A website we've build is based on a 200px x 200px grid system, each item in the grid represents a link to somewhere on the site, or does something specific. (5x4 boxes in size)
It's meant as some eye-candy for the homepage.
We continue this grid system throughout the site, but only show a single column of boxes down the left hand side (4), and a clear content area on the right occupying the space for the remaining 16 boxes.
The main menu is a list ecapsulated in one of the boxes.
It's a multi-levelled menu.
The way of accessing the next level down is to click the little >
icon. The entire menu slides to the left and the sub menu slides in from the right. See below, with the 'About' link as an example
Clicking the reverse <
returns you to the parent menu.
It works fine, in a functional sense, and looks great. However, our client is reporting that he doesn't feel the icons for the drop down portion are obvious enough, and that he feels that some users won't know to click the >
to reveal the next portion of the menu.
I was wondering what other options there are available to me. A traditional drop down menu is at odds with the design of the site, and I want to avoid a re-built really. How can I improve the menu system to make the drop down portions more obvious?