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That day I read somewhere that dropdown menus are bad for a static website design. Several usability experts shared their opinions where they tarnished dropdown navigation menus as obnoxious, dysfunctional, and interrupting. I tried understanding their point and spotted that they've been practicing it wrong! In my opinion, dropdown menus can be an excellent feature for website design. When placed correctly, they can help to clear the clutter. Besides, they enhance the appearance of a website while still being in use.
I've served as a website designer & developer for a decade. Throughout my tenure, I saw several updates in the UX development because this industry is ever-evolving. Also, I learnt that the secret to a smooth UI navigation is a flawless UX design. When the navigation menu is user-friendly, a user can easily navigate from Point A to Point B on a website. Today, there are numerous tips and trends for using dropdown menus in the right manner. Whether it is a static website design or dynamic website design, I've stashed some amazing tips that'll help you out for sure.
While Designing a Dropdown Menu
Peruse ahead for understanding some amazing UX design trends for navigation dropdown menus.
- Disable The Unnecessary
Website designers tend to make a blunder. Instead of removing the unwanted options, one should simply disable them. This will save a hell lot of time for the website designer. Even if it is a static website design, you can surely grab extra UI credits by adding a balloon icon on the disabled option. That option should appear when the user hovers over the icon and tell the user why it is disabled. Furthermore, you can also allow the user to change the setting from disable to enable for individual purposes. In this manner, your issue and users' issue will be resolved easily.
- Don't Be Over Creative
A website designer is expected to be creative for injecting some life in static website design. I agree with this but designers should restrain themselves from being over creative. I can recall a case during my professional life where I came across a highly creative case. It included photos instead of simple icons/text. I became the Cyber Sherlock Holmes for investigating its whereabouts and concluded it being obnoxious. Being over creative often leads to an increased bounce rate of the website as users get confused while searching what they need. Thus, never be over creative while creating dropdown menus.
- Check for Mobile Navigation
Undoubtedly, more than 83% of the global populace uses mobile phones for visiting websites. And, most of the website designers are aware of checking the mobile compatibility of the website. I place emphasize on checking the mobile version of a website because there is a higher chance of website distortion. A static website design, with long dropdowns, will crash the site or distort its appearance. If not resolved, one might lose a huge percentage of the organic traffic on the website.
- Single Phrase Style
To offer a professional look to the website, it is a must to follow the golden navigation practice of using the single phrase style. Most of the websites worldwide follow three types of single phrase styles and they are object-based, action-based, and audience-based. To get an immediate reaction from the audience, you can use action-based phrases like contact us or place your order. B2B and B2C often use this technique. Object-based options in the dropdown include options like learn more. For the audience-based phrases, you need to specify between the type of audience visiting your website like for employers and for candidates.
- The Creation of Mega Dropdown
It is simply next to impossible that every website carries less content. There are many websites on the internet that contain a lot of information. In such cases, one can create mega dropdowns that maintain a balance. Now, take a look at E-commerce websites like Flipkart and Amazon. They categorize products that offer a better browsing experience to customers. In a nutshell, if you want to convey more in less, simply increase the number of sub dropdowns by categorizing your products and services in static web design. This will resolve the issue without hassle.
Until We Meet Again
You just went through some secrets no one would tell you about the UX design trends. Being honest, even I have not mastered the leading UX design trends for dropdown menus. What I shared and you perused was just my knowledge. The field we talked about is seamless and new trends will keep on emanating. However, I'm aplomb for the information shared above. You can try these tips to improvise your website navigation design and dropdowns.