have side menus and I seem some have the side menu on the right and some on the left.
Which side is better?
13
votes
5answers
1k views
How to represent level of difficulty while selecting a game?
I am working on a menu to select from various (3) game variants shown from top to bottom, each variant offering different difficulty levels.
The difficulty will be selected by swiping (touch input ...
4
votes
4answers
538 views
Should I use a radial menu design for a touchscreen game?
We are working on a game for android. We had a normal menu where each menu entry is below the other. As we find this boring, we looked to different approaches and came across the lock screen on ...
10
votes
4answers
914 views
Better approach to blue/underlined for link?
We have a web application that allows users to query a database.
The results are returned in a breadcrumb style interface.
We brought this change in at a new version, and assumed it was ...
9
votes
4answers
247 views
Toolbar buttons - to be or not to be?
I need to create a toolbar for my application, and let's assume that due to external constraints it must be a regular toolbar, not a ribbon. The application itself has a significant number of ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Fixed-position header and menu on a web page — is that okay?
A client of mine is insisting on two things for a website I am designing:
That every single link is shown in the header – about 10 links or so with no sub-categories. ie. no drop-downs, rollovers, ...
7
votes
3answers
521 views
Horizontal menus, do they scale?
I'm a user of a popular website that uses horizontal menus for navigation. As the site's functionality grows, the number of menu items also grow. As the horizontal space is limited, the design choice ...
7
votes
4answers
415 views
What is the name of this combined button/popupbutton?
This button is in the new Firefox, but what is the name of it?
8
votes
3answers
182 views
Why do menu labels behave differently in desktop applications and websites?
In a desktop application when you click a menu, you see all the options which reside within it, in a drop-down/pop-up list.
In many websites with a navigation menu which has sub-categories, I have ...
4
votes
4answers
187 views
Highlight most used menu items
Usually I actively use only 10-20% of menu items, especially in different kinds of catalogs, so I wonder if there in any practice that highlights the menu items that are most chosen by a certain user. ...
3
votes
5answers
1k views
Dropdown navigation menus - should top menu option link to content?
I have a client with a group of users which seem to have constant troubles using a menu like these two examples:
Pages (links to a list of pages in a grid from where the user has
access to ...
3
votes
7answers
567 views
Menu bar for different major windows
Our application has different major windows which don't share a noticeable common menu item set. Hence the menu bar changes when switching between those windows. Unfortunately, I have not found any ...
3
votes
2answers
168 views
Placement additional menu on video website; top, bottom or something else
A friend of mine is building a video website where you can watch user submitted videos. Those videos are of individuals speaking their dream in the camera. The focus is on letting people watch those ...
2
votes
4answers
196 views
Which of the following options best draws attention to the “buy tickets” action without detracting from the surrounding visual hierarchy?
I'm working on touching up (as much as I'm allowed) some of the design elements for a website. One client requirement is to draw more attention to the "buy tickets" link as this action is one that ...
