Thoughts on Web Design - Horizontal Menus

8 September, 2009

• Design Trends
• web design

Ismail Koci

Category: Web Design

Trends come and go in most, if not all industries. In web design, we constantly see this happening. One such trend that has come and doesn't seem to be going anywhere is the use of horizontal navigation as the primary way of getting around a website.

I remember way back when, vertical menus dominated the internet. My guess is that the web design industry was still very young at this stage, and designers were more preoccupied with tackling the rapidly evolving technologies to really try something different. Even when I was doing my degree in Multimedia, we were taught (in usability lectures) that a vertical menu on the left hand side was always the best option.

With time and experience though, web designers have really come to embrace the use of the horizontal navigation. Why? For starters, a horizontal menu allows for a much more flexible content layout, something that is becoming ever more important as designers get more creative with how they present information. A vertical menu straight away takes up valuable real estate, and limits space for content.

Also, a horizontal menu allows for content design to flow much more effectively. It offers the opportunity for a sense of space and natural visual progression through the content. A vertical navigation tends to constantly drag a users eye towards the side of the page rather than allowing the natural flow.

Of course, vertical navigation has its place in web design. I am by no means suggesting that it shouldn't be used, in fact depending on the design, it can be much more effective than horizontal menus. However, one can't deny that the trend exists, and it's a trend that has no borders. Whether doing web design in Brisbane, as I do, or in Amsterdam we aren't ruled by trends but adopt ones that make sense and make us better designers. To me, as long as it's applied properly, this is one of those trends.