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enter image description hereI want to place the title of each page in the header to win some space, especially in responsive design. I also have a breadcrumb. Is it wrong to do that? and if it is why?

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  • Have you got a mockup to illustrate what you're suggesting?
    – JonW ♦
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 10:49
  • Can you add some more detail to your question? E.g. are you referring to HTML5's header element?
    – Tsundoku
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 11:10
  • i added 3 different versions. Do you find any of them useful or do you have other suggestions?
    – evasoroniati
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 11:13
  • IMHO (albeit I'm not your collective users), I prefer the page title in the header (white area at the top). I think it's important to quickly and effortlessly confirm to the user they are where they expected to be.
    – bloodyKnuckles
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 22:06
  • I prefer and have always placed the page title in the header. It just seems a natural place for it, and the first place I'd look for the page title. It looks cleaner, even users unfamiliar would quickly understand it if it is consistent. The only issue is when you have other content there like tabs etc.
    – Joe
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 22:27

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There are structural issues with this, which are likely to become evident with responsive design or when implemented.

The utility (white) bar at the top of the page (where the avatar is), is global to the site - in theory, it shouldn't change regardless of where you are on the site.

If you head to bbc.co.uk, you'll note that even if you click on the News item in the utility bar, it doesn't highlight when you are taken there.

Other than the fact that that bar knows nothing about what's below it (in modular terms), the main reason it doesn't change is that with responsive designs (like on mobile), that whole bar collapses into a button.

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  • When you say the "in theory" along with the statement the utility bar at the top shouldn't change, what theory do you refer to?
    – bloodyKnuckles
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 22:04
  • @bloodyKnuckles I mainly mean theory as oppose to practice, since in practice there are many examples to the violation of this principle. You will find references to this concept in many information architecture books, but there are not exactly theoretical.
    – Izhaki
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 22:07
  • Thanks, I'm wondering if there are any actual usability studies that show changing site global information from page to page, such as a page title is cumbersome to users. I expect it's actually helpful to have specific location information in the global area, however I don't have user testing to back up that personal theory.
    – bloodyKnuckles
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 22:11
  • @bloodyKnuckles Information Architecture books! My reply is not comprehensive, so one thing I omitted is accessibility. Both accessibility and IA prioritise structure over visual design (the 2D layout). In fact, personally I'm yet to come across a single UX resource that puts these the other way around. The structure is the skeleton - the visuals the flesh.
    – Izhaki
    Commented Dec 7, 2016 at 22:47

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