Tired trend: Drop-down navigation menus

There was a time when drop-down menus were rampant across the web. You've probably seen them (and cursed at 'em), however, we're coming into a time when drop-downs are beginning to fade out of popularity in favor of simpler, more user-friendly navigation and content positioning.

Although there are times when drop-down navigation can be the best way to help a user navigate a site—possibly on a large, nebulous e-commerce site—drop-down navigation is often simply used as a crutch for poorly planned content. Usually, refining and streamlining the site's content would solve the problem in a much more user-friendly way.There are a host of reasons why drop-down navigation menus are on their way out the door. Here's a few of the most prominent reasons:

Drop-downs conceal users' options

By it's very nature, a drop-down is designed to hide additional options until activated. Because things are hidden, it reduces a user's ability to be able to scan the content. Once they decide to click on a menu item, they are often surprised that it triggers a drop-down, rather than the new page they were expecting. Consequently, this can be very frustrating for a user. Imagine you're navigating a website: after having made a decision to click on a nav item, you're anxiously awaiting to find the information you are looking for on the next page. However, instead of finding the information you're searching for, you're confronted with having to make another decision when a new menu drops down. This frustration is compounded when some sites add second or even third layers of drop-downs! Research shows that users "decide first, move second," which means they make a decision, then act on it. Instantly throwing up a second decision to be made can cause users to lose confidence in their decision making, question themselves, and ultimately give up on navigating the site.

Drop-down menus are difficult to use

We've all experienced the irritation of trying to click on a drop-down menu item. Drop-down menus are often extremely sensitive to mouse-overs. This means, you've gotta be in the exact correct place to click on the menu item or else the drop-down quickly scurries away, and you're faced with having to try again. This sensitivity is easily compounded, as drop-down navigation menus are notorious for acting different in different browsers. Although every site will differ slightly between browsers, it is especially tough to get all of the states of a drop-down to match properly across all browsers. The least user-friendly part of drop-down menus are that they are not as accessible for screen readers or users who have a low level of dexterity. Considering that over 25% of internet users have some sort of disability, accessibility is a very real fact to be considered.

Drop-down menus get in the way of browsing

Because of the sensitive, skittish nature of drop-down menus they often pop out when least expected. Often users "bump" the navigation when trying to get to other content, and the drop-downs fly out unexpectedly. This interrupts their flow of navigating the site and prohibits them from achieving what they are trying to do. Additionally, when a drop-down menu expands, it covers other content and obscures it from your user's view.In addition to these larger issues, there are several other peripheral issues posed by drop-down navigation:

• Drop-down navigation is not as SEO-friendly
• Drop-down menus are cumbersome to use on mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc.)
• Drop-down menus encourage navigation creep

How to avoid drop-down menus

So now that you're sold on the perils of drop-down navigation, how do you restructure your site to avoid using them? There are two steps you can take to avoid the dreaded drop-down.The first step is to have an honest-to-goodness, come-to-Jesus conversation about your website content. Is it all absolutely necessary for your users? Or is there a bunch of fluff content included to either pacify your internal team's inability to really refine the content or give the impression that you have lots to say (if you think more content equals more credibility, think again). You need to work hard to refine your content down to only what is necessary to your users. Now that the internet has invaded every nook and cranny of our lives, user are actively looking for companies whose websites give them exactly the info they need (and nothing more) in a concise, no-nonsense way.The second step is to implement a better way of navigating deeper sets of content. This can be done by using a category landing page. A category landing page enables you to give your user more information about their options, which helps them navigate smarter and make better (read: less frustrating) decisions.

More reading on this topic

• Users decide first
• Drop-down menu disadvantages
• The problem with drop-down menus in website navigation