Label for account settings, “user's name” or “account”?

Question

Assuming that we have the full name of a user, what heading would be better for a someone to access his/her account settings & profile?

1) Just his/her name with a dropdown like the mockup bellow:

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

2) A more general heading and the "same" dropdown:

^{download bmml source}

The web app should be as friendly as possible, so first approach seems to suit better, but may have usability issues.

I'd like to comment out that I've seen other questions on stackexchange and the most appropriate/acceptable label is considered "Lauren's account", but unfortunately this is not suitable in my case, because the translation of this label on my language is too long.

Have you experience a similar problem? What would work better?
Could I go with one of the above options, or try a smart and short translation of "Lauren's account"?

Answer 1

Lets have a look at some of the popular websites and how they do it.

WordPress

Foursquare

Twitter

Google also offers something similar. One thing is common, they have direct name at the top right corner. This is more casual, personal approach. This user name is optionally accompanied by profile picture based on the domain of your website.

The drop down does not have repetition of 'your'. All the options are directly presented. The attempt is to keep a word directly denoting the action involved.

This serves the purpose. The salutation, as in the case of WordPress, adds a personal touch, but you have to be careful of cultures when you put something like that.

So I would have a mix of two approaches suggested by you. I would directly have a user name, optionally with salutation and profile photo. In the drop down, I will directly have action verbs denoting the actions user can perform from there.

Answer 2

This depends on the context of the application but i think just the iconic representation and drop down to show the accessible links of the profile is an ideal way of showing the profile information. Instead of showing the text (name) there next to the icon.

Following reasons will corroborate why am calling this as an ideal method.

1) There will be instances there would be a lengthy name to portray. 2) Icon and a name is redundant there because we just want to indicate the users that profile information is accessible from here that is it.(Minimalism) 3) Visual representation of any functionality is easily stored in our brains and does not require users to memorize the position of this functionality easy access and less cognitive processing. 4) Any ways any number of characters can be accommodated in the dropdown without altering the design aspect.