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I am designing a navigation bar at the top of a web page with several buttons used for navigation.

On the right side of the bar, there are two buttons pertaining to user-specific functions (log in, manage account, alerts, etc.)

On the left hand side of the bar, there are three buttons. This is where I'm running into some trouble.

Right now, from left to right the buttons go: "General", "Product 1", "Product 2".

All three of these pages use the same template and design, however "General" is slightly different in purpose than the product buttons. The product buttons will take the user to a portal with information regarding the product itself, while the "General" button will take the user to a general page about the company itself (Sales & Services, Contact, Support, etc.)

My concerns are:

1.) Is "General" the right word to use here? I am afraid that simply using the company's name will make people think that it is a third product. Which leads to...

2.) How should I lay out these buttons to let users know that they are for different things? Perhaps separate "General" from the product buttons?

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3 Answers 3

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To expand on a previous answer by @DA01, I agree that this sounds more like an "About" page than a "Home" style page. Otherwise, your page may have a bit of an identity crisis. Is it clear enough and useful to the customer in that state?

[...] Support, etc.

Based on that, it sounds like this page may be too general. Support is not usually on an "About" page.

To answer the second part of your question, you can offset it by using a slightly less prominent font style, and putting it after the products. On the flip side, if you believe this is page is more prominent than the product pages, put it before the products and use a slightly more prominent font style. Offsetting the style should be enough to signify that this page is separate from the "Products", so using the company name should be fine if that is what you're going for.

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will take the user to a general page about the company itself

Based on that, I'd use About The Company

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  • Adding to DA01, Good point. Also "Our Company" or "Our Organization" would be a simpler choice as well.
    – charlie
    Commented Mar 6, 2014 at 21:10
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You say:

will take the user to a general page about the company itself

@DA01 says:

Based on that, I'd use About The Company

If that was all you said, I'd agree with @DA01, but it wasn't. You then clarified what was going to be on this page by saying:

(Sales & Services, Contact, Support, etc.)

Based on that, I would advise you to do 3 things.

  1. Go ahead and do what @DA01 suggested and change General to About The Company.
  2. Drop Sales & Services, Contact, and Support information from the newly titled About The Company page leaving only information about the company.

  3. Create separate pages and buttons for:

    • Sales & Services
    • Contact
    • Support

    These should be top-level items on any menu.

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