Dragging a menu item and indicating where it will be when dropped

Question

I have a menu list which is tree-like(So menu items can have children etc.). I want the user to have the option to move around a menu item in that list. I want them to be able to put the dragged item between two items(I got that covered) and I want the user to be able to drag an item into another item, becoming the child of that item.

Now I've got two options lined up which seem somewhat logical to me. I can't really figure out which one works best(Or if there's an even better method).

Please enlighten me with your opinion/statistics!

Option one

The user starts dragging item 7, right away item 6 changes color due to the hover. After 500 ms the arrow appears before Item 6 and the text jumps to the right a little. Indicating that item 7 will be insert into item 6

Option two

The user starts dragging item 7, right away item 6 changes color due to the hover. After 500 ms item 6 pops out and indicates a new spot(the darkgreen rectangle) where item 7 will appear when it will be dropped. (Whenever a child item is already present in Item 6 or not)

Answer 1

Option 2 looks more intuitive because :

• it does not introduce a new element like the arrow, the meaning of which might not be obvious to your users
• and does not force you to suddenly move the item title horizontally and therefore create discomfort during the process by.

To build upon it and have your users understand that their action is going to affect what is within the "Item 6 domain", you can keep the indentation and make this "domain" show the following way for instance :

Answer 2

Option 2 is better than option 1, but I wouldn't bother with the green highlighting.

If you are rendering the actual size and position (indented for child element / not indented for root element) where the item will be dropped, then you don't really need any highlighting. The "shadow" and space where the item will drop is all the visual info your user will need to understand where the item will land when dropped.