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I have the following hierarchy
Home Page
-> Tools
->-> Campaign Editor
->-> Scheduling
->-> Packs
-> Analytics
->-> User
->-> Campaigns
->-> Packs
Is it ok to have a breadcrumb navigation like this:
Home Page > User > Campaigns > Packs
Instead of:
Home Page > Analytics > User
The issue is that Analytics is just a dropdown and there's no Analytics page, it's just a label for the three pages under it.
How do you call such breadcrumb nav?
This overlaps a question here: How to deal with jumps in a navigation flow?
The two proposed navigation support options in this question address the concepts presented there. If the user navigates to the page "Packs", this location can be represented as either a:
Breadcrumb trail: Home Page > User > Campaigns > Packs
...the path taken to arrive at current location, or a:
Sitemap: Home Page > Analytics > Packs
...the location of current page within the application structure.
Consider, with this distinction in mind, "Analytics" being a grouping of subpages, and not a destination itself, may not be appropriate as a step along a breadcrumb trail, but rather an important part of the application structure. And it can be represented in a location map as a dropdown, or give it a page that simply presents its subpages.
Both are helpful pieces of information for the user to know. What does your subject matter research and observational user testing indicate is appropriate for the UX?
Another helpful strategy is to incorporate visual cues which concept is used. Breadcrumbs typically at the top/left, sitemaps may be at the bottom, particularly if already using a breadcrumb trail.
And delimiters can help distinguish a trail from a map. Arrows naturally for trails, bullets or bars for maps.
Labeling or icons improve conceptualization:
Campaign Editor . Scheduling . Packs Since that's not the structure of the app, it must be the sequence of pages how the user arrived at Packs. Question—there's two Packs in your site structure, are they different, or the same page?
Dec 30, 2022 at 18:11