1

I a looking for a naming suggestion for a menu label that will drop down links to two separate pages: Contact & Subscribe.

The Contact link goes to a form, the Subscribe link goes to a single-field email subscription widget.

Currently I have two menu items: Contact | Subscribe

What would be a clear label name for both?

(I half-seriously considered 'Conscribe')

I have also considered 'Connect' but in my experience that would not be entirely clear.

I could combine both as in Contact/Subscribe but I would like to keep it shorter if possible (so as to make menu fully realizable on small mobile devices).

Improve this question
1
  • It's difficult to name a menu item without knowing the context it will be seen in. Could you tell us what its siblings are called?
    – Racheet
    Commented Dec 11, 2013 at 15:34

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
1

Could you re-word the top level menu item to Contact Us then have the two options below Subscribe and Send Message / Ask a Question?

Improve this answer
0

Don't try to be smart with labeling. Conscribe probably won't work because nobody has an idea what to expect. Connect is an empty phrase nowadays.

Usually it is a good sign that two things are not meant to be combined when you can't easily label it. If you have to I'd probably combine it to "contact". It is a little hard to say because I don't know a lot about the context of your site and it's definitely not perfect but a newsletter is a kind of contact, too.

Improve this answer
0

According to the 10 usability principles given by Nielsen,

Match between system and real world: It means speak the users' language, using words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user

AND

Consistency and standards: It means avoid making users wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing.

So in your case the option of Connect will not be probably that useful as it will not make the user clear about the exact action to be done.

So you can try small fonts or other UI related enhancements to view both the options properly on the mobile devices. Using Connect word will not help here.

Hope this might help you.

Improve this answer
0

I would use Get in touch because it covers both cases and calls for action.

Improve this answer
3
  • Do you have examples of site's using get in touch for subscribing and contacting?
    – rk.
    Commented Jul 3, 2013 at 15:02
  • @rk. It's not appropriate for enterprises which identity ought to give off a serious forefront (security firms for instance).
    – Knu
    Commented Jul 3, 2013 at 15:58
  • I am not sure about what you wrote in the above comment, I just want to know if you have examples of sites following the design pattern which you just suggested in the answer.
    – rk.
    Commented Jul 3, 2013 at 16:05
0

context is absolutely key here ... for example: a website with a trendy teenage target market compared to a large publicly traded companies client facing website, what would suit the former might not suit the latter !

I think you need to look at your users and make a decision based on the type of person that they are. then you can consider running A/B tests to see which of a shortlist of labels actually converts the most into intersting contacts, social media follows or newsletter sign-ups

There are real words that do the same job as 'conscribe', such as 'engage', but I think they are a little too vague. I think 'connect' implies social media too much.

A good course of action may be:

  1. Analyse and question your userbase / target market
  2. Talk with colleagues about suggestions, consider using a thesaurus (http://thesaurus.com/) and don't drop 'contact' from the list !
  3. Shortlist some labels
  4. A/B test to look at which label is the most successful at converting
  5. Enjoy your lovely new label and the riches it brings

Also bear in mind that a newsletter sign-up form may well be best placed in more than one place on your site, such as on your home page, on other promoted landing pages or as part of a checkout process.

Improve this answer
0

What are you trying to get people to do when they click on either link. What is even the benefit of using these menu items. Oh and 'trying to squeeze them on a mobile' is not a valid response :-)

Sounds to me like you're forcing together two things that will perform badly behind one label and might shine when shown seperately.

Try and think from a user pov. Where does the user gain the most when he can interact with this contact or subscribe functionality?

Two quick examples:

Error page; show contact details for them to get in contact with you.

End of a blog article - keep them hooked and allow them to subscribe.

Hope this makes sense and good luck!

Martijn

Improve this answer
0

To me this is a prime example of a task that can be done with card sorting analysis. Basically you have users sort the items (or examples of them) that you'll have in your system, and based on that you get an indication of a intuitive navigation consisting of groups of items and name suggestions for these groups. It can be very quickly and easily done if you use some of the tools that are out there. I've used this one in the past, which is free if you use 10 users or less (should give you a good indication of where to go): http://www.optimalworkshop.com/optimalsort.htm

More info on card sorting: http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/card-sorting.html

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.